Local functional specialisation

Functional and Sectoral Division of Labour within Central and Eastern European Countries: Evidence from Greenfield FDI

In this paper, we analyse the sectoral and functional division of labour in Central and Eastern European (CEE) regions within the convergence debate. By analysing the investment decisions of multinational corporations in 49 NUTS 2 regions across six European CEE countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria), we show that capital city regions not only receive more greenfield FDI but also attract a larger variety of investments in terms of sectors and functions. Capital cities are more likely to host higher‐end sectors and functions, which provides an explanation for the existing regional disparities within CEE countries. These results highlight the importance of functional and sectoral divisions of labour in the view of regional profiling and contribute to the recent EU Cohesion Policy debate.

This work provides a new empirical assessment of global economic hierarchies and the associated unequal distribution of value between core and peripheral economies. This is accomplished by looking at the functional division of labour induced by the international fragmentation of production and the related value capture dynamics in global value chains (GVCs). To this aim, we introduce and compute an indicator of ‘functional specialization’ of economies based on their ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment, which allows us to detect the value adding activities in which more than 100 countries have specialized from 2003 to 2018. We show that the most intangible-intensive activities are concentrated in core capitalist economies, while production operations at the lower end of the value chain are mainly the prerogative of low- and middle-income countries. Although China and India have emerged as partial but significant outliers, a substantial persistence of this functional division of labour across world macro-regions is also observed over the period. Most notably, we find that a higher specialization in the most intangible-intensive functions allows countries to capture a greater amount of value from trade in GVCs, thus providing novel empirical support to the ‘Smile curve’ hypotheses and the underlying ‘intellectual monopoly’ perspective.

Altered spontaneous neural activity in the occipital face area reflects behavioral deficits in developmental prosopagnosia

The article examines the development of the relationship and cooperation of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in conflict regulation. It states that over three phases these two institutions deepened their relationship in the aspect of an intensification of their cooperation, an adoption of specific functions and a de facto clearer division of labour in conflict regulation. It will analyse whether and to what degree this cooperation and a functional division of labour is based on the functional ascription by member states or more on the activities of the institutions themselves. This comparative study will thereby contribute to a necessary theory-based analysis of the relationship of these two major international security institutions and to a deeper analysis of the inter-institutional cooperation of EU and NATO. Furthermore, it will show the importance of a combined principal- (states) and agent- (institutions) centred approach towards the shaping and explaining of inte...

Case studies of three long-standing Canadian worker co-operatives suggests that task specialization and the creation of a division of labour is a natural feature of the maturation process, and that it need not impair or weaken organizational democracy. The specific impact of a division of labour on democratic processes, however, is found to be moderated by the particular form it takes, and on the co-operative's readiness to confront the problems of co-ordination, administration and integration that arise. A functional division of labour tends to promote interdependence and foster a more collaborative approach to decision-making than a divisional design, and may have some particular advantages for worker co-operatives, but both approaches require ongoing attention to social and structural mechanisms that will sustain an integrated whole.

Division of labour (DoL) was recognized as a priority in EU development cooperation policy a decade ago, but has lost importance in recent years. Though the Union still promotes joint programming for better aid coordination, other EU interests took precedence. This reflects general trend of instrumentalisation of European development cooperation, which is less focused on traditional goals like poverty eradication or aid effectiveness but serves more political, security, and economic self-interests. This paper traces the evolution of the European approach to DoL and highlights the major reasons for its limited successes. It claims that among most important ones was the imprecise and inadequate description of the EU’s own comparative advantage and added value. The main aim of this analysis is to propose the concept functional DoL in which the European institutions focus development assistance more on the regional level while leaving national programmes to the Member States. This would better utilise the Union’s unique expertise and help in more strategic allocation of EU aid. Though such a radical shift seems improbable in the short term for reasons including vested interests and path dependency, the EU can already start refocusing on regional development-cooperation programmes. This would be in line with EU external policy goals and allow it to boost regional cooperation while competing with emerging donors like China.

Currently, Chinese fan organizations demonstrate strong internal cohesion and efficient executive force, far exceeding previous fan groups. This article explores the development of Chinese fan communities and finds that the Internet, a new kind of media that breaks through time and space limitations, has caused this change. Firstly, the development of the Internet has made timely interaction between fans possible, strengthening the internal cohesion of fan groups. Besides, the information cocoon brought by personalized recommendation algorithms further makes the fan communities change into homogeneous groups with similar value orientations and high group identification regarding their respective idols.Meanwhile, the flow economy based on the Internet has prompted fan groups to seek ways to achieve efficient data labor, leading to the division of labor within fan groups. As a result, these previously loose fan groups evolve into rigorous organizations with a hierarchical structure, functional division of labor, and institutional norms. The common emotional foundation—is the recognition of idols; the common goal—is creating internet flow for idols; the field of collective action is the internet and social media platforms; and the mechanism of unified action—the hierarchical and functional system makes the current Chinese fan organizations unprecedentedly strong.

