Growth‐Oriented Small Firms and the Nature and Extent of Local Embeddedness: The Case of a Traditional Metalworking Cluster

ABSTRACT Clusters now form a central element in many regional economic development policies. Location within a cluster of related industries is thought to increase a firm's competitive advantage resulting in higher output and productivity growth rates than in similar firms located beyond the cluster. This study focuses on owner‐managers operating small firms within a traditional cluster of metalworking industries and empirically examines the relationship between growth‐orientation and the extent and nature of cluster embeddedness. The results indicate only a limited number of differences in growth‐orientation given variations in levels of cluster embeddedness. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many of the most growth‐oriented entrepreneurs focus their activities outside the cluster, especially in terms of market‐based linkages. However, those firms with more advanced process technologies do tend to show above average within cluster linkages.     

Collaboration,Transferable and Non‐transferable Knowledge,and Innovation: A Study of a Cool Climate Wine Industry (Canada)

The connection between innovation and territory is increasingly being questioned as evidence shows that collaboration and information exchange are not necessarily localised. However, this general observation may differ depending on the industry and type of exchange studied: some types of information may be more transferable than others. This may particularly be the case in the wine industry which, especially in Canada, is concentrated in a few regions, each with its own climate, geography, and institutions. This paper examines the nature and geography of collaboration in this industry, with emphasis on the relative importance of different sources of knowledge, the spatial dimension of exchanges, and their relevance for innovation. We find that certain knowledge exchanges are localised, particularly those that are closely associated with local growing conditions, whereas other more generic industry‐level exchanges occur at a wider spatial scale. Local knowledge transfers are characterised less by the type of knowledge exchanged than by the fact that it focuses on local conditions, and is therefore of little value outside the region.     

An Analysis of Urban Size and Territorial Location Effects on Employment Probabilities: The Spanish Case

The probability of being employed varies depending on several factors. Many of these are related to personal characteristics such as educational level, age, gender, or number and age of children. Nevertheless, other factors may be relevant, in particular the geographical environment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relevance of urban size and the position of each territory (in terms of its distance from large metropolises) for the probability of being employed in the Spanish economy. Following the set of economic regions suggested by Polése, Shearmur and Rubiera (2007 ), we try to explain the spatial patterns of employment distribution. Our results show some relevant differences between these alternative economic areas. We find that municipalities with similar sizes and located at a similar distance from a metropolis but belonging to different Autonomous Communities or provinces share similar employability patterns.     

Behind the Pan‐European Convergence Path: The Role of Innovation,Specialisation and Socio‐economic Factors

The paper analyses the determinants of regional disparities in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and their evolution over time in the enlarged European Union (EU). With reference to the literature it groups EU regions on the basis of three different factors—specialisation, socio‐economic features, and innovation. It then analyses regional disparities in per capita GDP (EU‐relative and country‐relative) across groups over 2004–2011 using both non‐parametric tools and traditional regression analysis with spatial effects. The paper finds that EU‐wide convergence actually conceals growing divergence across old member regions and within new members. Coming to the factors that lie at the heart of regional disparities, country factors lose importance for newcomers but become more important for older members, notwithstanding longstanding integration. Socio‐economic factors and innovation instead become increasingly important for all areas, socio‐economic factors lying at the heart of within‐country differences and innovation more of those between regions. Finally, specialisation appears to have a lower explanatory power.     

某些内部和外部因子对蔬菜中硝酸盐含量的影响

本文对蔬菜中硝酸盐积累的内部和外部因子作了综合评述.不同蔬菜的种、品种、部位和年龄之间,硝酸盐含量差别很大.一般来讲,叶菜类和根菜类蔬菜积累的硝酸盐高于茄果类蔬菜.就叶菜类的可食部分而言,硝酸盐积累量为根>茎>叶柄>叶片.外部因子,诸如氮肥用量、氮素形态、光照、温度、水分、栽培方法以及收获时期和方法等,都不同程度地影响了蔬菜中硝酸盐的积累.根据影响硝酸盐积累的各种因子,提出了减少硝酸盐积累的几条措施.     

