Economic Geography Literature Research Articles

Making a Global Gas Market: Territoriality and Production Networks in Liquefied Natural Gas

abstractEnergy markets are an important contemporary site of economic globalization. In this article we use a global production network (GPN) approach to examine the evolutionary dynamics of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector and its role in an emerging global market for natural gas. We extend recent work in the relational economic geography literature on the organizational practices by which production networks are assembled and sustained over time and space; and we address a significantly underdeveloped aspect of GPN research by demonstrating the implications of these practices for the territoriality of GPNs. The article introduces LNG as a techno-material reconfiguration of natural gas that enables it to be moved and sold beyond the continental limits of pipelines. We briefly outline the evolving scale and geographic scope of LNG trade, and introduce the network of firms, extraeconomic actors, and intermediaries through which LNG production, distribution, and marketing are coordinated. Our analysis shows how LNG is evolving from a relatively simple floating pipeline model of point-to-point, binational flows orchestrated by producing and consuming companies and governed by long-term contracts, to a more geographic and organizationally complex production network that is constitutive of an emergent global gas market. Empirically the article provides the first systematic analysis within economic geography of the globalization of the LNG sector and its influence on global gas markets, demonstrating the potential of GPN (and related frameworks) to contribute meaningful analysis of the contemporary political economy of energy. Conceptually the article pushes research on GPN to realize more fully its potential as an analysis of network territoriality by examining how the spatial configuration of GPNs emerges from the organizational structures and coordinating strategies of firms, extraeconomic actors and intermediaries; and by recognizing how network territoriality is constitutive of markets rather than merely responsive to them.

Stickiness and slipperiness in Istanbul’s old city jewellery cluster: a survival story

Stickiness and slipperiness are two extreme socio-economic and institutional conditions under which industrial clusters operate. In much of the economic geography literature, these conditions have been investigated separately. This article challenges this conventional view by developing an alternative framework that utilises some of the basic concepts and approaches of evolutionary thinking and dialectic understanding of agglomeration. With the evidence from Istanbul’s old city jewellery cluster, we argue that stickiness and slipperiness are inextricably tied together and the spatial configuration of clusters is the result of a complicated balance between these two. In Istanbul, these twin conditions are complementary and interact allowing the possibility to transform each other. In the course of cluster evolution, the interactions of the opposite trends result in the emergence of new actions, networks and contexts.

Cluster renewal and the heterogeneity of extra-regional linkages: a study of MNC practices in a subsea petroleum cluster

The cluster literature in general and evolutionary economic geography in particular emphasizes the importance of extra-regional linkages for cluster evolution. However, the literature does so without necessarily nuancing the content, i.e., heterogeneity, of such linkages. We argue that treating extra-regional linkages as homogeneous hampers an important aspect of cluster renewal; namely, that it is context specific and dependent upon the diversified practices of the involved multinational companies (MNCs). In so doing, we also argue that relational approaches to economic geography offer an important insight into the evolutionary perspective. We investigate one of Norway’s strongest and most dynamic industry clusters, the subsea cluster in Hordaland county, and discuss the usefulness of combining relational and evolutionary understandings in analytical frameworks that address cluster renewal. This study shows that the practice of regional firms that internationalize (labelled MNC out) and foreign-owned MNCs coming into the cluster (MNC in) contribute in different ways to renewal of the cluster. We find that the practices of MNC out contribute to further specialization of the cluster, whereas the practices of MNC in contribute to diversification of economic activities. Both types of extra-regional linkages are important for renewal of the cluster, as they together represent a mix between continuation and change of existing activities. Necessarily, such interplays between MNC practices and cluster evolution pan out differently in different contexts, but we argue that the literature should acknowledge that extra-regional linkages are heterogeneous and contribute differently to cluster evolution in general and renewal in particular.

Dynamiques de proximités dans la construction de réseaux socio-économiques territoriaux en Amazonie brésilienne

L’influence des proximites sur la construction des reseaux socio-economiques suscite de nombreux debats dans la litterature. La presente contribution vise a etudier le fonctionnement des coordinations entre acteurs dans des dispositifs d’appui aux filieres agricoles et a mettre en evidence l’impact d’une politique publique de developpement territorial sur ces dispositifs, a l’aide d’une approche en termes de reseaux et de proximites. Dans cet esprit, nous analysons les Arrangements Productifs Locaux (APL) de deux filieres agricoles en Amazonie bresilienne, coordonnes par le meme dispositif de gouvernance territoriale. Le cadre d’analyse mobilise nous permet d’etudier et de comparer ces APL, de proposer une premiere caracterisation des types de reseaux selon les types de proximites et de mettre en avant l’importance du dispositif de gouvernance territoriale pour le renforcement et la perennisation des APL.

