Self-reinforcing Mechanisms Research Articles

Economic geography of talent migration and agglomeration in China: A dual-driver framework

The long-standing debate on the role of economic factors and amenities on talent migration and redistribution foreshadows the importance of spatial economic theoretical thinking in resolving the effects of duality, a point yet to be conclusively addressed in the existing literature. Situated within the framework of new economic geography (NEG), this article introduces an innovative theoretical model – the Dual-Driver (DD) framework– aiming at comprehending the nuanced dual impact of economic and amenity factors on talent movements between regions. While the DD framework retains the mechanisms of increasing returns to scale, iceberg transportation cost, and talent agglomeration presented in the NEG models, it depicts, for the first time, the self-reinforcing mechanisms between non-traded goods (i.e., amenities) and talent agglomeration. The model describes a logic of talent movements influenced by the dual drivers of regional economic factors (nominal wage, the diversity of local manufacturing products) and amenities (the diversity and quality of amenities, transfer payment for talent), among which the economic effects play a predominant role versus the amenity effects. Empirical evidence has been given by the geographical analysis of China's internal talent migration between 2000 and 2015 and the corresponding econometric analysis using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) estimation. Our findings furnish a theoretical perspective for comprehending talent geography and offer policy insights into China's logic of talent migration.

The Gift of Gab: A Netnographic Examination of the Community Building Mechanisms in Far-Right Online Space

ABSTRACT Major social media platforms have recently taken a more proactive stand against harmful far-right content and pandemic-related disinformation on their sites. However, these actions have catalysed the growth of fringe online social networks for participants seeking right-wing content, safe havens, and unhindered communication channels. To better understand these isolated systems of online activity and their success, the study on Gab Social examines the mechanisms used by the far right to form an alternative collective on fringe social media. My analysis showcases how these online communities are built by perpetuating meso-level identity-building narratives. By examining Gab’s emphasis on creating its lasting community base, the work offers an experiential examination of the different communication devices and multimedia within the platform through a netnographic and qualitative content analysis lens. The emergent findings and discussion detail the far right’s virtual community-building model, revolving around its sense of in-group superiority and the self-reinforcing mechanisms of collective. Not only does this have implications for understanding Gab’s communicative dynamics as an essential socialisation space and promoter of a unique meso-level character, but it also reflects the need for researchers to (re)emphasise identity, community, and collectives in far-right fringe spaces.

Does the future of Industry 4.0 lie in betweenness centrality? A structural network analysis of The Republic of Korea’s patent citation maps for the green industry

Do emerging industrial nations have little hope in the face of the new technological revolution 4.0, given the powerful self-reinforcing mechanisms characteristic of the innovation systems in central regions? Or can socio-technical trajectories, initially emerging as niches but later evolving into sectors or even networks, pave the way for technological leapfrogging in these emerging countries? If so, can we envision specific techno-industrial policies to facilitate these leaps, and more importantly, can we develop specific tools and methods to diagnose and promote such policies?This paper aims to contribute to the improvement and application of a Structural Network Analysis (SNA) methodology to identify, within a large set of longitudinal patent data, in a subdomain of industry 4.0 (namely, green technologies), the most promising technological domains for a given country under study (South Korea).The interest of this perspective on technological economic policies is to target a technological domain that is both critical and stimulating enough to generate a network effect, yet sufficiently niche to not require capital beyond the capacity of an emerging nation.In the current state of our intermediate research results, the findings are only partially satisfactory. The results regarding the most promising technologies appear significant only half of the time (whereas in the reference study, they tend towards 100%). Nevertheless, many avenues for improvement in research remain open.JEL classification: 030.

Dynamic relationship between marine fisheries economic development, environmental protection and fisheries technological Progress—A case of coastal provinces in China

