Dimensions Of Proximity Research Articles

How firms collaborate with public research organizations: The evolution of proximity dimensions in successful innovation projects

Although public research organizations (PROs) are potentially valuable collaboration partners for firms in the development of innovations, most firms find it difficult to develop and sustain fruitful collaborations with PROs. Proximity dimensions, such as geographical, cognitive, organizational, and social proximity, are important facilitators of inter-organizational collaboration. Nevertheless, our understanding of the interaction between and evolution of different proximity dimensions over time is limited. Based on a longitudinal study of 15 successful innovation projects involving firms and PROs as collaboration partners, we find that different proximity dimensions are important for the establishment of new collaborations, depending on a firm's characteristics. While engineering-based firms tend to rely on geographical and social proximity to PROs, science-based firms rely more heavily on cognitive and organizational proximity. Moreover, we observe that firms with initial social and geographical proximity to PROs can sustain and expand their collaborations by developing cognitive and organizational proximity over time.

The geographics of patients transfers: the case of an Italian Regional Health System

Patients transfers are an essential routine in care supplying and are considered a crucial form of inter-hospital collaboration in any Regional Health System. Previous organizational studies about the phenomenon adopted the resource dependency theory, demonstrating that transfers occur for because resources are not homogenously distributed between hospitals. More recently, it has been observed that patient transfers are driven by complex system of determinants and not only by the lack of resources. This paper, adopting a geographical view, observed that the theoretical lens of proximity are useful to better understand the phenomenon. Analyzing data on the patients transfers between the 35 hospitals of Abruzzo (Italy) Regional Health System through Multiple Regression-Quadratic Assignment Procedure, the study demonstrated that the different dimensions of proximity have a significant impact on the inter-hospitals patients transfers. Policy makers, health care executives and health geographers may take into account these logics in designing the territorial system of care.

Promoting Industrial Symbiosis: Using the Concept of Proximity to Explore Social Network Development

SummaryIndustrial symbiosis (IS) has been identified as a strategy for promoting industrial sustainability. IS has been defined as the development of close working agreements between industrial and other organizations that, through the innovative reuse, recycling, or sharing of resources, leads to resource efficiency. Key to IS are innovation and social network development. This article critically reviews IS literature and concludes that, to inform proactive strategies for promoting IS, the understanding of the social processes leading to resource innovation needs to be improved. Industrial ecologists generally believe that close geographical proximity and trust are essential to the development of IS. This article argues, however, that there is a need to learn more about the meaning of, need for, and specific role of geographical proximity and trust in IS and, additionally, that other potentially important social factors have remained underexplored. To move IS research forward, this article suggests to engage with research in economic geography on the concept of ‘proximity,’ which draws attention to the ways in which geographical, cognitive, institutional, social, and organizational distances between actors might affect innovation. Arguably, the analytically distinct, but flexible, dimensions of proximity can be useful to explore how and why IS develops. The resulting qualitative knowledge would form a basis for researching whether general patterns for IS development exist and, more important, could inform public and private strategies that indicate which actions could be taken, as well as when and in what way to promote resource synergies and sustainable industrial development.

Family business and regional development—A theoretical model of regional familiness

A key issue for regional development studies is to determine the exogenous and endogenous factors and the processes that occur within the territory and favor sustainable regional growth and development. Despite theoretical and empirical advances in understanding the mechanisms behind regional development, one dimension has been neglected: family business. To address this gap, I aim to link the family business and regional development literatures by developing a theoretical model that attempts to serve as a framework for interpreting the potential role that family firms play in regional development. The model is based on the concept of regional familiness, suggesting that the embeddedness of family businesses in regional productive structures affects regional factors, regional processes, and regional proximity dimensions and thus alters external economies of agglomeration and regional externalities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Honoring the sensate bond between disparate subjectivities in psychotherapy.

Ideas of empathy and genuineness are accepted by practitioners of psychotherapy as a basis for whatever else we do. In taking these ideas almost for granted, there can be a risk of overlooking key phenomenological dimensions of the subjective process to which they correspond. Levinas’ exposition of the multilayered dimensions of proximity between disparate subjectivities safeguards us against substituting understanding for the kind of embodiment he calls “for-the-other” (Levinas, 1974/1998, p. 79). In working through his description, we attempt to reveal the subjective tendencies already operating within us implicitly—tendencies that expose us to the other to the point of the impossibility of turning away. In more fully inhabiting this powerful dimension of our subjectivity, we enter into a proximity with our patients that has the power to nourish the psychological hunger that fuels their emotional pain. In the final pages of this article, we offer some thoughts, including a clinical example, of the tangi...

