The Importance of Creative Industry Agglomerations in Explaining the Wealth of European Regions

This paper examines the existence of regional agglomerations of manufacturing, service and creative industries, the relationship between these industries and the wealth of regions and their industrial structure. Through an analysis of 250 European regions, three important conclusions can be inferred from the results obtained in this paper. The first is that creative industries play an important role in the wealth of a region. The second is that the most creative regions are characterized by having more high-tech manufacturing industries than the rest of the regions although the number of low-tech manufacturing firms is similar. Lastly, the industrial structure of each region has a greater influence on regional wealth than the existence of industrial agglomerations. The importance of this paper resides in the fact that up until now no analysis has demonstrated that creative industries are the most important industries in regional wealth.     

Bound by blood: the ethnic and civic nature of collective identities in the Basque Country,Catalonia and Valencia

This paper explores the factors determining collective identities in the Basque Country and Catalonia, paying special attention to language and birth as key domains of ethnolinguistic divide. We will also make a comparison to the case of Valencia, a region with a native language that nevertheless has not developed a nationalist movement. We have performed a cluster analysis to compare the differences between collective identities in these regions using data from the survey on National Identity in Spain, and discriminant analysis is used to test the validity of our model. Results show that an ethnolinguistic division, based on parental origin and linguistic skills, defines peripheral identities in the Basque Country and Catalonia, but this singularity cannot be found for Valencia. Finally, our model corroborates the relevance of ethnolinguistic factors in defining collective identities in the Basque and Catalan regions, while the civic factor may be more relevant in Valencia.     

R&D Cooperation in Innovation Systems—Some Lessons from the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS)

Our paper summarizes some of the main results of the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS) as far as they are discussed in this special issue of European Planning Studies . The overall target of the ERIS project is a quantitative and qualitative assessment of determinants crucial for the innovation potential of any region, i.e. innovative and non-innovative manufacturing firms, business services and research institutions, as well as the innovative linkages and networks between these actors. Empirical research is based upon almost 8600 questionnaires collected in 11 European regions. Results confirm some of the common hypotheses on the relationship between space and innovation networks but others are contrary to existing scientific knowledge. Obviously the impact of national innovation systems on the innovation activities of manufacturing firms in a given European region is-at least-as strong as the impact of the respective regional innovation system. The spatial range of innovative linkages significantly depends on the size, the type of the cooperation partner, the R&D intensity and the industry of the analysed manufacturing firm. For example, the higher the technology intensity of the industry, the greater is the need of each firm to use intraregional knowledge via innovation linkages. It is therefore an important task in regional innovation policy to promote network-building among firms and other actors of a regional innovation system and to interlink these intraregional networks with national and international knowledge sources.     

Regional Concentration of the Knowledge-based Economy in the EU: Towards a Renewed Oligocentric Model?

This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the Knowledge-based Economy spatial distribution across the European Union (EU) regions (NUTS II), linking recent research approaches on innovation and structural change with approaches to regional economics. As a means of conducting this research, we classify economic activities according to six sectors based on their knowledge/technology intensity. Our results show that the higher the knowledge/technology content of the economic activity, the higher the concentration level of the activity. We find that some service activities (those considered knowledge intensive) have similar concentration levels to those operating in high or medium tech manufacturing. With regard to specialization, the most outstanding result is the strong presence of high and medium knowledge intensive service activities in metropolitan/capital regions. In general, our results reinforce the notion that an oligocentric model persists in Europe, with the southern German regions leading high and medium tech manufacturing, the south-east of England leading in high knowledge-intensive services, and with the mid-core model exemplified by the European metropolitan archipelago (particularly capital cities) in both northern and southern Europe.     

Some Notes on the Huculs

Salpassa denotes the blessing of houses, land, and other belongings, carried out during Easter week and Resurrection (Easter) Sunday in the Valencia–Catalonia linguistic region of north-eastern Spain. Although it is now remembered mostly as a consecrating ceremony or a religious rite, recent field research has shown that a playful element, carried out by children through their songs and other activities, was also an important aspect of the traditional Salpassa.     