The Impact of Geographical Proximity on Vertical Integration through Specific Assets: The Case of the Spanish Meat Industry

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the role that agglomeration may have on vertical boundaries in exchanges associated with high transaction costs. Transaction cost economics identifies the presence of specific assets in stages of the value chain as the main driver of vertical integration. However, under the trustworthy and shared social milieu that agglomerated spaces may confer, neighboring firms can enjoy lower opportunism risk and communication costs. Therefore, we assume that even in the presence of specific assets, physically proximate firms are more likely to remain specialized and establish market exchanges. Empirical evidence in 10,186 establishments from the Spanish meat industry confirms these hypotheses, although it is found that the moderating role of agglomeration in the relationship between asset specificity and vertical integration has a limited geographical reach.     

The Effects of Internal Governance Mechanism on Technological Innovation of the Stated-Owned Enterprises:An Empirical Study

Combining the resource-based view and corporate governance perspective and strategic management theory, the paper studies the effects of internal governance mechanism on technological innovation of the stated-owned enterprises. It is found that a significant and positive association among technological innovation, firm' s ROA, leadership structure and asset-debt ratio. Although the ownership concentration provides a negative effect, it is no evidence thats firm' s technological innovation is related to the firm' s shares holded by top management.     

The Effect of Mulching,Tillage and Rotation on Yield in Non‐flooded Compared with Flooded Rice Production

Non‐flooded rice cultivation has been proven to be an effective measure to reduce water consumption in drought areas of Southeast China. However, rice cultivation under non‐flooded conditions leads to less stable productivity and lower grain yield. The objectives of this study were (1) to compare crop performance and yields among flooded and non‐flooded rice over several seasons, (2) to identify the yield performed in non‐flooded rice systems over seasons and whether the options which included no‐tillage, straw mulching and wet‐dry rotation system can narrow the grain yield gap between non‐flooded and traditional flooded condition. The results showed the difference between flooded rice (F) and non‐flooded rice (NF) with straw mulching was much lower than the difference between F and NF without straw mulching. Within late seasons, the difference of aboveground total biomass between non‐flooded rice without mulching and flooded rice gradually widened as the number of cropping seasons increased. Compared with the non‐flooded rice without mulching, straw mulching can reduce the decline of aboveground total biomass and grain yield. The yield difference between F and NF treatments became smaller in no‐tillage plots than complete tillage plots. It suggested that no‐tillage can keep the crop production more stable. In comparison with continuously non‐flooded cultivation, our study indicated that the wet‐dry rotation system can reduce the yield decline under non‐flooded condition.     

Note: Evaluating Community Economic Development Planning Programs with a Small Number of Participants: A Non‐Parametric Approach

Many researchers and practitioners agree that evaluation of economic development planning programs is important, although the perspectives on the approaches, methods, and use of results vary widely. Confounding the issue are cases in which development programs have a small number of participants and typical measures such as parametric statistics are not valid. The alternate evaluation technique presented here uses a non‐parametric approach, incorporating a control group for comparison purposes. The paper begins with a review of evaluation issues for economic development planning programs, followed by an illustration of the approach suitable for programs with small numbers of participants. It utilizes a case study of a publicly‐funded small business incubator program, the Advanced Technology Development Center, located in Atlanta, Georgia. By explaining how the analysis is constructed and the results interpreted, the paper illustrates a potentially useful methodological approach to evaluating community economic development programs.     

Explaining the Relative Frequency of Face‐to‐face Meetings in Cooperative Relationships among Companies: An Econometric Analysis

This paper analyses the factors that influence the relative frequency of face‐to‐face meetings when companies cooperate with each other. Specifically, we explore the role of geographical distance between the partners and how it affects the influence of other factors, especially the nature of knowledge and the ability to use information technology. An econometric analysis based on a survey of 338 companies in the Brittany region (France) shows that the factors that influence the relative frequency of face‐to‐face encounters differ according to whether the partners are located within or outside a single region. In particular, the nature of knowledge plays a role only when the partners are remote.     

Co‐creating an Open Government Action Plan: The Case of Sekondi‐Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly,Ghana

This paper contributes to the limited literature on open government initiatives at the subnational level in developing countries. It examines the motivations of actors in a local government authority to utilize the capabilities of various stakeholders to overcome constraints in cocreating an action plan for open government reforms. This empirical analysis utilized qualitative fieldwork conducted in Sekondi‐Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana's third largest local government. The findings demonstrate that a confluence of citizen demand for openness, and willingness within the governance stakeholders, are motivating the pursuit of open government reforms. Viewed through an open innovation framework, we argue that achieving good governance through information transparency, public participation, and accountability reforms is hindered by the institutional environment. Ghana's subnational governments need national level commitment to provide the resources, mandate, and authority to become truly “open.”     

