Global Value Chains and Open Networks: The Case of Italian Industrial Districts

Italian district small and medium enterprises (SMEs) developed aggressive strategies to extend their sales networks and supply chains abroad. Literature on districts offered alternative explanations about the impacts of internationalization on local manufacturing systems. The authors consider the evolution of Italian districts in the framework of global value chain approach, focusing on the role of leading firms. Based on a survey of 650 Italian SMEs and financial indicators, the paper describes the rise of a new district firm model, the open network, which becomes a key node of global value chains. The paper also analyses the relationships among internationalization, innovation strategies and performance of SMEs.     

A Visual Analytics System for Space–Time Dynamics of Regional Income Distributions Utilizing Animated Flow Maps and Rank-based Markov Chains

Regional income convergence and divergence has been an active field of research for more than 20 years, and research papers in this field are still being produced at a prodigious rate. Despite their importance for the study of dynamics of income distribution, interactive visualization tools revealing spatiotemporal dimensions of the income data have been sparsely developed. This study introduces a visual analytics system for the space–time analysis of income dynamics. We use state-level US income data from 1929 to 2009 to demonstrate the visual analytics system and its utility for exploring similar data. The system consists of two modules, visualization and analytics. The visualization module, a Web-based front-end called Rank-Path Visualizer (RPV), draws inspiration from the cartographic technique of flow mapping, originally developed by Tobler and embodied in his canonical Flow Mapper application.     

The Spatial Search Problem: Structure and Complexity

The paper discusses structure and complexity of the spatial search problem. From a set of assumptions it derives a rather general version of the spatial search problem and investigates some of its fundamental properties. Most importantly, the paper shows that the decision problem corresponding to the spatial search problem in this general version is NP-complete.     

The Value of Rents: Global Commodity Chains and Small Cocoa Producers in Ecuador

Drawing on the Marxian theory of ground rent, this paper develops an analysis of “global commodity chains” (GCCs) with agrarian roots. There is an acknowledgement that the concentrated downstream governance of primary commodity‐based GCCs has created a set of “asymmetrical” power relations which blocks the transmission of value upstream towards small producers. This paper argues that this research under‐specifies what is meant by value and rent, and in doing so marginalises the analysis of value production before its journey through inter‐firm relations. We demonstrate the importance of theorising the value constitution of commodities produced on the land and the forces that contest the payment of ground rent and thereby shape the geography of GCCs. Based on empirical research conducted around Ecuador's “post‐neoliberal” cocoa re‐activation plan, we identify the class politics and production mechanisms through which value and rent escapes the hands of a stratified network of small owner producers.     

The Problem of Diffusion: Rejoinders

MYTH AND RELIGION OF THE NORTH, The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. By E. O. G. TURVILLE-PETRE. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964. Pp. 340.50s. net. Reviewed by E. O. James.

HERBERT JENNINGS ROSE, 1883–1961. By W. L. LORIMER, Oxford University Press. 3s. net. Reviewed by E. O. James.

THE CULT OF THE CAT. By PATRICIA DALE-GREEN. London, William Heinemann. Pp. 189; 39 plates. Price 30s. Reviewed by Theo Brown.

DIE SAGEN DER MONATHLICHEN UNTERREDUNGEN OTTO VON GRABENS ZUM STEIN. Edited by W. E. PEUCKERT. Corpus Fabulorum I. Berlin, W. de Gruyter &; Co., 1961. Pp. xix, 327. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

GÖTTER UND GÖTTERTIERE DER MAYA. By WOLFGANG CORDAN. Bern, Francke Verlag, 1963. Pp. 75; 50 text figs. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

THE REGIONAL VOCABULARY OF TEXAS. By E. Bagby Atwood. University of Texas Press, 1962. Pp. 273, xiii. $5.75. Reviewed by C. A. Burland.

LAPP LIFE AND CUSTOMS. By ØRNULF VORREN and ERNST MANKER, (translated by Kathleen McFarlane). London, 1962. Pp. 183.38s. Reviewed by W. R. Mead.

FOLK TALES FROM RAJASTHAN. Retold by L. N. BIRLA. Illustrated by PHANI BHUSHAN. London, Asia Publishing House, 1964. Pp. 60. 20s. Reviewed by L. P. Elwell-Sutton.

DRAMA AND IMAGERY IN ENGLISH MEDIEVAL CHURCHES. By M. D. ANDERSON. C.U.P., 1963. Pp. 248. 45s. Reviewed by Alex Helm.

