Small Islands versus Big Cities: Lessons in the Political Economy of Regional Development from the World’s Small Islands

Population, employment and economic capacity continue to concentrate in and around large urban centres. If geography (measured as proximity to large centres of population) increasingly matters in the knowledge economy, then there may be no future for periphery locations. This paper critically reviews and refutes this hypothesis by looking at the world’s small islands. Handicapped by size and distance, they are unable to generate scale dynamics nor to regularly access any neighbouring, large metropolitan centres. Nevertheless, jurisdictional resourcefulness resulting from sovereignty or sub-national autonomy fosters compensatory policy capacity. Demand for niche-technology manufactures and craft-based, labour-intensive or place-specific services is likely to persist. Cyclical migration strategies allow islanders seeking work or education off island to tap the metropole and re-inject resources to reinvigorate the periphery. Remittances, aid, bureaucracy and other “rents” can provide significant fiscal resources necessary for survival.     

Design and Test of an Index to Measure the Capability of Cities in Latin America to Create Knowledge-Based Enterprises

An index has been created, based on the experience of a prior version tested in 5 cities in Chile, and from an extensive literature search. Its purpose is to rank cities in Latin America on their capability to create knowledge-based enterprises, in a way that is understandable by stakeholders, motivates action and facilitates diagnosis. The index consists of 7 groups of 50 variables (knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship, business foundation, cultural framework, creative magnetism and entrepreneurial management). All variables are measured by numerical data from secondary sources. The index is tested for feasibility and cost-effectiveness in one city, Santiago. It is concluded that data limitations will require the use of survey techniques, including survey of perceptions, for about 1/3 of the variables to increase accuracy and generate a more meaningful information for future analysis. Various directions for future research are suggested.     

The Knowledge-Based Economy: Conceptual Framework or Buzzword?

In the last two decades, concepts have appeared that have influenced and even defined entire science and technology policies in Western countries: high technology, national system of innovation, information economy, knowledge-based economy, and the new economy. In all these policy developments, the OECD, acting as a think tank for its member countries, has been an important promoter of these concepts, turning them into buzzwords. This article looks at the concept of knowledge-based economy in order to explore the crucial role of the OECD in its dissemination and, above all, the role statistics have played in shaping policy discourses.     

Contextualising Regional Innovation Systems in a Globalising Learning Economy: On Knowledge Bases and Institutional Frameworks

In order to advance the understanding of which types of regional innovation system represent effective innovation support for what kinds of industry in different regions analyses must be contextualized by reference to the actual knowledge base of various industries as well as to the regional and national institutional framework, which strongly shape the innovation processes of firms. Of special importance is the linkage between the larger institutional frameworks of the national innovation and business systems, and the character of regional innovation systems. In making the arguments about a general correspondence between the macro-institutional characteristics of the economy and the dominant form and character of its regional innovation systems a link is provided to the literature on ‘varieties of capitalism’ and national business systems.     

The Regional Location of Knowledge Based Economy Activities in Israel

The article analyzes the spatial location behavior of economic activity that is knowledge based, by decomposing the Knowledge-based Economy Index developed by the OECD (1999) and elaborated by Cooke and Schwartz (2003) into major components that represent groups with different characteristics. The spatial behavior is analyzed in Israel in the years 1995–2002. We find that business services and high tech services tend to concentrate in metropolitan areas. Business services are found in the main city and high tech services in the satellite urban ring, with the outer-cities becoming stronger over time. Public services supporting the knowledge-based economy are concentrated in the center of the country, though not necessarily in the principal city, and they can represent an important tool in regional policy. The high tech manufacturing is concentrated around the big cities, mainly around the main metropolis. The other knowledge-based manufacturing activities tend to leave for the periphery.     

“While a Storm is Raging on the Open Sea”: Regional Development in a Knowledge-based Economy

The Triple Helix of university–industry–government (UIG) relations is elaborated into a systemic model that accounts for interactions among three dimensions. By distinguishing between the respective micro-operations, this model enables us to recombine the “Mode 2” thesis of a new production of scientific knowledge and the study of systems of innovation with the neo-classical perspective on the dynamics of the market. The mutual information in three dimensions provides us with an indicator for the self-organization of the resulting network systems. The probabilistic entropy in this mutual information can be negative in knowledge-based configurations. The knowledge base of an economy can be considered as a second-order interaction effect among interactions at interfaces between institutions and functions in different spheres. Proximity enhances the chances for couplings and, therefore, the formation of technological trajectories. The next-order regime of the knowledge base, however, can be expected to remain pending as selection pressure.     

Entpreprenerial Universities and Technology Transfer: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Knowledge-Based Economic Development

This paper offers a framework to illuminate the role of universities in systems of innovation. The framework attempts to incorporate economic, social, and political influences that affect the ability of universities to both create new knowledge and deploy that knowledge in economically useful ways and thereby contribute to economic growth and prosperity. The objective of this paper is to build a more general understanding of university–industry relationships and their role in knowledge-based innovation systems.     

试论优势产业群培育与地域经济发展

产业群具有产业集聚、资源整合等特点,因此,被认为是拉动地方经济发展的一剂良方。本文围绕地域产业群的选择、培育等内容,结合地域经济发展的规律与特点,对地方构建优势产业群提出建议。     

知识经济时代的知识产权保护

知识产权对发展知识经济具有重要作用,我国知识产权保护状况尚不完善。为迎接知识经济时代的到来,建议从加大立法保护与执法力度、完善知识产权有关的审批程序、增强保护意识等方面,搞好知识产权保护工作     

循环经济发展与法制建设

我国传统的环保立法观念是"污染一治理",这种模式并不能达到治理污染的效果.综合污染控制作为一种新的环保方法,日益受到西方发达国家环境法学界的关注,其根源于循环经济的新理念.一些发达国家已经实现了将循环经济法制化和社会化,运用法律规范推动和保障循环经济的发展和循环型社会的形成.我国在循环经济立法方面取得了一些成绩,但未来仍有许多需要改进的地方,应当通过明确立法目标和任务,建立完善的循环经济法律制度.     

