International PhD course on Economic Geography

Main themeof the course 2014:

Geography of knowledge, networks and transitions

Place

Utrecht University

Utrecht

Period

16 September13.00 pm – 19 September19.00 pm

11 November 13.00 pm –14 November 18.00 pm

Local organizer:

Ron Boschma (Lund University/UtrechtUniversity)

Co-organizers:

Bjorn Asheim (Lund University/Stavanger University)

Anders Malmberg (UppsalaUniversity)

Guest lecturers:

Yuko Aoyama (Clark University)

Bjorn Asheim (Lund University/Stavanger University)

Pierre-Alex Balland (Utrecht University/Lund University)

Lars Coenen (Lund University/NIFU)

Koen Frenken (Utrecht University/Lund University)

Simona Iammarino (LSE)

Anders Malmberg (UppsalaUniversity)

Andrea Morrison (UtrechtUniversity)

AndrésRodriguez-Pose (LSE)

Simone Strambach (MarburgUniversity)

Bernard Truffer (EAWAG, Utrecht University)

Francesco Quatraro (University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis)

Content of course:

The course aims to provide an introduction to contemporary research perspectives and approaches in economic geography. The core questions of this discipline – related to the role of place and space in processes of economic development – have in recent years attracted interest not just from geographers but also from economists and other social scientists. This course will debate recent theoretical developments (with special attention to evolutionary and institutional economic geography), and will discuss recent advancements in methodology and empirical analysis in economic geography.

A key theme is the study of the geography of knowledge, networks and transitions. There is debate whether geographical proximity is a necessary and a sufficient condition for inter-firm knowledge transfer and innovation. Related to that, there is an increasing awareness that (different types of) networks enhance knowledge diffusion and innovation. The study of networks is a key topic in economic geography because it deals with the fundamental questions whether places or networks, and local or global networks matter for innovation. In addition, new tools in social network analysis have become available to analyse the role of (local) networks in regional development. Social network analysis hasprovided new insights to the cluster literature. Moreover, the spatial configuration of networks also change over time. What drives network dynamics is an emerging topic in economic geography. And, there is an expanding literature on the geography of transition which attracts a lot of attention.

This course takes up the following questions with respect to the main theme: to what extent need firms to be proximate in order to enhance innovation?What kinds of knowledge need to be recombined to enhance regional development? What kinds of network configurations are conducive to regional innovation? Who matters in networks of innovation? And how do networks of innovation evolve over time? How do regions diversify over time? Which types of agents induce structural change in regions? What is the role of multinationals in regional development? How do institutions affect the development of new growth paths? What kind of regional policy is needed to enhance regional innovation? Which regional features favour the transition towards more sustainable development? And what kinds of (institutional, evolutionary) theories are needed to accommodate these questions?

It is these questions what makes economic geography such an exciting discipline. Currently, many social scientists besides economic geographers are working on these topics, making it a cross-disciplinary endeavour. It is fair to say that many theoretical, conceptual and empirical issues still remain to be solved. Leading experts that are currently working on these research frontiers will take up these challenges, and discuss the latest insights. Network analysis will take a prominent part. A computer practicum will be organized in which students will learn to use and apply social and dynamic network analysis. And students learn how to analyze transitions towards sustainable development. PhD students will acquire the latest knowledge concerning these theoretical, methodological and empirical issues.

The organizers will participate actively in the course. Leading experts will present the latest developments with respect to the geography of knowledge, networks and transitions, and provide comments on the PhD projects and feedback on the paper thatstudents have to write.

Each PhD student will get 45 minutes to present and discuss his/her PhD project (20 minutes presentation, 25 minutes discussion). A senior researcher and a PhD student will act as discussants for each PhD project.

Each PhD student has to select a topic among the ones that are addressed in the September meeting and write a paper on that topic (max. 4,000 words). This paper has to be submitted to the local organizer a week before the November meeting. During the November meeting, the student will get feedback from a senior researcher and receive a grade, if sufficient. The best paper will win an award.

Program

Tuesday16 September

Room: Van Unnik 220

13.00 welcome by Ron Boschma

13.15 – 15.00Ron Boschma (Lund University/UtrechtUniversity)

Evolutionary economic geography: relatedness and diversification

15.15-16.00 Zoltan Elekes

Regional industrial evolution in Hungarian regions

  • senior discussant: Ron Boschma
  • junior discussant: Rodrigo Troncoso

16.15-17.00 Emilie Hane-Weijman

How do regional economies respond to crises? The geography of job creation and destruction in Sweden (1990-2010)

  • senior discussant: Ron Boschma
  • junior discussant: Sandor Juhasz

17.15-18.00 Su-Hyun Berg

Local buzz and global pipelines from an evolutionary perspective:The case of the film and TV industry clusters in Sweden and South Korea

  • senior discussant: Anders Malmberg
  • junior discussant: Lucia Gomez

18.15-19.00 Tony Habersetzer

Entrepreneurial heritage in the periphery: the inheritance of business experience and its role for the long-term evolution of the manufacturing industry in Swiss peripheral regions

  • senior discussant: Anders Malmberg
  • junior discussant:Benjamin Klement

Wednesday 17 September

Room: Academiegebouw (Belle van Zuylen zaal)

9.00 – 10.45 Anders Malmberg (UppsalaUniversity)

Localized learning, buzz and pipelines: a knowledge-based theory of spatial clustering