Importance of N-terminal P2 residue in substrate recognition by bacterial DPP7 activity revealed by coefficient of variation in protease activity.

Currently, Chinese fan organizations demonstrate strong internal cohesion and efficient executive force, far exceeding previous fan groups. This article explores the development of Chinese fan communities and finds that the Internet, a new kind of media that breaks through time and space limitations, has caused this change. Firstly, the development of the Internet has made timely interaction between fans possible, strengthening the internal cohesion of fan groups. Besides, the information cocoon brought by personalized recommendation algorithms further makes the fan communities change into homogeneous groups with similar value orientations and high group identification regarding their respective idols. Meanwhile, the flow economy based on the Internet has prompted fan groups to seek ways to achieve efficient data labor, leading to the division of labor within fan groups. As a result, these previously loose fan groups evolve into rigorous organizations with a hierarchical structure, functional division of labor, and institutional norms. The common emotional foundation—is the recognition of idols; the common goal—is creating internet flow for idols; the field of collective action is the internet and social media platforms; and the mechanism of unified action—the hierarchical and functional system makes the current Chinese fan organizations unprecedentedly strong.

Xiaowei Zang writes frequently on the nature of the Chinese political elite from a sociological perspective. This book serves as a summary of many of his research concerns. Put simply, he argues that within one political hierarchy, the Party and the government have significantly different personnel systems (elite dualism). Both value loyalty and expertise, but the government system pays more attention to expertise, and the Party to loyalty. He demonstrates these views with extensive data drawn from Who's Who in China Current Leaders (1988 and 1994). He sees his approach as reflecting and demonstrating the utility of neo-institutional concerns in analysing elite formation in China.While the data is usefully presented, I have many difficulties with Zang's approach and argument. First, I find his overall discussion of separate Party and government institutions confusing. It is never clear when these two institutions definitely came into existence and when they developed their own norms, values and so on. He spends two chapters (three and four) showing the precursors to elite dualism, but concludes on p. 60 that it was only in 1982 that leadership transition began. One must question then how well established were the norms, values, and other markers of institutional boundaries when he uses the 1988 and 1994 Who's Who. If leadership transition only began in 1982, then what is the purpose of discussions of elite dualism dating back to the Jiangxi Soviet? It is one of the properties of formal organizations and bureaucracies that they have a functional division of labour. Given predictable recurring patterns of such a division of labour, it is not surprising that people are recruited into different functional specialities on the basis of their background. But while Zang demonstrates this point well, to argue that there are separate Party and government hierarchies as a result seems to go too far.

Uncovering the evolving arms race between host immunity and HIV-1.

Distinct roles of fetal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in building the immune system

Given the pervasiveness of substance abuse, it is not feasible for the community and specialty substance abuse treatment sectors to operate independently of each other. Functional division of labor between these 2 sectors can allow for efficient use of limited state, federal, local, and private resources to address substance abuse issues. Social workers in both sectors can enhance their effectiveness by recognizing their interlocking relationship and by learning how to implement practice changes that will navigate the distance between these 2 separate, but interdependent entities. This article differentiates between the specialty and nonspecialty substance abuse treatment sectors, describes the interlocking relationship between these 2 sectors, explains the intent and process of screening and assessment for substance abuse problems, clarifies the steps of a brief intervention, and explores obstacles that social workers might face when they implement screening, assessment, and brief intervention programs.

Recently, several scholars have argued that scientists can accept scientific claims in a collective process, and that the capacity of scientific groups to form joint acceptances is linked to a functional division of labor between the group members. However, these accounts reveal little about how the cognitive content of the jointly accepted claim is formed, and how group members depend on each other in this process. In this paper, I shall therefore argue that we need to link analyses of joint acceptance with analyses of distributed cognition. To sketch how this can be done, I shall present a detailed case study, and on the basis of the case, analyze the process through which a group of scientists jointly accept a new scientific claim and at a later stage jointly accept to revise previously accepted claims. I shall argue that joint acceptance in science can be established in situations where an overall conceptual structure is jointly accepted by a group of scientists while detailed parts of it are distributed among group members with different areas of expertise, a condition that I shall call a heterogeneous conceptual consensus. Finally, I shall show how a heterogeneous conceptual consensus can work as a constraint against scientific change and address the question how changes may nevertheless occur.