Economic geography and industrial marketing views on trade shows: Collective marketing and knowledge circulation

In this paper, we critically review literature on trade shows developed in industrial marketing (IM) and economic geography (EG), aiming to contribute to the ongoing conversation between these disciplines and showing that they can learn from each other. In IM, trade shows are conceived as promotional instruments, whereas in EG these events are seen as temporary clusters through which firms can escape the liabilities of embeddedness and interact with, and learn from, distant actors. EG literature has integrated insights from IM that have provided a means to go beyond earlier formulations that downplayed market-based learning processes at these events. IM has in fact far under-theorized space and conceived exhibitors as individual agents, neglecting the fact that many of these events are collective marketing platforms that industry agglomerations or geographical clusters can use to affirm their presence in international markets. Based on our analysis, we propose research directions that can benefit individual exhibitors as well as geographically-based business networks. The analysis addresses the boundaries and limitations of disciplinary analyses and strongly suggests transdisciplinary encounters and engagements in IM and EG research.

(Un)related variety, urban milieu and tourism-company differentiation

ABSTRACTHigh tourism growth in single-asset tourism cities is often associated with a standardization of supply of products and services by tourism entrepreneurs. However, and in contrast to this common-sense view, tourism growth in specific urban tourism milieus in the ‘sun-sea-sand’ tourism city of Antalya has stimulated tourism entrepreneurs to differentiate their products. Contrary to most economic-geography literature on spatial clusters, evolutionary economic geographers argue that inter-industry relations of (un)related variety are crucial in inter-firm differentiation. The aim of the paper is to define the factors that influence tourism-firm differentiation in the single-asset tourism city of Antalya. The empirical research is theoretically informed by evolutionary economic-geography literature, and pays much attention to the role different urban sub-milieus play in tourism-firm differentiation. It is the first research on the relation between (un)related variety and tourism-firm differentiation in tourism studies. The empirical research is based on primary data collected by a firm-level survey (hotels, restaurants, jewellery- and retail-trade firms) in the city of Antalya. The factors that influence tourism-firm differentiation are explored by using quantitative methods of analysis (an econometric logit-regression model and a correspondence analysis). The main result of the empirical research is that investments in firms in related sectors, in our case jewellery companies and hotels, are positively and significantly related to tourism-firm differentiation. In addition, the location tourism firms in areas visited by a mix of consumers (tourists and locals) also is positively and significantly related to inter-firm differentiation whereas urban milieus visited by locals only have a negative effect.

The evolution of the electronics industry in Johor (Malaysia): Strategic coupling, adaptiveness, adaptation, and the role of agency

Bringing together concepts from the global production networks and evolutionary economic geography literature, this article empirically examines the trajectory of the electrical and electronics industry in Johor (Malaysia). Based on trends in firm entries and exit as well as interviews with companies, we find limited robustness in the industry’s trajectory. While there is evidence of the role of ‘structure’ in this outcome, we argue that human agency – particularly the actions of subnational policy-makers – is key. This is manifest in a preference for fostering regional ‘adaptiveness’ through the often uncritical promotion of a diversity of economic sectors. This compromises the meaningful pursuit of regional ‘adaptation’ in the form of new and more complex branches emerging from existing industries. This arrested development, in turn, hinders an effective strategic coupling between the regional economy and multinational corporations, thus undermining regional resilience.

Evaluating the Impact of China’s Rail Network Expansions on Local Accessibility: A Market Potential Approach

This paper uses a market potential approach to examine the evolution of the rail transport network of China and its spatial distributional impacts on local accessibility, with a particular focus on high-speed rail improvements. Accessibility is measured by using a “market potential” function that was derived from the general equilibrium model of the economic geography literature, and is empirically calculated based on Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques. A key finding, albeit from a highly stylized model, is that rail improvements may help raise territorial polarizing patterns across counties. The results point to the profound implications of railroad network expansion on the accessibility dynamics in periphery regions relative to core regions.