With the deepening of economic globalization and regional economic integration, as well as the emergence of “black swan” events such as the novel coronavirus epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, marine fisheries is increasingly linked to national strategic interests and economic lifeblood. Under the new situation, it is necessary to explore the synergistic evolution of marine fisheries economic development, environmental protection and fisheries technological progress, so as to help the sustainable and healthy development of marine fisheries. Based on the panel data of 11 coastal provinces and cities in China, from 2006 to 2020, this study constructs an integrated framework of a marine fisheries economy–environment–technology system and utilizes methods such as entropy method, Tapio decoupling index, coupling coordination degree model, and panel vector autoregressive model to analyze its comprehensive development, collaborative evolution, and dynamic correlation mechanism. Results show the following: (1) The comprehensive development index of the fisheries economy and technology subsystems was generally on the rise, but that of the marine environment subsystem was on the decline and fluctuating. (2) The development of the marine fisheries economy–technology subsystem was relatively coordinated, but the decoupling of marine environment from fisheries economy and technology was relatively obvious. The three marine fisheries subsystems reached reluctant coordination, but most of the regions shifted from being driven by economy–environment coupling to leading by economy–technology coupling, which indicates that the deteriorating marine environment hindered the marine fisheries system from achieving high-level coordinated symbiosis. (3) The three marine fisheries subsystems possessed self-reinforcing mechanisms, but the positive effect was relatively limited in long-term development. Moreover, the marine fisheries environment subsystem has yet to achieve sustainable and benign interaction with the economy and technology subsystems. Therefore, it is urgent to take quality and efficiency improvement as the core, facilitating the leap of marine fisheries economy, adopt green environmental protection as the key, consolidating the bearing foundation of marine environment, and employ scientific innovation as the sail, effectively playing the leading role of fisheries technology.

Spatial–temporal coupling coordination and interaction between digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading: a case study of the Yellow River Basin

The realization of coupling coordination between digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading in the Yellow River Basin holds significant practical value for promoting high-quality industrial development in the region. In order to assess this coupling coordination, we utilized inter-provincial panel data from nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin, covering the period from 2011 to 2020. Through the application of a coupling coordination degree model, we calculated the degree of coupling coordination and relative development between digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading. Additionally, we conducted a spatial–temporal analysis to identify the characteristics and trends of digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading. Furthermore, we constructed a panel VAR model to examine the interactive relationship between these two factors. The findings are as follows: (1) overall, over the study period, the degree of coupling coordination between digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading in the Yellow River Basin transitioned from a disordered state to a run-in stage. The corresponding development type changed from a low steady state to a co-existence of low and medium steady states. Notably, the levels of digitalization, traditional industrial upgrading, and coupling coordination all exhibited a gradual increase, while the relative development degree declined. (2) The coupling coordination degree between digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading in the Yellow River Basin demonstrated significant regional variation. Provinces displaying a “high–high” agglomeration distribution and “low–low” agglomeration distribution were concentrated in the middle and lower reaches, as well as the upper reaches, of the Yellow River. Furthermore, there was a positive spatial autocorrelation between these regions. (3) Both digitalization and traditional industrial upgrading exhibit self-reinforcing mechanisms, and a long-term dynamic correlation exists between them.

Self-reinforcing Mechanisms Driving the Evolution of the Chemical Space

Abstract Chemistry is engaged with a subject that is not static but evolving in time, in chemical space, namely, the collection of all substances and reactions reported over time. If we accept that premise, we can identify the path dependencies and self-reinforcing mechanisms that determined its current space and selected it across historical alternatives. In particular, data analysis allows us to identify two crucial turning points. One was the introduction of structural theory in 1860, the other a technological shift around 1980.

On Mexican poverty-trap regimes and struggling to escape them

AbstractThis paper deals with the phenomenon of poverty-trap regimes in Mexico, that is, self-reinforcing mechanisms in which municipalities which start poor remain poor. We develop a coordination game of poverty traps driven by strategic interactions of economic agents: people choose to complete or not their education levels since it might be excessively costly and unprofitable. A one-shot game is constructed and then converted into a system of differential equations in which strategies that perform relatively better become more abundant in the population. Applying evolutionary games and symbolic-regimes dynamics (nonparametric and nonlinear techniques), we show that Mexican regions are in poverty-trap regimes (stable and dynamically evolving low-level equilibria) characterized by incomplete education and low income since initial conditions (education and income per capita) are such (very precarious) that poverty is the stable steady-state situation. We examine scenarios to show that to overcome the high-poverty regime by the year 2030, it is necessary to reduce incomplete education by 10% in the 5-year periods 2020–2025 and 2025–2030 and increase per-capita income by 10% in both periods.