梯度理论综述

作为区域经济学的主要理论之一-梯度理论自20世纪70年代创立以来受到了诸多经济学家的关注,其理论基础也得以不断完善和巩固。该理论自20年世纪80年代初引入我国以来,在我国的经济战略制定中发挥了很重要的作用。随着其在我国经济社会中的实践,它也经历了传统(狭义)梯度理论、反梯度理论、广义梯度理论等诸阶段的演变,而每一个理论发展阶段都是对已有理论的重新审视和扬弃。以梯度理论的产生、发展演变为脉络,围绕该理论在不同发展阶段的代表性观点进行了归纳、总结梳理,并对传统(狭义)梯度理论、反梯度理论、广义梯度理论进行了简单评论。     

Evolution of Innovation Policy in Emilia-Romagna and Valencia: Similar Reality,Similar Results?

This paper examines the evolution of regional innovation policy in Emilia-Romagna and Valencia, two regions with similar economic features that implemented close innovation policies in the 1970s and 1980s. We investigate whether their similarities have led to parallel targets, policy tools and governance developments. We show that innovation policy in both regions suffered from the effects of privatization, budget constraints and changes to manufacturing during the 1990s and we highlight the consequences. Although Emilia-Romagna experienced deeper changes to its innovation policy, privatizations and/or the replacement of public funds promoted commercial approaches and induced market failures in both regions. The worst effects of these policies were the implementation of less-risky innovation projects, the shift towards extra-regional projects and markets, and the favouring of large firms.     

Arriving at the Dawn of the New Economy: Is Knowledge-Based Industrial Renewal Possible in a Peripheral Region?

In the contemporary knowledge economy, characterized by both globalization and localization of economic activities, the ability of both firms and their respective regions to adapt to changes in their external environment and to retain their competitiveness is closely related to their capacity to innovate and to continually upgrade existing structures, practices and knowledge bases. In this respect, co-location of firms operating in the new knowledge-intensive sectors is typically considered to be beneficial for both the firms themselves and for their respective regional economies. In this study, we considered whether knowledge-based industrial renewal is possible in peripheral regions. The empirical study was designed to identify tendencies towards and potential concentrations of new knowledge-intensive industries in the relatively peripheral region of Pohjois-Savo in Finland. The strength of such tendencies was determined by employing the Herfindahl index and location-quotient methods. The analysis indicates that while the more traditional industries still appear to be dominating the region's economic landscape, the new knowledge-intensive industries have gained at least a foothold in the region, indicating a potential target for local policymakers' further development efforts. Pohjois-Savo can be considered to be a typical Finnish region, characterized by a large central city with a university, a few smaller sub-regional centres and the surrounding large rural periphery. However, earlier literature with the same focus is lacking and regional strategies and entrepreneurial structures differ in different regions; thus, we cannot establish whether these conclusions hold in other regions in Finland or how applicable these results are in an international context.     

Do Manufacturing Firms Profit from Intraregional Innovation Linkages? An Empirical Based Answer

Nowadays, inter-firm linkages in the form of regional networks are seen as growth-promoting and important prerequisites for successful innovation activities in firms. Beginning with this hypothesis, the paper sets out to answer the question, whether manufacturing businesses with strong intraregional ties are more successful with respect to growth rates and innovative activities than those firms with little connection to their region. From a survey carried out in 10 European regions, the results verify that in spite of numerous network relationships on the national and international level small businesses are most likely to cooperate with others in their vicinity. In addition, the more knowledge-intensive innovation activities of businesses are, the more important is the relevance of spatial proximity in particular and networking in general.     