Networks, Proximities, and Interfirm Knowledge Exchanges

Building on previous literature that provides extensive evidence concerning flows of knowledge generated by interfirm agreements, in this article, we aim to analyze how the occurrence of such collaborations is driven by multidimensional proximity among participants and by their position within firms’ networks. More specifically, we assess how the likelihood that two firms set up a partnership is influenced by their bilateral geographical, technological, organizational, institutional, and social proximity and by their position within networks. Our analysis is based on agreements in the form of joint ventures or strategic alliances, announced over the period 2005–2012, in which at least one partner is localized in Italy. We consider the full range of economic activities, which allows us to offer a general scenario and to investigate specifically the role of technological relatedness across different sectors. The econometric analysis, based on the logistic framework for rare events, provided three noteworthy results. First, all five dimensions of proximity jointly exert a positive and relevant effect in determining the probability of interfirm knowledge exchanges, signaling that they complement each other rather than function as alternative channels. Second, the highest impact on probability is due to technological proximity, followed by organizational, geographical, and institutional proximities, while social proximity has a limited effect. Third, we find evidence concerning the positive role played by networks, through preferential attachment effects, in enhancing the probability of interfirm agreements.

Formation and dissolution of inter-firm linkages in lengthy and stable networks in clusters

Firms aspire to take advantage of technical and business networks through inter-organizational interactions to improve performance. Consequently, researchers are increasingly focusing on the dynamics and implications of network formation at both local and global levels. The recent research trend does not consider a monotonic effect and simplistic approach to proximity because proximity is a complex multidimensional concept. Using data from a foodstuffs cluster in the Valencian region (Spain) and advanced econometric methods such as Exponential Random Graph Models, this study aims to clarify the detrimental effects and complementarities that may arise among proximity dimensions. After controlling for network endogenous forces and firm characteristics, findings reveal the negative effect of cognitive and institutional proximity dimensions on the creation of linkages in advanced stages of the cluster life cycle. Furthermore, social proximity and geographical proximity favor the formation of inter-firm relationships and reinforce the organizational dimension.

The Role of Personal Proximity in Collaborations: A Case Study of Dutch Nanotechnology Researchers

So far studies investigating proximity and collaboration have focused on dimensions of proximity not explicating personalities of partners, such as working or communication style. However, as we wi...

How does proximity affect interfirm marketing cooperation? A study of an agribusiness cluster

This study examines marketing cooperation between firms co-localized in an agribusiness cluster, using the proximity perspective developed in economic geography. After a review of the relevant literature, we develop a scale to measure both interfirm marketing cooperation and different dimensions of proximity (cognitive, geographical, institutional, organizational and social), and test the interrelationships among these elements within the context of Chile, an emerging economy. The findings support the conclusion that interfirm marketing cooperation in the chosen agribusiness cluster is mainly dependent on social proximity. Moreover, contrary to what is found in the literature on other types of cooperation, geographical proximity is not particularly relevant.

Revealing Relevant Proximities. Knowledge Networks in the Maritime Economy in a Spatial, Functional and Relational Perspective

The maritime economy as a heterogeneous innovation system has ongoing relevance to the successful spatial and functional development of regions in Europe. A strong technological knowledge base underpins the competitiveness of the maritime economy, which is grounded in distinct spatial structures and proximities. The simultaneous relevance of global and local knowledge is particularly pronounced in the maritime economy through its inherent relevance to globalization and structural change. Conventional classifications of the maritime economy embedded in the discussion of the spatialization of knowledge-intensive activities and global value chains, however, limit the analysis to certain parts of the maritime cluster. This paper examines the applicability of various discourses on interactive knowledge generation and application as a process, based on a comprehensive dataset derived from cooperative links within the maritime economy of northern Germany. It suggests a framework for analysis that is activity based and focuses on the concurrent presence of different dimensions of proximity across value-creating systems. We explore spatial patterns by means of social network analysis. These patterns are industry-specific and have the potential to inform efforts to increase functional as well as physical connectivity in regions. The empirical analysis begins with the individual firm as an actor seeking to optimize its location for the purpose of competitiveness. It proposes an approach that is rooted in the ongoing discussion on spatial and functional dispositions for innovation activity and that bridges the dichotomy of knowledge-intensive services and manufacturing activities in the maritime economy.

