Research,knowledge transfer,and innovation: The effect of Italian universities’ efficiency on local economic development 2006−2012

We test whether there is a link between the performance of universities, measured through a concept of efficiency, and the economic development of the regions in which they operate. Indicators of teaching, research, and third mission are considered as outputs. To handle endogeneity problems between the efficiency of universities and economic development, a system generalized method of moments and then an instrumental variable approach are used. Our findings reveal that the presence of efficient universities fosters local economic development. Knowledge spillovers occur to areas that are in close geographical proximity to efficient universities. Results are robust to different estimation strategies.     

Do Perceptions Match Reality? Comparing Latinos’ Perceived Views of State Immigration Policy Environments with Enacted Policies

This paper explores assumptions made and measurement approaches in the nuanced pathway between enacted state immigration policies and the outcomes they affect in Latino immigrant communities. Scholars across a variety of fields have found that contemporary state immigrant policymaking is associated with outcomes in immigrant communities including political engagement, mental and physical health, access to education, and labor opportunities. In this paper, we explore questions of how state immigration policies produce these and other outcomes. Much of this literature relies on the assumption that members of the immigrant communities are aware of the state policies being enacted, yet few quantitative studies of the effects of state immigration policy contain measures of both policy and of perception. We seek to determine the extent to which Latino immigrants are aware of state immigrant policymaking to help determine whether state immigration policies are a valid approach to measure perceptions of the immigration policy environment in Latino immigrant communities. Additionally, we explore alternative measures of immigration policy. Our findings are particularly relevant to policymakers and immigration scholars as the contemporary political environment has helped to fuel anti‐immigrant sentiments and rhetoric contributing to Latinos’ perceptions of the state immigrant policy environment.     

The History of Knowledge and the Future of Knowledge Societies

The new field of the history of knowledge is often presented as a mere expansion of the history of science. We argue that it has a greater ambition. The re‐definition of the historiographical domain of the history of knowledge urges us to ask new questions about the boundaries, hierarchies, and mutual constitution of different types of knowledge as well as the role and assessment of failure and ignorance in making knowledge. These issues have pertinence in the current climate where expertise is increasingly questioned and authority seems to lose its ground. Illustrated with examples from recent historiography of the sixteenth to twentieth centuries, we indicate some fruitful new avenues for research in the history of knowledge. Taken together, we hope that they will show that the history of knowledge could build the expertise required by the challenges of twenty‐first century knowledge societies, just like the history of science, throughout its development as a discipline in the twentieth century, responded to the demands posed by science and society.     

Partisans and the Use of Knowledge versus Science

This paper explores the kind of knowledge that partisans profess in order to contribute to our studies of what has usually been thought of as the “denial of science.” Building on the research of Robert Proctor, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, I show that the tobacco interests and climate science skeptics usually described as “doubt mongers” also purveyed forms of certainty and rested their arguments on three different registers of truth: that of narrowly defined “facts” that could sustain a controversy, ideological commitments to free enterprise, and the truths of self‐conscious partisans engaged in battle. Thus, in many respects they have used elements of general knowledge, as well as social, economic and political commitments, to argue against specific scientific findings. Further, at least in the case of climate skeptics, this denial has been in the service of an image of the nature of science and its proper relation to politics. Analyzing significant dichotomies in debates that cross the terrains of science and politics, and knowledge and science, I will argue that a clear articulation of the relations amongst them will be critical to our work to understand the character of climate science denial, but also of the climate sciences themselves.     

Beyond the blind spot of knowledge-based territorial development: the mission of Metropolitan Food Clusters

The rise of knowledge-based territorial development has been fuelled primarily by aspirations of competitiveness and wealth creation. Another upcoming ambition is that of sustainability, not only as an accompanying goal but as a core mission driving territorial initiatives such as clusters development. This paper explores mission-driven territorial development along theoretical and empirical lines. The paper starts by discussing a basic heuristic model intersecting the three concepts of ‘mission’, ‘knowledge’ (distinguishing ‘substantive’ and ‘significant’ knowledge) and ‘governance’. This leads to an analytical framework for territorial development focusing on (1) mission formulation, (2) production and exchange of knowledge in supportive milieus, (3) embedding of substantive knowledge, (4) anchoring of significant knowledge, and (5) feeding of significant knowledge into the (re) design of institutions and strategies of policy design and implementation. This framework is applied to three cases of ‘Metropolitan Food Clusters’ to illustrate and test the framework. The paper shows how especially the continuous anchoring of significant knowledge poses major challenges to knowledge-based territorial development and should be a central issue in future research and policy.     

