KNOWLEDGE IMPACTS OF UNIVERSITIES ON INDUSTRY AN AGGREGATE SIMULTANEOUS INVESTMENT MODEL*

ABSTRACT. This paper is concerned with the impacts of academic knowledge production (human capital, research, and consultancy) on the investment behavior of the manufacturing industry. Beginning with the neoclassical theory of capital accumulation, a multiregional investment model for non-residential structures and equipment is developed. Within this model, the knowledge impacts of universities are represented by a diffusion function, which takes into account the possibilities of contagious and hierarchical diffusion of knowledge. Special attention has been given to the development of a theoretically sound and empirically operational investment model, and to the identification of spatio-temporal correlation. The latter has been approached by means of the use of an EGLS estimator, based on a stationary spatio-temporal Markov scheme for the residual. The main result of the case study relating to the Netherlands is that academic knowledge production has a significant positive impact on investments in equipment which is strongest in the neighborhood of central places (i.e., following a hierarchical diffusion pattern).     

Coloniality as a Barrier to Climate Action: Hierarchies of Power in a Coal-Based Economy

South Africa has a coal-based energy system and extractive economy, largely responsible for its high emission levels relative to countries with similar GDP. This extractive, coal-based economy began during British colonisation and today shows few signs of transitioning rapidly to limit climate change. This paper interrogates the role of coloniality in climate delay, given that colonisation is responsible for establishing fossil fuel dependence in South Africa. Combining theory on decolonisation, specifically colonial hierarchies of power, with a critical discourse analysis, this research uses interview and policy data to show how colonial power hierarchies can lead to climate delay in South Africa, through normalising emissions intensive development and silencing alternatives. In doing so, it highlights the need to recognise the colonial foundations of climate change and the potential for a coalition between decolonisation and climate action to motivate for radical change both in South Africa and at a global level.     

Book Reviews

Technopoles of the World: The Making of 21st Century Industrial Complexes. M. Castells and P. Hall. London, Routledge, 1994, x + 275 pp, £45.00 hb, ISBN 0 415 10014 3, £14.99 pk, ISBN 0 415 10015 1 pb.

Transport and Communications Innovation in Europe. G. Giannopoulos and A. Gillespie (Eds). London, Belhaven Press, 1993, xii + 369 pp, £42.00 hb, ISBN 1 85293 269 4.

The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning. F. Fisher and J. Forester (Eds). London, UCL Press, 1993, 327pp, £14.95, pb, ISBN 1 85728 183 7.

Regional Development in the 1990s. The British Isles in Transition. P. Townroe and R. Martin (Eds). London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers and Regional Studies Association, 330pp, £22.50 pb, ISBN 1 85302 139 3.

Urban Land and Property Markets in France. R. Acosta and V. Renard. London, University College Press, 1993, 166pp, £40.00 hb, ISBN 1 85728 050 4.     

The changing role of evaluation methods in a changing planning environment: Some Dutch experiences

This paper reviews the role of ex ante evaluation methods in Dutch planning practice in the past decades. It is illustrated that the improvement of the evaluation methodology is to a large extent based on a learning process. Many innovations were evoked by criticism and limitations disclosed in practical applications. Since the planning environment as well as the professional skills and attitudes are also constantly changing, this demands a high degree of flexibility of the evaluation methodology. A shift of interest can be witnessed from the quality of the decision towards the quality of decision‐making. It is argued in this paper that in Dutch planning practice currently at least four different situations can be distinguished with respect to the use (or non‐use) of formal ex ante evaluation methods. In planning situations with a hierarchical power structure evaluation methods are regularly used, whereas in situations with a mixed power structure evaluation methods are only used ‘in disguise’ (e.g. hidden in geographical information systems studies, market analysis).