An Extended Kernel Density Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Method to Analyze Access to Health Care

In Portugal the distribution of physicians is considered an appropriate proxy for the distribution of the actual hospital resources and additional information on hospital supply is mostly unavailable, while health care utilization data are also usually absent. A suitable method that can be used to analyze patients' access to hospital health care in countries with such characteristics is the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, since it requires only the number of physicians to represent supply and the population size to estimate demand. An improved version of the 2SFCA method is the kernel density 2SFCA (KD2SFCA) method. However, this method was not developed to analyze access to health care and it computes scores that express only the spatial access dimensions of proximity and availability. In this paper we present a new method, based on the KD2SFCA method, which improves health care access analysis and better identifies populations that are less empowered to use health care. We adapt the KD2SFCA method for the context of health care access analysis and extend it to capture additional access dimensions. We applied the extended method to the Portuguese hospital health care sector in a case study, and compared its results with those obtained with the KD2SFCA method. Our method was able to improve the identification of the less empowered populations and discovered that they represent 8.1% of the total population, instead of 4.6%, and reside in sixteen of the eighteen Portuguese districts, instead of in thirteen, as identified by the original KD2SFCA method. By improving the KD2SFCA method for the identification of the less empowered populations, our method can be a first step in an endeavor to identify opportunities to increase the health care supply or to redistribute supply resources, with the objective of increasing the access of those deprived populations.

Juggling with Proximity and Distance: Collaborative Innovation Projects in the Danish Cleantech Industry

abstract Studies increasingly apply a multidimensional proximity framework in the analysis of collaborations between actors. This article explores the influence of collaboration motives on the desired proximity characteristics of partnerships in innovation projects based on 50 interviews with representatives from Danish cleantech firms. How search criteria along proximity dimensions differ depends on the purposes of the collaborations. In this way, the analysis distinguishes between the types of collaboration, where geographical proximity is considered highly important and those where geographically distant partners are preferred. Geographical proximity plays an important role in partnerships motivated by interaction around actual product development and knowledge creation, while long-distance relationships appear to be important for partnerships motivated by market access and cost considerations. The insight that the desired proximity characteristics of partnerships are indeed contingent on the motive for collaborating highlights how the proximity framework can be applied in the analysis of firm decision making.

Who, What, When, and Where? Toward a Dimensional Conceptualization of Community Violence Exposure

A plethora of research on the psychological consequences of community violence exposure among youth has conceptualized and measured community violence as a single, homogenous construct that indiscriminately gives rise to a wide range of outcomes. However, it is increasingly recognized that community violence exposure is comprised of many disparate characteristics. Thus, a more dimensional theoretical approach to the study of community violence exposure is proposed; such an approach will more precisely clarify how community violence exposure is differentially associated with specific outcomes. In particular, the dimensions of type, severity, physical proximity, relational proximity (familiarity with the persons involved), and chronicity of community violence exposure are suggested as potential moderating factors that may each, individually and in interaction, differentially impact youths’ well-being. In order to account for greater contextual complexity in children's experiences of community violence, several recommendations for new methodological approaches and research directions are proposed and discussed. Such a theoretical shift is critical to advance our understanding of the processes underlying the links between community violence exposure and youth outcomes, as well as to inform more targeted and effective interventions for youth exposed to community violence.

Proximity, network formation and inventive performance: in search of the proximity paradox

Based on patent data in the field of genomics between 1990 and 2010, we investigate how social network relationships, various proximity dimensions (geographical, organizational, technological) and their interplay affect the likelihood of forming technological collaborations and their inventive performance. We show that the network and proximity characteristics of co-inventors enable them to access different sources of knowledge, in different geographical and organizational contexts, and finally affect the quality of inventive collaboration. Based on econometric estimations, our results enable to address the proximity paradox argument that proximity acts differently on the formation of collaborations and innovative performance. Our results partly support this paradox. Although all types of proximity positively impact on the formation of new collaborations, only organizational and technological proximities directly impact performance. Moreover, the optimal level of technological proximity critically varies given the organizational and social network context.