Peripheralization and knowledge bases in Austria: towards a new regional typology

Scholars are increasingly interested in innovation in peripheral areas. However, research and policy documents are still often based on a traditional understanding of the core–periphery dichotomy. Here, the peripheralization discourse argues for a broader understanding and highlights the importance of economic, demographic, and political factors as well as knowledge intensity for defining core and peripheral areas. Concerning the latter, the differentiated knowledge base approach provides new insights, as it emphasizes the varying foundations for different kinds of innovations. By combining these hitherto unconnected strands of literature, this paper first develops a conceptual framework for a new regional typology, which considers both the degree of centralization/peripheralization and the prevailing knowledge base. Second, an exploratory analysis applies this framework to the 95 districts of Austria and provides first insights into peripheralization and issues of regional prosperity. The results show that there are indeed many nuances and that regions that are clearly either central or peripheral are the exception. Furthermore, peripheries come in many shades and are not uniform, as often assumed implicitly. Consequently, this paper argues that a tailor-made innovation policy for lagging regions would benefit from the incorporation of the peripheralization discourse. To conclude, it outlines directions for future research.     

Which region to choose for an industrial policy? A research path to highlight restructuring opportunities

Our study explores research avenues that can help policymakers to assess regional capabilities for ‘green’ economic restructuring. After reviewing the relevant literature, and envisioning research paths which consider both market transactions and externalities, we propose possible ways to translate past research findings into novel statistical tools. Our point of departure is the ‘skill relatedness’ among economic sectors in Norway, as inferred from intersectoral labour flows (years 2008–2014). Then, on the basis of the industrial composition in each of the 161 Norwegian labour market areas, candidate regions that could benefit the most from a ‘green’ restructuring policy, aimed at photovoltaics in our empirical example, are brought forward.     

De la carte au territoire: Portée et usages des outils cartographiques au sein de la Première Nation des Pekuakamiulnuatsh Entrevue avec Michel Nepton,membre de la Première Nation des Pekuakamiulnuatsh et conseiller en aménagement du territoire

From map to territory: Scope and uses of mapping tools within the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation Interview with Michel Nepton, member of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation and land use and planning advisor While the mapping of Indigenous territories has long been at the heart of land-grabbing strategies orchestrated by the colonial powers, these tools are now largely mobilized by Indigenous communities through the processes of claiming, negotiation, and affirmation. The specific context of land claiming in Canada has also contributed in a significant way to the increasing use of these tools by communities seeking to demonstrate their historical occupation of land. In any case, the translation of Indigenous knowledge into exogenous geographical language remains subject to criticism and caution, particularly by the tenants of critical mapping. In order to shed new light on these issues, the following interview was conducted with the land use and planning advisor Michel Nepton, working in the Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan Land rights and protection board (Council of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation, Mashteuiatsh). Bringing forward his experience and use of mapping tools within his professional practice, his thoughts reveal the role and scope they have in the specific context of his community.     

Workplace mobility in Canadian urban agglomerations, 1996 to 2016: Have workers really flown the coop?

Whilst workplace mobility (i.e., working from a variety of locations) has become an area of study in its own right, and has increasingly gained media attention, little is known about how prevalent or novel it is. In this paper we use Census place of work data to obtain insights into the prevalence and growth of this phenomenon in Canada's ten largest Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). These data do not capture all dimensions of workplace mobility, but are the best currently available to assess it population-wide. We show that workplace mobility has increased modestly since 1996, and that it is particularly prevalent in sectors such as construction, and amongst less qualified workers. Knowledge workers, to the extent they are mobile, tend to work from home. These results do not capture fine-grained mobility within the working day (which may indeed be increasing), but demonstrate that these finer grained mobilities have not fundamentally impacted the types of workplace that jobs are attached to.     

国外老年旅游研究进展与理论体系——兼论人文主义地理学研究老年旅游的思路框架

老年旅游的发展是全球人口结构老龄化的现象之一,成为了旅游学、老年学等多学科交叉研究的一个重要领域。国外已经形成了一个较为完善的研究体系,国内对老年旅游的关注日益提高,但尚处于现象描述等初期阶段,各学科关注度和研究深度较一般。本文以人文地理学科为背景,收集、整理并仔细分析了国外老年旅游研究的主要文献,系统性的地总结了国外老年旅游研究的进展脉络、线索、较具代表性的学术理论观点和多学科的理论与方法介入状况。从人文主义地理学的理论视角分析了目前国外老年旅游研究的不足,作出了人文主义地理学对老年旅游研究的适用性研判,并提出了新的研究思路框架。一方面致力于解决现实的研究问题,另一方面是寻求人文地理学科在老年旅游研究中的深度介入,兼具理论意义和应用价值。