国内区域经济发展中的地方政府合作模式比较

为化解区域经济开放性与行政区划封闭性之间的冲突,我国探索出了科层制、市场化和网络化治理三类地方政府合作模式.本文在分析相关资料的基础上,对三种模式的表现形式和各自的利弊进行比较,以期为未来理论界和实务部门探索新的合作模式提供参考.     

统筹区域协调发展之生态补偿机制建构创新

区域经济合作在于统筹区域经济、资源、环境的协调发展,构建区域生态补偿机制是其重要保障,而科学的区域生态补偿机制,重在通过转移支付合理“弥补”生态功能区牺牲的利益而促使其生态保护与科学发展。构建区域生态补偿机制的现实难题,主要是同我国现行体制相关的诸多问题的综合表征,其基础依托在于法律制度、政策机制、组织体系之三个方面,其中立法创制与政策创新是关键。相关实践昭示,当前既要克服生态补偿立法上的缺陷,又要把握主体功能区规划实施的契机,推动以财政转移支付为主导的政府补偿政策机制的完善创新。     

我国跨境职务罪案协查机制的发展与完善

职务犯罪向境外发展是新时期廉政建设遇到的一个棘手问题。内地与港澳之间在控制此类犯罪的司法实践中已建立起个案协查机制,并根据情况变化不断进行自我完善。为适应港澳回归和“入世”的需要,法域间应当进一步扩大合作范围,提高合作档次,加大追逃追赃力度,制订协助法律规范,以健全有利于经济发展和社会稳定的法制环境。     

职务犯罪原因的系统分析

当今的中国是腐败和职务犯罪的多发和高发的时期,究其原因是多方面的,职务犯罪是一个多因素、多层次的复杂系统,其原因表现为:权力运行机制不完善,监督乏力;经济体制转型形成某些权力异化;惩治职务犯罪的立法相对滞后和一定程度上的执法不严;国家工作人员素质低下,价值错位,心理失衡。     

推动吉林省民营经济创新发展的对策

党的十八届三中全会首次提出,使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用,深化经济体制改革,这必然为民营经济带来新一轮蓬勃发展的机遇。吉林省民营经济只有创新发展才有生存空间和立足之地。本文针对吉林省民营经济创新发展存在的＂四个不够＂、＂六多六少＂和＂六个困难＂等问题,提出了树立创新理念和培育创业精神,培养和引进创新型人才,营造公平、和谐、宽松的发展环境,选择适合发展的产业和经营方式以及适时转型和提升传统产业的创新发展等对策。     

The Impact of Gravity-Weighted Knowledge Spillovers on Productivity in Manufacturing

This paper tests for localized knowledge spillovers from out-of-state innovations in U.S. manufacturing from 1977 to 1997. The source of these spillovers is innovations categorized into six technologies based on U.S. patent classes and patent data. Using a gravity-weighting for out-of-state innovations, knowledge spillovers are found from mechanical technologies and drug and medical technologies for a broad group of manufacturing industries. Innovations from chemical-related technologies are found to generate spillovers for the Chemical and Allied Products Industry and for the Transportation Equipment Industry. Additionally, specialization of production at the two-digit Standard Industrial Classification of industry level is also found to increase state-level productivity in manufacturing.     

我国区域经济协调发展法治化内涵研究

区域经济协调发展的法治化包含极其丰富的内涵。正确选择法律体系构建、立法与执法以及司法模式;确定以公平原则、平衡协调原则、市场调节与政府宏观调控相结合原则以及可持续发展原则为主的基本原则;推进以机构及其职责、规划制定与实施、区域经济合作、政策手段的法律化以及权利义务责任配置等为主的各项法律制度建设,应是我国实现区域经济协调发展法治化的基本内涵。     

Business Development Capabilities in Information Technology SMEs in a Regional Economy: An Exploratory Study

“Business development” is a corporate entrepreneurial capability (or competence) that has emerged in the Information Technology industry to support that industry’s practice of co-creation of value with customers and complementors. As a set of practices that link the firm’s value creating processes with its external environment, business development capabilities are a key factor in the success of IT SMEs. This article examines business development functions and business developer attributes in SMEs in the Information Technology Industry in Eastern Canada. The principal business development functions are finding profitable opportunities in business networks, developing and maintaining partnerships, providing support for new product development, and recognizing and responding to customer needs. The regional market and export markets require different business development capabilities.     

知识经济及其全球化对中国法律发展的影响

知识经济是以知识为基础的经济。迎接并参与知识经济及其全球化乃是中国经济发展的战略的需要 ,它将促进中国法律首先在经济法尤其是政府角色定位方面取得长足发展 ,促使中国与世界各国法律发展的交流与合作 ,推动中国社会内部结构的转型与变迁 ,推动中国社会的全面进步和文明的发展 ,从而为中国现代法治社会的实现提供最深厚的源动力基础。     

知识经济的法律调整着力点初探

知识经济的运行 ,是通过知识的产权化、商品化和资本化 ,以实现知识的要素化和产业化的过程 ,与此伴随的还有知识的异化过程。法律应当以知识的产权化、商品化、资本化、要素化、产业化和异化为着力点 ,对知识经济进行调整。