How do dimensions of proximity relate to the outcomes of collaboration? A survey of knowledge-intensive networks in the Dutch water sector

There is a growing body of literature on the importance of proximity for innovation and other knowledge-related outcomes. We examine the impact of geographical, social, organisational, and cognitive proximity for a heterogeneous population, including people from academia, knowledge institutes, industry, and government. We analyse data on 1020 ego–alter relationships, derived from a survey among water professionals in the Netherlands. The use of survey data allows for more refined indicators of proximity and more diverse collaboration outcomes than those common in the literature. Social and cognitive proximity have a positive effect for all outcomes examined. Geographical and organisational proximity have a negative effect on hard (tangible) outcomes yet a weak positive (if any) effect on soft (intangible) outcomes. We do not find evidence for the suggestions in the conceptual literature that proximity follows an inverted U-curve where most outcomes are achieved in relations with some but not too much proximity.

Substitution or Overlap? The Relations between Geographical and Non-spatial Proximity Dimensions in Collaborative Innovation Projects

Hansen T. Substitution or overlap? The relations between geographical and non-spatial proximity dimensions in collaborative innovation projects, Regional Studies. Traditionally, economic geographers stress geographical proximity's positive impact on collaboration processes. However, effects of cognitive, organizational, social and institutional proximity dimensions have been emphasized recently. This paper examines the relations between geography and these non-spatial dimensions by distinguishing two mechanisms: the substitution mechanism, where non-spatial forms of proximity substitute for geographical proximity; and the overlap mechanism, where geographical proximity facilitates non-spatial proximity. The two mechanisms’ importance is analysed in collaborative innovation projects in the Danish cleantech industry. Regression models are complemented by a qualitative analysis of the relationship between the geographical and institutional dimensions.

Productivity Spillovers from Foreign Multinational Enterprises to Domestic Manufacturing Firms: To What Extent Does Spatial Proximity Matter?

Mariotti S., Mutinelli M., Nicolini M. and Piscitello L. Productivity spillovers from foreign multinational enterprises to domestic manufacturing firms: to what extent does spatial proximity matter?, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the role of spatial proximity in productivity spillovers from foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs). Using a database of foreign affiliates located in Italy from 1999 to 2005, it is shown that local firms benefit from the presence of MNEs through both backward and forward linkages. It is found that: (1) spillover effects are more strongly associated with MNEs in knowledge-intensive business services and utilities; and (2) co-location positively affects productivity spillovers, and the effect is stronger for foreign affiliates that are distantly located. This is especially true in the service sector due to the role of temporary spatial proximity and other dimensions of proximity.

The Complementary Effects of Proximity Dimensions on Knowledge Spillovers

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of various proximity dimensions on the innovative capacity of 276 regions in Europe within a knowledge production function model, where R&D and human capital are included as the main internal inputs. We combine the standard geographical proximity with the technological, social and organizational ones to assess whether they are substitutes or complements in channelling knowledge spillovers. Results show that all proximities have a significant complementary role in generating an important flow of knowledge across regions, with technological closeness showing the most important effect.

Editorial

In this editorial we summarise and comment on papers published in issue 9.1. The first paper is by Raffaele Paci, Emanuela Marrocu and Stefano Usai ‘The Complementary Effects of Proximity Dimensions on Knowledge Spillovers’. Second, we have the paper by Karyn Morrissey, Cathal O'Donoghue and Niall Farrell entitled ‘The Local Impact of the Marine Sector in Ireland: A Spatial Microsimulation Analysis’. The third paper is ‘Explaining Total Factor Productivity at Firm Level in Italy: Does Location Matter?’ by Francesco Aiello, Valeria Pupo and Fernanda Ricotta. Fourth, we have the paper entitled ‘The Relationship between Total Employment and Cooperative Employment: A Convergence and Causality Analysis’ by Millán Díaz-Foncea and Carmen Marcuello. The final paper is by Jyh-Bang Jou and entitled ‘Determinants of Efficient Growth Boundaries with Balanced Budgets and Stochastic Rents’.

Proximity, knowledge transfer, and innovation in technology-based mergers and acquisitions

This paper presents the findings from a qualitative study on the extent to which three dimensions of proximity – geographic, cognitive, and organisational – impact knowledge transfer and innovation post-merger and acquisition (M&A). Findings show that the elements of proximity substantially influence both knowledge transfer and innovation although the nature of the impact varies and is influenced by the type of management interventions or lack thereof post-M&A.