BRETON FOLK DANCES. By JEAN-MICHAEL GUILCHER. Paris, School of Higher Studies, Sorbonne. Reviewed by Douglas Kennedy.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE SIOUX NATION. By ROBERT M. UTLEY. Yale University Press, 1961. Pp. 314; 24 plates. 56s. net. Reviewed by C. A. Burland.

STUDIES IN JAPANESE FOLKLORE. By RICHARD M. DORSON. Indiana University Press, 1963. Pp. 247. Reviewed by W. H. Hudspeth.

THE MEDIEVAL HISTORY OF THE COAST OF TANGANYIKA. By G. S. P. FREEMAN-GRENVILLE. Oxford University Press. Pp. 238; maps, plates. 50s. Reviewed by W. H. Whiteley.

DIE VOLKSERZÄHLUNG. By LEOPOLD SCHMIDT. Berlin, Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1963. Pp. 448; 4 maps. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

DEUTSCHES JAHRBUCH FÜR VOLKSKUNDE. Vol. ix. Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 1963. Pp. 468; Pls. 8, xvi; 9 text figs. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

BRÜDER GRIMM GEDENKEN 1963. Gedenkschrift zur hundertsten Wiederkehr des Todestages von Jacob Grimm. Marburg, N. G. Elwert Verlag, 1963. Pp. ix, 610; 16 plates. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

SONGS OF THE CIVIL WAR. Compiled and edited by IRWIN SILBER, Piano and Guitar Accompaniment by Garry Silverman. Columbia University Press, 1960; Oxford University Press, 1961. Reviewed by K. M. Briggs.     

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (‘the Accord’) has received both praise and criticism concerning its implications for corporate responsibility and power. This article contributes to the debate by situating the Accord within a broader set of activities that buyers are engaged in to promote better labour conditions in their supply chains. The authors identify three approaches of buyer engagement: auditing, capacity building and advocacy. Drawing on interviews conducted with European brands and retailers, the article shows how buyers perceive the merits and challenges of these approaches, and whether and how they discharge responsibility and power through these activities. The study shows that the Accord is seen primarily as part of the auditing approach with a key feature being its use of collective leverage as a means of enforcement. While greater buyer power has not necessarily been accompanied by greater responsibility, the article highlights heterogeneity among buyers in how they take up different approaches, painting a more nuanced picture of buyer responsibility and power.     

The Clanking of Medieval Chains: Extra-Judicial Banishment in the British Empire

Banishment in English law was circumscribed by the Magna Carta and habeas corpus and prohibited except by legal procedure. The Transportation Act of 1718 legalised exile and enshrined convictism in law. The case of Bancoult (No.2), 2008, which considered the banishment of the Ilois of Chagos Island in the 1960s, brought consideration of banishment into the twentieth century and opened the royal prerogative to modern scrutiny. What becomes clear from this case is that banishment relied on royal prerogative without resort to legal process and was surprisingly routine throughout the British Empire. This article considers the implications of this case and some of the wider history of banishment in the empire.     

"The Ancient Economy": The Problem and the Fraud

Periodically since about 1860 the debate about "The Ancient Economy" has raged vehemently as oikos controversy , Bücher-Meyer debate , primitivists versus modernists or simply as the Moses Finley debate . Therefore, Hopkins rightly remarked: "The ancient economy is an academic battleground. The contestants campaign under various colours--apologists, Marxists, modernizers, primitivists Even within schools, there are sects." This still seems to be the case, although the author of this article does not belong to any school or sect but is looking for an anti-ideological controllable scientific truth. Whatever that may be it is, certainly, a critical venture where "fraud" is at stake. In 1986, by symbolic accident the year of Finley's death, he dared to start a new period in the debate and at present the controversy with all its usual tricks seems at its zenith again. Did the bell toll for the last round in this beloved controversy? After 150 years of debate, one can never be sure about that, but we will try again. The subject matter is no less important than the question "to whom belongs antiquity?" or "for what purposes does one study its history or culture?" The following article wants to introduce the debate in a few sentences, question its present relevancy as the Moses Finley debate and provoke readers into another one.     

