Capabilities in knowledge-based regional development – towards a dynamic framework

There are only a few studies dealing with capabilities in the knowledge-based regional development and especially in implementation of contemporary innovation policy. Drawing upon the resource-based view, the capability perspective identifies combinations of regional resources and capabilities that generate competitive advantage. In light of theoretical and empirical advancement, this paper introduces a capability framework to reveal the multi-layered and dynamic nature of capabilities in knowledge-based regional development. The paper argues that in the regional context, it is important to consider and analyse (1) the organizational level resource and knowledge base and (2) ways in which the regional networks of organizations, engaged in knowledge-based development activities, exploit and renew regional resources and capabilities. The empirical analysis is based on personal in-depth interviews and document analysis. The findings indicate that studies on knowledge-based regional development should pay more attention to the capabilities of the actors involved in development processes. Innovation policy should be viewed as a means to mobilize, renew, build and acquire new resources and capabilities in a region and should aim to build and stimulate regional network-level capabilities for economic renewal.     

Straight subjectivities in homonormative spaces: moving towards a new, ‘dynamic’ heteronormativity?

Although scholars have explored geographies of heterosexuality for a relatively long time, experiences of heterosexual subjects have been under-researched. Contributing to the discussions around how homo/straight spaces are negotiated, this study analyses how heterosexuals experience and define both homonormative and heteronormative spaces in Seattle. Through a series of interviews and focus groups with self-identified heterosexuals, I explore how these subjects interact with spaces that they recognize as being either straight or gay, and how they negotiate their own identities in relation to those spaces. I also describe how, while refusing to reject heterosexuality, the vast majority of participants expressed discomfort at being defined as someone with a fixed, stable sexual identity, and how they assumed gayness to be non-transgressive and fixed. The results show a paradoxical, complex picture, in which gayness is described as stable and normative, and heterosexuality is depicted as fluid and dynamic. The study illustrates an instance in which homo/straight binaries still shape people’s imagination, while also offering an example of the messy interaction between homonormativity and heteronormativity. What is also suggested is that, experiencing homonormative spaces and performing ‘dynamic’ identities, the respondents renegotiate what being heterosexual means for them reinforcing, however, heterosexual dominance through the definition of a new ‘dynamic’ heteronormativity.     

Partisan sorting in the United States, 1972–2012: New evidence from a dynamic analysis

Whether Americans have “sorted” into politically like-minded counties and to what extent is hotly debated by academic and journalists. This paper examines whether or not geographic sorting has occurred and why it has occurred using a novel, dynamic analysis. Our findings indicate that geographic sorting is on the rise, but that it is a very recent phenomenon. In the 1970s and 1980s, counties tended to become more competitive, but by 1996 a pattern of partisan sorting had emerged and continued through the present. Results suggest this pattern is driven by Southern re-alignment and voting behavior in partisan stronghold counties. Lastly, we find evidence that migration can drive partisan sorting, but only accounts for a small portion of the change.     

The caste system of India on the skids: Totaled by democracy and a dynamic economy?

Anand Chakravarti. Contradiction and Change: Emerging Patterns of Authority in a Rajasthan Village. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. xii + 234 pp. Tables, diagrams, maps, appendixes, references, and index. $9.00.

D. B. Miller. From Hierarchy to Stratification: Changing Patterns of Social Inequality in a North Indian Village. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. xviii + 229 pp. Diagrams, illustrations, tables, maps, bibliography, and index. $9.75.     

Sino-American Cooperation in Geological Survey in Tibet

TheHimalayasandtheQinghai-TibetPlateau,plusareasundertheirimpact,makeupone-thirdoftheChineseterritory.Thisyoungpartoftheworid,withanaver-ageelevationof4,500meters,isstillrising.WarmandhumidcurrentsfromtheIndianOceaninthesouthareblockedbytheHimalayas,causi…     

Leaders in Thinking,Laggards in Attention? Bureaucratic Engagement in International Arenas

Frameworks that examine policy subsystems, networks, and coalitions view bureaucracies as part of the mix of policy actors that advocate policy positions in both domestic and international arenas. However, few examine bureaucracies as independent actors and how they exercise influence distinct from other pressure groups. The ways in which domestic bureaucracies engage in the international environment is woefully under examined, with only a few studies examining how domestic bureaucrats affect decision making in the international arena. However, it is not unreasonable to posit that bureaucratic engagement in the international arena may have political implications in the domestic sphere. Building on examinations of bureaucratic autonomy, this research queries the ways in which domestic bureaucracies can interact in the international arena to "change agendas and preferences" of domestic political actors. While it finds that attention to developing an international reputation can enhance political leverage at home, it may do so at a cost to domestic programs if insufficient attention is given to domestic aspects of the organization's mission. Nevertheless, as attention lurches from one arena to another, policy change is facilitated by the politically powerful resources of an international reputation in expertise, active engagement in the international policy community, and broadly based support for programmatic change.     