‘Unfortunate Jews’ and urban ugliness: crafting a narrative of the 1391 assault on the jueria of Valencia

On 9 July 1391, a mob assaulted the Jewish quarter of Valencia, killing and forcibly converting its inhabitants. This attack, one of many across Spain that summer, is much debated as a turning point in medieval Jewish history, but little attention has been paid to the role of the urban government. This article shows how the city council of Valencia shaped its narrative of the assault to further its goals for urban reform. In 1391, the Valencian council was in the midst of a reform initiative informed by the principles of Christian urban planning in Francesc Eiximenis’ Regiment de la cosa pública. The jueria was seen as an impediment to reform. The council’s retelling of the 1391 attack shifted responsibility onto the Jews and the jueria itself, considered a block to public order in the city. This laid the groundwork for the council’s solution: the removal of the jueria from Valencia.     

Interpartner Legitimacy Effects on Cluster Initiative Formation and Development Processes

In spite of the growing interest in cluster initiatives (CIs) as a means of regional development, there are still few studies of CIs that offer an inside perspective. This article takes such an inside perspective, focusing on the internal legitimacy aspects of the formation and evolving processes of CIs. We propose the inclusion of interpartner legitimacy effects in order to better understand the formation and development of CIs. A case study method is applied on a Swedish CI in the tourism industry. Faced with the situation that their region was lagging behind other Swedish regions in the development of tourism, the actors were spurred to promote a CI. Its central purposes were to consolidate the regional tourism industry, strengthen the regional brand and to establish the entire region as a single coherent destination. This paper contributes to the research body of regional development and CIs by showing how different types of interpartner legitimacies hinder and facilitate the CI process.     

20世纪90年代以来中国工业格局及其变化

本文从工业行业结构角度入手,以东中西为研究单元,结合全国30个省市,运用集中化指数、罗伦兹曲线等方法,分析1990年以来,中国工业行业格局和区域布局的变化情况,指出:东中西地区行业部门渐趋完备,但部门间发展不均衡程度加深;电子、机械类制造业在工业中的地位上升明显;工业对经济增长的贡献存在区际不平衡,东中西部地区依次减弱。     

Manufacturing and Regional Economic Growth in Turkey: A Spatial Econometric View of Kaldor's Laws

In this paper, the regional economic growth process of Turkey during the period 1990–2000 is analysed within the context of Kaldor's laws. The validity of Kaldor's three growth laws is empirically tested by spatial econometric methods as well as traditional econometric method. The empirical results reported in this paper demonstrate the validity of the laws for Turkey over the period under discussion. In testing the first law, spatial dependence is detected. The presence of spatial dependence indicates that the growth of neighbouring regions (and indirectly, the growth of their manufacturing sectors) has an effect on the growth of a region. All the empirical findings suggest that manufacturing has a key role in regional economic growth.     

行业异质性与空间黏性：企业迁移成效的差异及其解释——以英德市产业转移园为例

企业迁移成效的差异是经济区位理论和区域发展政策关注的重要科学问题。区域产业转移实践往往呈现出多个行业的产业转移到相同区域的特征,以及产业转出地和转入地之间对不同行业的空间黏性存在差异,导致区域产业转移效果存在差异和理论解释的复杂性。基于此,本文从企业迁移的微观视角出发,以珠三角地区转移到粤北地区的产业转移园为例,通过行业投产数据的比较和空间盈利边界的理论演绎,分析区域不同行业产业转移效果的差异及其成因。研究表明,企业迁移成效存在行业异质性的差异,这是由于不同行业企业的对转出地的空间黏性大小不同造成的。空间黏性较小的企业比空间黏性较大的企业有更多的空间盈利。     

Producing Inequalities: Regional Sequences in Later Prehistoric Southern Spain

This paper presents regional sequences of production, consumption and social relations in southern Spain from the beginning of the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (c. 5600–1550 BC). The regions studied are southeast Spain, Valencia, the southern Meseta and central/western Andalucía. The details presented for each region and period vary in quality but show how much our knowledge of the archaeological record of southern Spain has changed during the last four decades. Among the surprises are the rapidity of agricultural adoption, the emergence of regional centres of aggregated population in enclosed/fortified settlements of up to 400 hectares in the fourth and third millennia BC, the use of copper objects as instruments of production, rather than as items with a purely symbolic or ‘prestige’ value, large-scale copper production in western Andalucía in the third millennium BC (as opposed to the usual domestic production model), and the inference of societies based on relations of class.     