POLLUTION MOBILITY, PRODUCTIVITY DISPARITY, AND THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF POLLUTING AND NONPOLLUTING FIRMS

ABSTRACTThis paper first develops a model to characterize the equilibrium distribution of polluting and nonpolluting firms and then turns to the larger question of whether the equilibrium distribution is socially optimal. We find that the equilibrium distribution of polluting firms differs from the social optimum when they generate a large amount of stationary pollution and have much higher or lower productivity than clean firms. In these cases, conventional pollution control approaches generally do not bring about an optimal distribution. Consideration of transport costs along with productivity and pollution changes some of the classic results of the new economic geography literature.

Knowledge will set you free

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to combine notions from the POST Model of Economic Geography and Learning Theory from International Business to study how firms may enhance their responsiveness to institutional processes and changes through different forms of international learning. Focussing on one form of institutional changes, namely pro-market reforms, the paper analyzes how firms may boost the potential benefits from such changes through international strategies that increase their access to knowledge spillovers and absorptive capacity. These strategies include international product diversification, enhancing innovation capabilities, informal institutional exposure, accumulated internationalization knowledge, and overall experiential knowledge.Design/methodology/approach– The hypotheses are tested using generalized least squares models with AR(1) panel-specific autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity correction. Based on the preliminary analyses performed in these studies, the author also executes a Hausman test, Bartlett’s test, and James/Alexander’s test. The results of these analyses indicate that the use of random effects is appropriate; that moderating effects are present; and that multivariate analyses using these moderators are suitable, respectively.Findings– The results indicate that pro-market reforms have a positive and significant effect on the profitability of firms from developing countries. Furthermore, they provide support for the positive moderating effects of international product diversification, innovation capabilities, informal institutional exposure, accumulated internationalization knowledge, and overall experiential knowledge. Together, these findings suggest that through their international strategic decisions, MNEs can enhance their access to knowledge and become more responsive to institutional changes in their home market.Research limitations/implications– This paper contributes to the economic geography literature by linking the POST Model with the classification of types of knowledge from Learning Theory. The paper analyzes how characteristics of place, organization, space, and time play a different role for each of the three basic types of knowledge that is relevant for international firms: institutional, business, and internationalization. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the literature on reforms and firm profitability by delving deeper into the moderating effect of strategic decisions on the relationship between reforms and firm performance. This allows us to have a deeper comprehension of how various sources of international learning may enhance the responsiveness of firms to institutional changes.Originality/value– The paper provides several important contributions to the international strategy literature. First, it contributes to Learning Theory by combining it with the POST Model of Economic Geography to study how each of the three sources of knowledge (and their subcomponents) can be further broken down into factors of place, organization, space, and time. Second, it contributes to the literature of institutional change by studying how knowledge acquired through vastly different means can provide firms with sources of competitive advantage over other local competitors when responding to institutional changes in their home market. Third, it contributes to the literature on reforms and profitability by studying five novel moderators of this relationship.

Financialisation, financial chains and uneven geographical development: Towards a research agenda

This paper examines a critical relationship between finance and uneven geographical development, using Europe as a point of reference. It argues that the existing economic geography literature fails to fully address the implications of financialisation for uneven geographical development. In particular, and despite recent renewed interest in geographies of finance, there does not seem to be a coherent theory of debt and its spatialities. The paper argues that the lack of a coherent theoretical framework on spatialities of credit–debt is a major shortcoming and highlights the need for a geographically-informed view of financialisation and its implications for uneven development. As a way forward, the paper proposes a new approach based on the concept of ‘financial chains’ understood both as channels of value transfer and as social relations that shape socio-economic processes over space and time.