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Dalai'sVisittoTaiwanCondemnedAspokesmanfortheTaiwanOfficeoftheCPCCentralCommitteeandtheTaiwanOfficeoftheStateCouncilsaidonFebruary28thatbothTaiwanandTibetareinalienablepartsofChina,andthel4thDalaiwasworkingfor"Tibetanindepen-dence"internationally.Thespoke…     

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ＮｅｗｓｉｎＢｒｉｅｆ￥／／ＪｉａｎｇＺｅｍｉｎＶｉｓｉｔｓＴｉｂｅｔＨａｌｌＯｎＳｅｐｔｅｍｂｅｒ２５，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＰａｒｔｙａｎｄｓｔａｔｅｌｅａｄｅｒｓＪｉａｎｇＺｅｍｉｎ，ＱｉａｏＳｈｉａｎｄＨｕＪｉｎｇｔａｏｐａｉｄａｖｉｓｉｔｔｏｔｈｅ...     

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ADemisedLamaShrinksAccordingtotheGarzeDaily,an80-year-oldAbbotNgaqiongwiththeLongmoMonasteryinXinlongCountypassedawayonSeptember13.Hisremains,laidopeninahallforsevendaysaccordingtobuddhistrituals,shranktothesizeofaninkbottleontheafternoonofthesixthday,tothesizeofabeauontheeighthdayanddisappearedonthe10thday.Whatremainarehairandnails.PublishingCauseFruitfulBeginningintheearly1997,publishingcompaniesinHunan,Shanghai,Henan,Hebeiand12othercitiesandprovincesdonated7.05millionyuantoaidtheirc…     

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NorthernTibet'sFirstModernKindergartenConstructionofnorthernTibet'sfirstmodernkindergartenisinfullswinginNagquTown.Itinvolvesatotalinvestmentof600,000yuanfromZoushanCity,ZhejiangProvince.QigaPowerStationPassesQualityAppraisalTheOigaHydraulicPowerStationofShannan,builtwithinvestmentmadebytheDepartmentoftheHydraulicPowerDevelopmentoftheStatePowerCorp.,passesqualityappraisalinZetang.BeijingInvests110MillionYuaninLhasaBytheendofMaythisyear,Beijinghasoverthepastfiveyearsinvested110mi…     

Heritage in trust: Sustainable stewardship in transition?

Abstract

Frequently identified with ‘establishment’ values the National Trust has as often been a focus of critique as of celebration. This essay examines the Trust's changing relation to contested values of heritage as manifest in its acquisitions and management policies, in its engagement with environmental and social issues and an emerging politicisation which transcends a narrow, purely property‐based interpretation of its statutory purpose. Recent acquisitions challenge conventional perceptions of ‘natural beauty’ and ‘historic interest’. Organisational greening has precipitated a review of the implications of stewardship ‘in perpetuity’. Recognition of the needs of local communities and awareness of equal opportunities issues have prompted a reinterpretation of its founders’ concerns with access and enjoyment ‘for the nation’. These developments manifest an inchoate shift in the Trust's emphasis from the preservation of the status quo to engagement with change, both within the context of its own properties and in its relations to the wider society and environment. The Trust is unlikely ever to lead changes in public perceptions of heritage but neither is its role necessarily or irredeemably a wholly reactionary one. Inertial and cautious, the Trust reflects and articulates the shifting resolution of contested cultural values.     

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CurpuHighwayConstructionAceremonywasheldonAugust29fortheconstructionoftheCurpuHighWayinLhasa.Thehighway,tobeconstructedwithanaidtotalling34.84millionyuanfromTaiwancompatriots,willextend23.6kmfromtheCurpuMonasteryinDoilungdeqenCountytotheLungbaBridgeinGurongCounty.The5.5-meter-wideroadwillbepavedwithconcretecement,andlinksupwiththeQinghai-TibetHighway.Theconstructionprojectisexpectedtobecompletedin2000.YamzhogYumcoPowerStationAfteroneyearoftrialoperation,theYamzhogYumcoPumpStoragePo…     

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Travel in Tibet

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BumperharvestforLhasabovodforLhasaIn1996,Lhasareaped151.97millionkgofcerealsandoilbearingcrops.Thisincluded141.8millionkgofcerea1sand1o1.7millionkgofoilbearingcrops.-pe-vestfo,bonnanInl996,Shannanreapedl33millionkgofgrainand5.2millionkgofrapeseeds,abumper…     

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Railway Helps Bring Down the Price Statistics show that people in Lhasacall get only 54 Yuan worth of goods with100Yuan.largely because most of themerchandises have to be shipped in fromthe hinterland by air or by trucks.Accord-     

Friends in Deed

To the south of Gangdese Mountain, and besides the Yarlung Zangbo River, lies Zhanang County. Here, the third batch of aid-Tibet workers from Zhuzhou of Hunan Province devoted themselves to arduous aid work with great enthusiasm.