URBAN NETWORKS AND GOVERNANCE IN CITY‐REGION PLANNING: STATE‐LED REGION BUILDING IN NANJING CITY‐REGION,CHINA

During the transition towards a more market‐oriented economy and entrepreneurial governance, local authorities have attempted to create new cross‐jurisdiction regional entities to enhance their competitiveness through making city‐region plans or regional strategic plans in China. This article analyses the process of region building in China through a case study of Nanjing city‐region. We argue that region building is a state‐led regional project in China, not a spontaneous process. City‐region planning has played a legitimacy‐seeking role in the construction of new regions. Based on the discourse provided by the city‐region plan, associated city networks are being created as a mechanism for plan implementation and regional coordination. This signals that regional planning is entering the stage of regional institution building. By assessing the capacity of regional institutions, we argue that the newly‐emerged regional institutions or urban networks have facilitated regionalization in terms of the increasing involvement of non‐state actors, the formation of regional coherence and identity and the enhanced inter‐city co‐operation. However, it is still difficult to establish effective regional governance due to competing local governments, the arbitrary political leadership and the fragmented planning functions.     

Emergence of the American manufacturing belt: an interpretation

This study proposes that the American manufacturing belt emerged during the antebellum years as a replicated set of regional industrial systems. A broad-based set of demands spurred the growth of regional manufactures, including the pivotal producer durables sector. Eastern regions industrialized first, and they were followed by frontier regions in the Midwest. The relative importance of regional market manufactures declined over time and multiregional/national market manufactures increased. Regional industrial systems became increasingly specialized; the result was higher levels of interregional trade in industrial specialties. The decline of regional market manufactures eroded the bases for the emergence of regional industrial systems by the 1860s. The westward spread of the manufacturing belt ended, and internal differentiation and structural change within the belt were characteristics of late nineteenth century industrialization. The South failed to join the manufacturing belt during the antebellum years because regional demands for manufactures were insufficient to support important regional industrial systems. It lacked the bases to participate significantly in late nineteenth century industrialization.     

A note on,wind‐stars

There has been a revival of interest in recent years in the relationships between multinational corporations (hereafter MNCs) and the host regions in which they operate. The branch plant thesis which generally views inward investment by MNCs in a negative light — as reinforcing power relations between core and peripheral regions — has been challenged, with the suggestion that such developments can play a key role in linking up local economies to important flows of knowledge and information in a global economy. It has also been suggested that MNC branch plant activities are in practice often upgraded over time, leading to the development of important competitive advantages for host regions. In this paper, such claims are investigated through a case study of the Aberdeen oil region in the north east of Scotland. The changing position of Aberdeen within the oil industry's corporate division of labour is evaluated in terms of the wider theoretical debate.     

Barriers and Limitations in the Development of Industrial Innovation in the Region

The growing interest in public policy contributing to the expansion of industrial innovation, has become increasingly significant, resulting from the interrelationship between innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth. This article presents the results of an empirical study in identifying the most important barriers to the development of innovation, as ascribed by industrial firms belonging to the high-tech sector alongside the more traditional industries. The data were collected through field survey of industrial firms, located in the Northern region of Israel. A considerable unexpected similarity was identified in the most important factors that constitute barriers to innovation, between the industrial sectors and the different regions investigated. The most significant limitations are those that relate to the high risk involved with the engagement in innovation. The risks are related, on the one hand, to the lack of financial resources, and on the other hand, to the high cost needed for this engagement, thereby affecting the time needed for return on investment. Additionally, the lack of highly skilled workers was also found to be a significant barrier.