Path Creation as a Process of Resource Alignment and Anchoring: Industry Formation for On-Site Water Recycling in Beijing

Where and how new industrial paths emerge are much debated questions in economic geography, especially in light of the recent evolutionary turn. This article contributes to the ongoing debate on path creation with a new analytical framework that specifies the formation of generic resources in embryonic industries. It suggests that path creation processes are not only conditioned by preexisting regional capabilities and technological relatedness but also by the way firm and nonfirm actors mobilize and anchor key resources for industry formation. Our framework elaborates on the early industry development phase, extending the focus on regional knowledge spillovers in evolutionary economic geography (EEG) literature with recent insights on industry formation dynamics from innovation studies. It understands early path creation as conditioned by four systemic resource formation processes—knowledge creation, investment mobilization, market formation, and technology legitimation—that can be mobilized both from inside or anchored from outside the region. The use and value of the analytical framework is illustrated by a case study on on-site water recycling technology (OST), based on interviews with 40 experts in three Chinese city regions. The findings suggest that, despite possessing the least favorable initial conditions, a sizable OST industry developed only in Beijing. This is explained based on the specific anchoring process of the four key resources in the early development stage of the industry. Our results imply that EEG would profit from incorporating a broader set of variables than knowledge-based relatedness in explanations of regional industrial path creation.

Exploring Economic Development Through Headquarters: The Spatial Distribution of Turkey's Large Industrial Enterprises and Its Implications for Urban Systems

This article examines the distribution of the headquarters of top 500 large industrial enterprises in Turkey. It contributes to the knowledge of economic geography by examining regional clusters of headquarters activity in Turkey. As a country, Turkey's corporations have not been extensively analyzed or integrated into the international economic geography literature especially given the fact that headquarters activities in general are important but understudied in the literature of geography. This study therefore extends the corporate literature further in an international dimension, a priority that has been noted as important in the headquarters literature of geography. It argues that not only does the spatial organization of corporations remain important in urban systems but also that they are linked to the dynamics of local and regional economies within developing countries. It shows that various Turkish cities have distinctive internal structures comprising agglomerations of different industries. Although some of these industries are better performing in big cities, the majority of the cities in the top 500 large enterprises list underperform on average.

Polar gateways: approaches, issues and review

The notion of a polar gateway has been increasingly adopted in polar social science, especially with respect to the role of tourism. The concept has usually been applied with respect to cities and ports that provide access to polar regions both for tourists and for the flow of resources. The paper provides a review and discussion of some of the main approaches used in conceptualising gateways in a polar context. In examining the concept of a gateway, the paper draws on the historically significant role of economic and transport geography literature as a means of better understanding the importance of polar hubs and entrepôts. A review of some of the different usages of the gateway concept in polar literature is provided along with examples of the places referred to and context. The use of the concept raises significant issues of polar places and linkages to wider networks. It is concluded that a more empirically based approach to polar hubs would provide better categorisation and understanding of supposed polar gateways, including with respect to place competition and positionality in networks.

The modern regional policy paradigm: rationale and evidence from OECD countries

Economic activity tends to concentrate in space, generating very large spatial imbalances. As a result, there has been an on-going questioning on whether policies should address those spatial imbalances and if so which form should they take. In this context, the new economic geography literature has provided the foundations of modern location theory and has also motivated a debate about the rationale for spatially-targeted policies. In parallel of developments in the academic literature, the regional policy paradigm has also evolved. The paper describes the shift towards new types of place-based policies that has unfolded in OECD countries. These policies put much less emphasis on spatial imbalances and more on complementarities in policies designed to support growth, less on subsidies and more on investments, less on short-term solutions and more on long-term and sustainable ones. Our main conclusion, given that spatial dimensions are important for aggregate growth, the modern regional policy paradigm, if well designed, should be part of any growth-enhancing structural policy package. Keywords: OECD, regional policy, place-based policies, growth http://dx.doi.org/10.17127/got/2015.7.001 Data de submissao: 2015-03-18 Data de aprovacao: 2015-03-31 Data de publicacao: 2015-06-30

Contested growth: the development of norway's temporary staffing industry

In this article we mobilize a variegated capitalism approach to understand the development of the Norwegian temporary staffing industry. From this perspective, national temporary staffing industries are understood as contested multi‐actor and multi‐scalar institutional fields. The analysis explores the key actors and regulatory conditions that have interactively produced this field in the Norwegian context since initial deregulation in 2000, paying particular attention to the active role played by agencies and their collective organizations. In our account, the tight regulatory conditions for temporary staffing in Norway emerge as the main mobilizing issue for the agencies, as well as other political actors such as trade unions. It is argued that the nature of national labour laws, and struggles thereon, are defining characteristics which set the Norwegian market apart from the neighbouring Swedish staffing market. The Norwegian case enables us to contribute to the wider economic geography literature on temporary staffing markets by demonstrating the fundamental importance of national regulatory processes and the contested political processes that underlie regulatory change. It also demonstrates how national distinctiveness is actively produced in relation to extra‐national dynamics in terms of both regulatory imperatives (e.g. via the EU's Temporary Workers Directive) and processes of migration. Overall, we demonstrate how national staffing markets are highly dynamic, multi‐scalar institutional configurations whose particularities and complexities defy attempts to generalize across groups of seemingly “similar” national economies.