Nuclear Economies and Local Supply Chains in Peripheral Areas: The Case of West Cumbria

The aim of this paper is to fill the gap in data relating to local supply chains in the proximity of nuclear sites by investigating the site of Sellafield in West Cumbria, UK. Using information obtained from invoice data provided by Sellafield Ltd, the site-licenced company, and from primary research, the authors explore the relevance of nuclear procurement within the area, by evaluating levels of economic leakage and seepage resulting from suppliers’ subcontracting and work carried out locally. The study shows that the presence of a nuclear site has a crucial role for the surrounding area and for its economy. The results indicate a significant level of financial retention in the area with regard to work carried out in-house and local subcontracting at a first tier. In particular, the results identify cash flows related to second-tier suppliers located in West Cumbria, demonstrating that about a third of the total work carried out or subcontracted at the nuclear site stays in the area. These findings underline the significant impact of Sellafield on the West Cumbria economy and, more generally, provide an overview of the importance of nuclear sites for local supply chains in peripheral and remote areas.     

Two New Location Covering Problems: The Partial P-Center Problem and the Partial Set Covering Problem

Two new covering problems are introduced. The partial covering P-center problem minimizes a coverage distance in such a way that a given fraction of the population is covered. The partial set covering problem seeks the minimum number of facilities needed to cover an exogenously specified fraction of the population within a given coverage distance. The problems are formulated as integer linear programming problems. Bisection search algorithms are outlined for the two problems. The search algorithm repeatedly solves a Lagrangian relaxation of the maximal covering problem. Computational results for the Lagrangian relaxation of the maximal covering problem and for the bisection search algorithms are presented on problems with up to 150 nodes.     

Two New Location Covering Problems: The Partial P-Center Problem and the Partial Set Covering Problem

Two new covering problems are introduced. The partial covering P-center problem minimizes a coverage distance in such a way that a given fraction of the population is covered. The partial set covering problem seeks the minimum number of facilities needed to cover an exogenously specified fraction of the population within a given coverage distance. The problems are formulated as integer linear programming problems. Bisection search algorithms are outlined for the two problems. The search algorithm repeatedly solves a Lagrangian relaxation of the maximal covering problem. Computational results for the Lagrangian relaxation of the maximal covering problem and for the bisection search algorithms are presented on problems with up to 150 nodes.     

The Sahelian Problem

Abstract

Philosophy of engineering is an area of study that is still in its infancy – attracting a growing number of researchers but still far behind the established field of philosophy of science. This essay reports on a series of seminars held on the topic at the Royal Academy of Engineering which have demonstrated that it is an area rich with problems for both philosophers and engineers to tackle. These problems can shed light on existing philosophical questions, raise new ones and even have practical value for the engineer.     

The Postmodern Problem

Abstract

Mormon political theology must reconcile two distinct projects: the care for the Church's concrete, temporal existence in the World, and the welcoming of the future Kingdom of God on earth. Because of this duality, political theology finds itself highlighting the distinction between the World and the Kingdom of God and at the same time pointing out common ground and attempting to establish peace between the Church and the World. The alleged contradictions of Mormon political thought are, according to this conception, to be understood not as confrontations between idealism and brute reality (or “utopianism” and “assimilation”), but rather as the bringing together of the two goals of Mormon political reflection, pursued by two sides of political theology. These two sides, apologetic and prophetic political theology, are distinguished not by their political content, but rather by their particular kinds of political rhetoric.     

A Combined Cluster and Interaction Model: The Hierarchical Assignment Problem

This article presents a new spatial modeling approach that deals with interactions between individual geographic entities. The developed model represents a generalization of the transportation problem and the classical assignment problem and is termed the hierarchical assignment problem (HAP). The HAP optimizes the spatial flow pattern between individual origin and destination locations, given that some grouping, or aggregation of individual origins and destinations is permitted to occur. The level of aggregation is user specified, and the aggregation step is endogenous to the model itself. This allows for the direct accounting of aggregation costs in pursuit of optimal problem solutions. The HAP is formulated and solved with several sample data sets using commercial optimization software. Trials illustrate how HAP solutions respond to changes in levels of aggregation, as well as reveal the diverse network designs and allocation schemes obtainable with the HAP. Connections between the HAP and the literature on the p-median problem, cluster analysis, and hub-and-spoke networks are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.     

《周礼·考工记》度量衡比例关系考

《周礼·考工记》(以下简称《考工记》)是迄今所见中国最早的手工业技术文献,所记工艺分六类三十个工种,包括攻木之工、攻金之工、攻皮之工、设色之工、刮摩之工、抟埴之工等,分别记述木工、金工、皮革、染色、琢磨器物及制陶等内容。本文在全面整理《考工记》度量衡单位的基础上,根据中国传统训诂学的训诂原理、语义观念以及词汇语义学原理按类聚合《考工记》度量衡单位,梳理先秦手工业度量衡单位系统,从度量衡单位的比例关系和成品的度量衡比例关系两个方面考察《考工记》的比例关系即比值关系。