The impact of self-reinforcing and self-undermining policy feedback on Mexican social policy: the end of the conditional cash transfer programme

The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019. CCTs seek to fight poverty under a social investment logic by promoting the formation of human capital through the compliance of behavioural conditionalities. The programme – the first of its kind introduced at national level – accomplished several achievements and was maintained and developed by three successive federal administrations. As the backbone of anti-poverty policy for more than two decades, its achievements included delivering positive results to a significant proportion of the population; and triggering the expansion of social policy beyond social insurance. As a result, it was emulated by governments across the globe. A programme of these characteristics would have been expected to generate path dependency and policy stability, yet it was swiftly terminated with practically no opposition. This article applies a framework of historical institutionalism to analyse the feedback effects developed during the duration of the programme from the perspectives of beneficiaries, in order to contribute to the explanation of its termination. The research is based on qualitative empirical data from interviews with former beneficiaries. Our findings show that self-undermining mechanisms linked to a ‘hard’ design and implementation of conditionalities counterbalanced the self-reinforcing mechanisms derived from the benefits supplied by the programme, causing beneficiaries to become apathetic towards its continuity or termination. Conclusions yield theoretical insights that might serve to examine policy feedback in similar contexts, as well as lessons for policymakers regarding the design and implementation of social programmes.

The contribution and interactive relationship of tourism industry development and technological innovation to the informatization level: Based on the context of low-carbon development

Research background: Informatization is a new economic form arising from a new round of technological and industrial changes. Information technology has been used to promote the integrated development of the tourism industry and propel technological innovation, which will help accelerate the achievement of the strategic goals of carbon emission peaking and carbon neutrality. China’s informatization level has improved to a certain extent due to the concentration of capital and technological innovation brought about by the government-led model, and also owing to the consumer dynamics released by the industry-side reform.Research contents and methods: This study constructs a panel vector auto-regression model to investigate the impact of tourism industry development and technological innovation on informatization based on Chinese provincial statistics from 2010 to 2019. This study adopts the entropy method, Monte Carlo simulation, variance decomposition, and pulse response to investigate the impact, characteristics, and trends of their interactions.Results: First, tourism industry development, technological innovation, and informatization all experience inertia development and have self-reinforcing mechanisms during the research period. Second, tourism industry development and technological innovation have a significantly positive impact on the enhancement of informatization, and their influence presents a trend, from upward to downward. Third, tourism industry development has a positive impact on technological innovation, and the response trend presents a curve approximately inverted U-shape. Fourth, from the results of variance decomposition, the contribution of technological innovation to the improvement of informatization level increases rapidly and reaches 18.5% and then levels off. The contribution rate of tourism industry development to the improvement of informatization level gradually rises and reaches 5.1%, finally tending to be stable.Contribution: This study reveals that tourism industry development and technological innovation will exert different pulling effects on informatization at different development stages in China and their advantages and provides theoretical contributions to tourism industry development and technological innovation on the advancement of informatization level. The research results provide a reference basis for the government and related industrial sectors in how to effectively facilitate the development of informatization in the context of the low-carbon economy.

How path dependency manifests in flood risk management: observations from four decades in the Ennstal and Aist catchments in Austria

Path dependency occurs when a contingent event predetermines what further steps can be taken and self-reinforcing mechanisms lock-in any further development on a sub-optimal trajectory. Path dependency is a prominent concept in the adaptation pathways literature, but insufficiently defined and operationalised. The present paper empirically tracks all constitutive elements of path dependency for four decades of flood risk management (FRM) in two alpine mountain regions in Austria, the Ennstal and Aist river catchments, using a mixed-methods approach. FRM governance has a critical role whether decisions lead to path dependency. Lock-in manifests not just in technical structures, but also in inertia of incumbent actor coalitions and management paradigms. Sub-optimality is hard to assess for lack of clearly defined protection targets; however, it appears in the ways that structural measures are implemented—too little, too late or with negative impacts on nature conservation. Past floods do not qualify as contingent events, as they have not fundamentally changed FRM practice. By contrast, technological and institutional shifts over longer periods, such as digital hazard maps and EU directives, have gradually reoriented FRM strategies. Institution-based self-reinforcing mechanisms are more prevalent than technology-based self-reinforcing mechanisms. Established actor coalitions combined with institutional density illustrate how those in charge uphold a path to defend their position, power and resources. Our recommendations for how to overcome path dependency in FRM governance are: encourage niche experiments, link FRM more closely with climate change adaptation, revise the national policy framework towards polycentric governance approaches and improve professional training.