A spatial model of corporate tax incidence

Using a unique, self-compiled data-set on international tax rates, we explore the link between taxes and manufacturing wages for a panel of 66 countries over 25 years. We find, controlling for other macroeconomic variables, that wages are significantly responsive to corporate taxation. Higher corporate tax rates depress wages. Using spatial modelling techniques, we also find that tax characteristics of neighbouring countries, whether geographic or economic, have a significant effect on domestic wages. We test for, and reject, spatial autocorrelation in our model using a modification of the Moran-I test statistic that accounts for country-specific fixed effects in a panel data setting. Our article fits in with the new economic geography literature as well as the urban economics literature which attempt to explain the spatial distribution of wages.

Identifying Spatial Efficiency–Equity Trade-offs in Territorial Development Policies: Evidence from Uganda

We contribute to the debate on the spatial allocation of infrastructure investments by examining where these investments generate the highest economic return (‘spatial efficiency’), and identifying trade-offs when infrastructure coverage is made more equitable across regions (‘spatial equity’). We estimate models of firm location choice in Uganda, drawing on insights from the new economic geography literature. The main findings show that manufacturing firms gain from being in areas that offer a diverse mix of economic activities. Public infrastructure investments in other locations are likely to attract fewer private investors, and will pose a spatial efficiency–equity trade-off.

Temporary events and spaces in the Swedish primary art market

Abstract Traditionally, the art market is associated with specific cities or art districts; typically there are internationally renowned locations like Paris, New York and Berlin. However, taking a closer look at the art markets, it is rather the temporal dimensions that are striking. Art market actors (e. g. artists, critics, gallerists, buyers, collectors, curators) are gathering in temporary locations and at temporary events such as art exhibition openings, art fairs, auctions, performances and vernissages. Within economic geography literature, the role of temporary spaces and events has been increasingly discussed in relation to economic activities and their performance, efficiency and creativity. An important insight gained in this literature is how temporary events, despite their short-lived existence, create microcosms of an industry or sector. Some temporary events even gather enough resources, skills and power to become field-configuring. In this paper, the primary art market will be discussed from the theoretical perspectives of value-making processes, temporary spaces and events, and field-configuring events. More specifically, the study focuses on temporary spaces important to galleries involved in selling and promoting primary art and artists. It focuses on how temporary spaces constitute both a characteristic feature of the art market and important spaces for creating both cultural and economic values. Empirically, this paper is based on a study of the Swedish primary art galleries and in particular it deals with primary art galleries located in Stockholm, and studies how they use temporary spaces and events in creating both cultural and economic values to themselves, the artists and their artworks. Three empirical examples characteristic to primary art galleries are examined; the opening, the art fair and the mobile art district.

Spatial scaling of regional strategic programmes in Finland: A qualitative study of clusters and innovation systems

Innovation systems and clusters are perhaps the most widely used concepts found in recent economic geography literature focusing on innovative industrial production and locational agglomeration. Both concepts have been universally embraced since the early 1990s onwards. However, recent literature has expressed criticism of their use as tools for policymaking. The authors studied innovation and cluster rhetoric in a geographical context by using empirical evidence obtained from the policy documents of the Finnish regional councils. They used a theoretical conception of spatial scaling as a geographical framework. Spatial scales proved to be a black box for regional strategies in Finland. Regional strategic programmes use a similar language that ignores the spatial variations of their locations. Clusters and regional innovation systems should be considered as parts of vertical and horizontal interlinkages within the economy and not as individual islands of organizational proximities in isolated contexts. The authors argued that an imprecise understanding of the innovation systems and cluster approaches, both conceptually and practically, has led to some ambiguity, resulting in the use of the terms clusters and innovation systems as buzzwords. This misuse hampers the ability of administrations to execute regional development in their respective areas.