Who leads regional industrial dynamics? “New industry creators” in Chinese regions

Recent evolutionary economic geography studies have argued that regional diversification emerges as a path‐dependent process, as regions often branch into industries that are related to its industrial structure. However, it is less clear who are creating new industries and under what regional conditions. This research seeks to fill this gap and identify “new industry creators” in regional industrial diversification. We differentiate two types of new industry formation—path‐breaking and path‐dependent—and examine whether some new industry creators are more path‐breaking than others, by incorporating two factors that have been largely overlooked in recent literature on technological relatedness—firm heterogeneity and regional institutions. Based on a firm‐level data set of China’s manufacturing industries, this paper shows that path‐breaking and path‐dependence coexist. Empirical results confirm that firm heterogeneity and regional institutions not only affect the firms’ capabilities in creating new industries, but also encourage/discourage firms to be adventurous and path‐breaking. This research implies that lagging regions can catch up with developed regions by coordinating regional resources and adjusting local institutional arrangements to attract more path‐breaking firms.     

“One thing leads to another”, but where? – Gateway cities and the geography of production linkages

Although it has been argued that current configurations of extractive industries provide opportunities for developing production linkages, in other words, that “one thing leads to another”, these opportunities are not necessarily realised directly in the resource‐holding countries. This article aims to explain why the greater opportunities for creating increased production linkages may remain unrealised. While existing research on production linkages is characterised by a national scale mode of analysis, this article examines production linkages in the resource‐poor gateway city of Singapore that are intended to serve oil and gas operations at the macro‐regional level in Indonesia and Vietnam. The results reveal that a significant depth and breadth of production linkages have unfolded in Singapore, highlighting that in particular sophisticated production linkages tend to have a broader geographic scope. Moreover, the analysis identifies factors that have shifted the territorial scale of labour‐intensive and low‐technology production linkages from a macro‐regional towards a national or subnational level, to the advantage of the resource‐holding countries. These insights add some complexity to the study of production‐linkage development and emphasise the need for a multi‐scalar perspective that does not stop at national borders.     

Can the Informal Economy Be “Managed”?: Comparing Approaches and Effectiveness of Day‐Labor Management Policies in the San Diego Metropolitan Area

Day‐labor hiring sites are found in more than 120 municipalities across the U.S., there is limited research examining the specific drivers that generate direct interventions into the day‐labor market, nor is there any research examining the effectiveness of day‐labor management policies. In what follows, I draw on examples from the San Diego Metropolitan Area (SDMA) to address this gap in policy‐research. The findings demonstrate the pervasiveness of neoliberal ideology in day‐labor management, from policing strategies to social service provision. In each case examined, local governments only took direct action when they believed day‐labor activity threatened local commercial activity or when residents' fear of “illegal immigrant” day‐laborers made them question the state's ability to control space effectively. In each case, I also evaluate the effectiveness and cost of the management strategy. The results of this analysis clearly demonstrate that attempts to eliminate day‐labor activity are costly and expensive while efforts to formalize day‐labor cost less and have a higher success rate.     

‘Blue boats’ and ‘reef robbers’: A new maritime security threat for the Asia Pacific?

Vietnamese ‘blue boats’ – small wooden‐hulled fishing boats – are now entering the territorial waters of Pacific Island countries and illegally catching high‐value species found on remote coastal reefs. Crossing several international boundaries and traversing a distance of over 5000 km, these intrusions have alarmed Oceanic countries, including Australia. Lacking administrative capacity as well as jurisdictional authority to effectively control the vast stretches of island coastlines individually, governments and intergovernmental bodies in the region have called for strengthened coordination of surveillance efforts while also pressuring Vietnam diplomatically. This paper reviews these latest developments and is the first to provide a focused assessment of the issue. Through the lens of Copenhagen School of securitisation theory, we analyse responses of national and regional actors and their portrayal in online media to understand how blue boats are constructed as a security threat within a narrative of maritime, food and human security. Arguably, Australia together with the Forum Fisheries Agency, who advise on the governance of offshore tuna resources, have so far acted most decisively – in a way that might see them extend their strategic role in the region. We propose a comprehensive empirical research agenda to better understand and manage this nascent, flammable and largely unpredictable inter‐regional phenomenon.     

High‐Growth Firms in the Southern U.S.: Where is the Growth?

Policymakers across the Southern U.S. have directed considerable attention to regional economic development plans, with mixed results. Questions remain over what types of industries, firms, and/or policies can drive long‐range growth. Over the past two decades, researchers have started to focus on high‐growth firms (HGFs) due to their potential innovation spillovers and job creation prospects, both of which drive further economic development. Employing databases from the Inc. 500, this study explores the dynamics of HGFs within Southern and comparative contexts. The first goal of this paper is to explore Southern HGF activity in comparison with the U.S. at‐large. The second is to examine the geographical characteristics of HGFs within the South, which will include an exploration of locations, industrial mix, and the factors that could encourage HGF development and agglomeration. This paper will also analyze the longer‐term ownership and acquisition patterns of HGFs across the South. Are such firms remaining embedded in the South or moving elsewhere through mergers or acquisitions? The paper concludes with a discussion of the impacts of HGFs on regional economic development and moreover, whether existing policies are conducive to these firms.     

Can additional N fertiliser ameliorate the elevated CO2‐induced depression in grain and tissue N concentrations of wheat on a high soil N background?

Elevated CO₂ stimulates crop yields but leads to lower tissue and grain nitrogen concentrations [N], raising concerns about grain quality in cereals. To test whether N fertiliser application above optimum growth requirements can alleviate the decline in tissue [N], wheat was grown in a Free Air CO₂ Enrichment facility in a low‐rainfall cropping system on high soil N. Crops were grown with and without addition of 50–60 kg N/ha in 12 growing environments created by supplemental irrigation and two sowing dates over 3 years. Elevated CO₂ increased yield and biomass (on average by 25%) and decreased biomass [N] (3%–9%) and grain [N] (5%). Nitrogen uptake was greater (20%) in crops grown under elevated CO₂. Additional N supply had no effect on yield and biomass, confirming high soil N. Small increases in [N] with N addition were insufficient to offset declines in grain [N] under elevated CO₂. Instead, N application increased the [N] in straw and decreased N harvest index. The results suggest that conventional addition of N does not mitigate grain [N] depression under elevated CO₂, and lend support to hypotheses that link decreases in crop [N] with biochemical limitations rather than N supply.