Breaking with the Past to Face the Future? Organizational path dependence in family businesses

This study adopts a qualitative approach in order to determine why and how the idiosyncrasies of family business influence path formation and path-breaking (and their outcomes) in strategically persistent family businesses. Findings are based on an analysis of six in-depth case studies of family businesses from Switzerland’s textile industry, including interviews with family and nonfamily firm members, archival data and expert interviews. The study finds that idiosyncrasies rooted in power hierarchy, chronicle orientation, and network embeddedness spur self-reinforcing mechanisms – in particular expectation effects and learning and investment effects – in path formation. However, at a later stage, they may become drivers of path-breaking. The study contributes to research on organizational path dependence by illuminating the role of power hierarchies in path formation and breaking. Path-breaking requires certain shifts in formal and informal power hierarchies; such shifts of power happen not only with respect to individual family members but also between family subgroups and nonfamily members. The study further identifies different strategic outcomes of path-dependent processes: protecting by renewing, pivoting and perfecting. While protecting by renewing and pivoting encompass path-breaking, perfecting occurs within the framework of a strategic path by leveraging incremental changes. In the case of protecting by renewing, businesses develop new revenue streams detached from the previous core business; these are partly used to subsidize the remains of the previous core business, thereby accepting inefficiencies for parts of the business. Pivoting refers to changing the business model without accepting inefficiencies. Implications for family and nonfamily businesses are discussed.

Overcoming path-dependent dynamic capabilities

While seminal work on dynamic capabilities highlights path-dependent trajectories as an important and distinguishing property, recent studies tend to marginalize this feature in favor of an ahistorical and unbound conceptualization. Following the recent “history turn” in strategy and organization research, we examine the essential yet inadequately understood role of path dependence in dynamic capability building and adaptation. Precisely, we demonstrate that dynamic capabilities, as pattern-based, learned, and context-specific entities, are prone to become path-dependent under the effect of self-reinforcing mechanisms. We further show that in the face of discontinuous environmental shifts, path-dependent dynamic capabilities can—paradoxically enough—turn dysfunctional as they perpetuate current, potentially outdated ways through which a firm reconfigures its resource base. Based on this analysis, we identify ad hoc managerial action as the basis for path transformation and path dissolution, as well as path switching and new path creation, which represent complementary ways to deal with path-dependent dynamic capabilities. Our theorizing extends a contingency perspective on dynamic capabilities by shedding light on the limits and potential alternatives of pattern-based adaptation.

Coupling Coordination and Interactive Response Analysis of Ecological Environment and Urban Resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

There is a complex dynamic coupling interaction process between the ecological environment and urban resilience. It is important to clarify the coordination relationship and interactive response mechanism between them for sustainable development construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The coupling coordination degree model and the panel vector autoregressive model (PVAR) were adopted to quantitatively examine the dynamic coordination and interactive response of the ecological environment and urban resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2000 to 2019. Our study’s results are the following: (1) The ecological environment index and urban resilience index have a generally positive trend of fluctuation and increase during the study period but show significant regional differentiation. (2) The coupling coordination degree of ecological environment and urban resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt increased steadily, forming a spatial distribution pattern of “strong in the east and weak in the west”, with cities in the region mainly at the basic coordination level and generally lagging behind in development. (3) Both the ecological environment and urban resilience systems in the Yangtze River Economic Belt have significant self-reinforcing mechanisms, but the reinforcing effect is gradually decreasing, and the two positively promote each other, with urban resilience showing a more obvious promoting effect on the ecological environment.

Goal frames and sustainability transitions: how cognitive lock-ins can impede crop diversification

Transitions towards more sustainable agricultural systems are often characterised by ‘lock-ins’, understood as self-reinforcing mechanisms that reproduce the status quo and impede change. While socioeconomic, technological and institutional lock-ins have been widely used to understand processes of sustainable transitions in agri-food systems, the role of so-called cognitive lock-ins is still under-investigated. In this study, we focus on how institutional settings create cognitive lock-ins in farmers’ decision-making related to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. We apply goal framing for environmental behaviour and transition theory in explaining how socio-technical conditions may shape farmer’s decision-making. Empirically, we focus on the example of diversifying crop rotations with legumes as an established strategy to increase biodiversity and soil health, and reduce agrochemical use, emissions and pollution, which still remains rare in European agriculture. We use two cases in the Atlantic pedo-climatic region, Cornwall, UK, and Gelderland, Netherlands. Using in-depth interview data with farmers and extensive supplementary secondary data, we explore how context-specific socio-technical settings interact with farmers’ normative, gain-oriented and hedonic goal frames to shape the (un-)desirability of crop diversification with legumes. This creates conditions recognisable as cognitive lock-ins: the context of farmers’ decision-making creates cognitive processes that drastically reduce the perceived viability of alternative agricultural practices. Our findings in this case suggest the framework developed for this study may help to identify regionally specific, as well as common, barriers and solutions to crop diversification and comparable practices that are relevant to transitions towards sustainability in agri-food systems.