Differential Employment Patterns for Citizens and Non‐Citizens in Science and Engineering in the United States: Minting and Competitive Effects

ABSTRACT The consequences of the heavy inflow of foreign talent for U.S. scientists and engineers over the period 1973‐1997 are examined using data from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients. Of particular interest is whether non‐citizens trained in the United States have displaced citizens from jobs in science and engineering (S&E). Using a novel adaptation of the shift‐share technique, it is shown that citizen S&E doctorates have fewer jobs in S&E and fewer academic jobs than their non‐citizen counterparts for two reasons: the citizen doctoral population has experienced slower growth than the non‐citizen doctoral population, and citizen S&E doctorates have been displaced. Whether the displacement observed was a voluntary response of citizens to the lure of better opportunities elsewhere or an involuntary response indicative of having been pushed out by foreign talent remains to be determined.     

Marker‐assisted backcrossing of a null allele of the α‐subunit of Soybean (Glycine max) β‐conglycinin with a Chinese soybean cultivar (a). The development of improved lines

The development of soybean varieties that lack the β‐conglycinin α‐subunit is an attractive goal because the β‐conglycinin α‐subunit negatively influences the nutrition and gelation of tofu and is a major allergen. To remove this undesirable allergen and simultaneously improve the seed nutritional value and food‐processing quality, marker‐assisted background selection (MABS) was used in backcross breeding to incorporate cgy‐2, a null phenotype version of the gene encoding the β‐conglycinin α‐subunit, from the donor line ‘RiB’ into the genetic background of the Chinese cultivar ‘Dongnong47’ (DN47), a popular high‐oil superfine seed soybean cultivar from Heilongjiang Province, China. In each F₂ (F₂, BC_nF₂) generation of the breeding programme, the offspring that carried the introgressed cgy‐2 were identified by sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and rescreened by MABS using simple sequence repeat markers to accelerate recurrent parent genome recovery. Of the 49 advanced backcrossing breeding lines (ABLs), the three best lines, ABL1, ABL2 and ABL3, were selected from the BC₁, BC₂ and BC₃ populations, respectively. The ABLs were evaluated for desirable agronomic characteristics, yield‐related traits, amino acid composition, free amino acid composition and tofu‐processing quality in the mature seeds. All of the ABLs lacked the α‐subunit but grew and reproduced normally without deleterious effects on physiological processes such as seed development and germination. The free amino acid content of ABL1 was significantly higher than that of ‘DN47’, with arginine (Arg) being particularly enriched. Compared to the recurrent parent ‘DN47’, the total protein content of the three ABLs was higher, the amino acid composition of the seed proteins was markedly modified and the yield and hardness of the tofu that was made from the ABLs were significantly increased. MABS combined with stringent phenotypic selection in a backcross breeding programme is a feasible strategy for the genetic engineering of seed protein components to produce allergenic subunit‐deficient variant alleles.     

Cloning,characterization and overexpression of a 14‐3‐3 ω protein from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)

Plant 14‐3‐3 proteins are involved in signal transduction pathways of nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism. An Eg14‐3‐3 ω gene was isolated from the mesocarp of oil palm. The 1055‐bp cDNA had an open reading frame of 774 bp that encoded for 258 amino acids, and the cDNA had 113‐bp and 195‐bp 5′‐ and 3′‐untranslated regions, respectively. The calculated molecular weight was 28.06 kDa, with a pI of 5.04. The palm 14‐3‐3 showed closest identity to 14‐3‐3 proteins of the omega group. The entire sequence of Eg14‐3‐3 ω showed 83% identity with 14‐3‐3 protein isoform 16R from Solanum tuberosum. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Eg14‐3‐3 isoform was within the omega (ω) subgroup and, thus, was designated Eg14‐3‐3 ω. The Eg14‐3‐3 ω expression patterns were strong in the mesocarp as compared to the root. When Eg14‐3‐3 ω cDNA was overexpressed in transgenic calli, there was higher accumulation of oil in the transgenic calli than in the controls. Therefore, Eg14‐3‐3 ω has potential for applications in the breeding of oil palms in the future.     

Producer Service Linkages and Industrial Innovation: Results of a Twelve‐Year Tracking Study of New York State Manufacturers

ABSTRACT This paper documents the results of a twelve‐year tracking study of New York State (NYS) manufacturers of scientific instruments (1994–2005). The main goal of the tracking exercise was to probe for firm‐level changes in the use of external producer services, notably in technical fields such as industrial design, contract research, and engineering. Another goal was to assess the extent to which these outside inputs have been contributing to the product innovation efforts of users. The results show that innovation and service utilization rates have converged across NYS's three major regions (i.e., Western New York, Upstate/Central, and the New York City metropolitan area). This convergence has been powered by Internet‐based technologies, as well as by strategic management change at the company level. The link between recourse to external technical help and successful innovation is found to be statistically stronger in 2005 than it was twelve years ago. Of special importance is the fact that a growing number of manufacturers have been outsourcing research, design, and product development activities at levels that far exceed those reported in the 1990s. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of these trends for the geography of innovation within high‐technology sectors.     

观赏南瓜种质资源引进筛选及创新利用研究

为培育出长势强、结瓜性能好、抗病性强观赏南瓜品种,山东省烟台市农业科学研究院自2000年先后从国内外引进观赏南瓜32份,对引进材料进行了植物学特征调查,并进行连续自交纯化,观察自交后代性状表现,从中选出稳定有观赏价值南瓜资源22份,配制出 ‘皇太子’、‘白雪公主’、‘佛钟’、‘花冠’、‘牵手’、‘花脸’、‘飞碟’、‘朝阳’、‘大铃铛’、‘小金玉’、‘龙女’、‘福星’12个观赏南瓜杂交种,新品种育成后在中国的上海、北京、重庆、安徽、河北、黑龙江、以及山东的寿光等地推广应用。     

Innovation efficiency and spatial spillover in urban agglomerations: A case of the Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei,the Yangtze River Delta,and the Pearl River Delta

Based on panel data of innovation inputs and outputs in 53 cities of the three major Chinese urban agglomerations (UAs) spanning the 2001–2015 period, this study examines the influence of the spatial spillover effect among cities on innovation efficiency in UAs using the SFA method and a spatial econometric model. Three main conclusions can be draw from the empirical results. First, the innovation efficiency in the three UAs has increased over the research period, but there is enormous potential for improvement. Second, owing to the close socioeconomic linkages and the flow of innovation resources, there is a significantly positive spatial spillover effect between cities on innovation efficiency in the three UAs. In other words, innovation efficiency in a local city was positively influenced by the other cities in the UA. Particularly, the innovation efficiency in a local city is influenced by factors related to not only the city itself but also other cities in the UA. Third, as the geographical distance increases, the spillover effect on innovation efficiency shows nonlinear variations, indicating that the excessive expansion in UAs may not be attributed to innovation development.     

玉米三交种郑三3号高产原因分析

用郑三3号的3个亲本自交系,组配成6个正反单交组合和6个以单交为母本的三交组合,进行产量比较和性状调查。结果表明,6个单交组合之间的产量差异不显著,6个三交组合之间的产量差异亦不显著,说明这3个自交系相互间的配合力都很高,这是郑三3号的产量达到了优良单交种产量水平的内在因素。     

The launch and evolution of a technology‐based economy: The case of Austin Texas

This paper uses the lens of institutional theory to explain the launch and evolution of Austin, Texas's technology‐based economy. The case underscores the importance of context, contingency, and the evolution of key local development organizations in explaining how regional economic development trajectories can change and evolve. The case history provides insights into how economic development networks form and operate to “set off” processes of industrial specialization and agglomeration and how they can promote successful adaptation to change in technology and industrial structure. The Austin story further suggests a “stage” process of regional technology‐based evolution where the development of industrial agglomerations linked to a substantial local research base is seen as a necessary precursor to increasing endogenous innovation and start‐up activity. Successfully navigating these stages is bolstered by the formation of institutions and networks that are durable, strategic, and adaptive, and which, at the right time, recognize and support entrepreneurial firm development to help sustain technology‐based growth.