Path dependence and path break-out in the electricity sector

Path dependence is a key mechanism that holds socio-technical systems in their current development trajectories. In sustainability transitions research a broad conception of path dependence prevails, which covers a variety of historical barriers to transformation. We advocate for a more narrow conception of path dependence that focuses on the underlying self-reinforcing mechanisms. We introduce theoretical work from organisation studies into transition research to conceptualise path dependence at the level of socio-technical systems and organisations, and furthermore elaborate on the phenomenon of path break-out. Based on a literature review of European electricity transitions, we analyse how self-reinforcing mechanisms are weakening leading to path break-out. We identify two modes of path break-out. First, path dissolution is a result of exogenous shocks and unintentional weakening of self-reinforcing mechanisms. Second, path breaking is a result of an intentional attempt to change the existing patterns, which weakens the self-reinforcing mechanisms.

Impact of partner heterogeneity on innovation performance through interaction behaviour in Chinese complex product R&D industries

This paper examines the effect of partner heterogeneity, in terms of knowledge, resource, cognitive, and ecological, on innovation performance with the mediation role of interaction behaviour through interactive innovation lens. The analysis of 206 survey questionnaires reflects that knowledge and resource heterogeneities significantly and positively affect interaction behaviour and innovation performance. Ecological heterogeneity has an inverted U-shaped effect on interaction behaviour and innovation performance. Cognitive heterogeneity has an inverted U-shaped effect on innovation performance but is insignificant to interaction behaviour. Interaction behaviour is significantly related to innovation performance as well as mediates the effects of partner heterogeneity except for cognitive heterogeneity. The presence of circular causality and self-reinforcing mechanisms between partner heterogeneity and innovation performance were first confirmed in our study. The study contributes to the theory of interactive innovation, partner heterogeneity, and innovation management literature. To practitioners in Chinese complex product R&D industry, this study advises to interact with the industry players at multiple levels, however, the gap with respect to cognition and geography must not be too high.

From Lock-In to Transformation: A Path-Centric Theory of Emerging Technology and Organizing

We offer a path-centric theory of emerging technology and organizing that addresses a basic question. When does emerging technology lead to transformative change? A path-centric perspective on technology focuses on the patterns of actions afforded by technology in use. We identify performing and patterning as self-reinforcing mechanisms that shape patterns of action in the domain of emerging technology and organizing. We use a dynamic simulation to show that performing and patterning can lead to a wide range of trajectories, from lock-in to transformation, depending on how emerging technology in use influences the pattern of action. When emerging technologies afford new actions that can be flexibly recombined to generate new paths, decisive transformative effects are more likely. By themselves, new affordances are not likely to generate transformation. We illustrate this theory with examples from the practice of pharmaceutical drug discovery. The path-centric perspective offers a new way to think about generativity and the role of affordances in organizing.

Engagement-driven institutionalization in market shaping: Synchronizing and stabilizing collective engagement

Although recent literature on market shaping highlights the importance of actors' engagement dispositions and behaviors and their interplay with institutional work, little is understood about the mechanisms that facilitate the institutionalization of engagement dispositions and behaviors within the market-shaping process. Beyond this backdrop, this conceptual paper addresses how the engagement of multiple actors contributes to institutional change within market shaping. To answer this question, our paper considers the concept of synchronization as a mechanism that facilitates the alignment of multiple actors' engagement dispositions and behaviors to generate collective engagement within institutional work. Applying the emerging theory of Practice-driven Institutionalism as well as the concept of collective engagement, we develop a process model of engagement-driven institutionalization that consists of three stages: (1) the synchronization of collective dispositions and behaviors, (2) the development of temporal stability of these behaviors through self-reinforcing mechanisms resulting in practices, and (3) the ensuing institutional change for market shaping. By connecting this model to the market-shaping process, we demonstrate how our model contributes to a better understanding of the theoretically fuzzy processes of institutional change within market shaping and how it may help market shapers in their endeavors to shape markets successfully.

Powerful Owners and Powerful Legacies. What Drives Change in the World Rally Championship?

This study seeks to identify the impact of a commercial turning point in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 1999 and the 2013 takeover by the current promoter’s media strategies. Drawing upon 21 qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the WRC coupled with theories of institutional logics, mediatization and strategic legacy, the findings demonstrate that the decisions and culture of the sport can be powerful as the new owners seek to influence the direction of sport in their own image. Sport managers who are dealing with change processes and sport management researchers should identify where an organization’s self-reinforcing mechanisms and processes exist in order to balance sporting tradition with organizational culture.

Future‐proofing IJMR as a leading management journal: Reach, relevance and reputation

Future‐proofing <i>IJMR</i> as a leading management journal: Reach, relevance and reputation