Room: Ruppert B

11.15 – 12.00Teresa Farinha Fernandes

  • senior discussant: Anders Malmberg
  • junior discussant:Alexander Wong

12.15 – 13.00 Niccolo Innocenti

  • senior discussant: Anders Malmberg
  • junior discussant:Delphine Guex

13.00-13.45 lunch

13.45 - 15.30 Francesco Quatraro (University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis)

Evolution of regional knowledge bases

15.45 - 16.30Nicola Cortinovis

Related variety and regional economic growth in Europe: a dynamic perspective

  • senior discussant: Francesco Quatraro
  • junior discussant:Kalle Emil Holst Hansen

16.30 - 17.15 Dario Diodato

The impact of return migration on knowledge diffusion

  • senior discussant: Francesco Quatraro
  • junior discussant:Lucinda David

17.15 - 18.00 Sergio Petralia

Understanding Countries' Patterns of Technological Development

  • senior discussant: Francesco Quatraro
  • junior discussant: Edoardo Ferrucci

Thursday 18 September

Room: Universiteitsmuseum, De Grote Vergaderzaal

9.00 – 11.00 Simona Iammarino (LSE)

MNEs, innovation and geography

11.15 – 12.00Swati Ravi

'Combatting the Innovation Crisis': An Understanding from the Large Pharma

  • senior discussant: Simona Iammarino
  • junior discussant:Niccolo Innocenti

12.15 – 13.00 Lucia Gomez

TNC`s in the Global South: Reshaping the Global Investment Network.

  • senior discussant: Simona Iammarino
  • junior discussant: Alan Moore

13.00-14.00 lunch

14.00 – 16.00 Bjorn Asheim (Lund University/Stavanger University)

Knowledge bases, regional innovation systems and constructing regional advantage

16.15 – 17.00Janos Gyurkovics

The role of universities in the knowledge-based economic development of transition economies: opportunities of Szeged

  • senior discussant: Bjorn Asheim
  • junior discussant:Anke Engelhardt

17.15 – 18.00 Kalle Emil Holst Hansen

Manufacturing Firms in Small Towns: Low-Tech Competitiveness and Strategic Actions

  • senior discussant: Bjorn Asheim
  • junior discussant:Emilie Hane-Weijman

18.15 – 19.00 Evans Korang Adjei

Learning and plant performance: On the effects of Internal Family Network

  • senior discussant: Bjorn Asheim
  • junior discussant:Lorena Rivera Leon

Friday 19 September

Room: Booth zaal, Library

9.00 – 11.00 Bernhard Truffer (EAWAG, Utrecht University)

Geography of Transitions 1: addressing the global dimension

11.00 – 11.45 Bianca Cavicchi

Emilia model and innovation in bioenergy diffusion

  • senior discussant: Bernhard Truffer
  • junior discussant: Berenice Jung-Preller

11.45 – 12.30 Andrea Simone

Assessing regional innovation capability using data on eco-patents

  • senior discussant: Bernhard Truffer
  • junior discussant:Toon Meelen

Room: Van Unnik 201

13.00-14.00 lunch

14.00 – 15.45 AndrésRodriguez-Pose (LSE)

Institutions and regional development in Europe

16.00 – 16.45Lucinda David

  • senior discussant:Andrés Rodriguez-Pose
  • junior discussant: Dario Diodato

16.45 – 17.30 Emil Evenhuis

Governance and Policy of Adaptation and Resilience in Old Industrial Regions

  • senior discussant:Andrés Rodriguez-Pose
  • junior discussant: Annelies van Uden

17.30 – 18.15 Anke Engelhardt

The Role of Regional Institutions in Evolutionary Economic Geography - The Transformation Process of Old Industrial Regions in Europe

  • senior discussant:Ron Boschma
  • junior discussant:Igor Etxabe Iruretagoiena

Tuesday 11 November

Room: Van Unnik 312

13.00 welcome by Ron Boschma

13.15 – 15.00Koen Frenken (Utrecht University/Lund University)

Institutions and Evolutionary Economic Geography

15.00 – 15.45 Edoardo Ferrucci

Searching for diaspora effects in knowledge flows: a community detection approach

  • senior discussant: Koen Frenken
  • junior discussant: Evans Korang Adjei

15.45 - 16.30 Lorena Rivera Leon

Formation and persistence of research communities in Middle Income Countries

  • senior discussant: Koen Frenken
  • junior discussant: Sergio Petralia

16.30 – 17.15 Rodrigo Troncoso

Emergence and path creation in the turbot aquaculture industry of Galicia-Spain

  • senior discussant: Koen Frenken
  • junior discussant:Tony Habersetzer

17.30 – 18.15 Benjamin Klement

The interplay of cumulative and combinatorial knowledge dynamics: Microfoundations for regional resilience?"

  • senior discussant: Bjorn Asheim
  • junior discussant:Nicola Cortinovis

18.15 – 19.00 Igor Etxabe Iruretagoiena

Social Capital, Cluster-Associations and Regional Competitiveness. The Basque Country case

  • senior discussant: Bjorn Asheim
  • junior discussant:Emil Evenhuis

Wednesday 12 November

Room: Academiegebouw (Kanunikkenzaal)

9.00 - 11.00 Simone Strambach (MarburgUniversity)

Micro-dynamics of knowledge, path plasticity and change of institutions

11.15 – 12.00 Alan Moore

  • senior discussant: Simone Strambach
  • junior discussant: Su-Hyun Berg

12.15 – 13.00 Delphine Guex

The growth and preservation of territorial value: economic development by staging

  • senior discussant: Simone Strambach
  • junior discussant:Janos Gyurkovics

13.00-14.00 lunch

Rooms: Van Unnik (tba)

14.00 – 17.30 feedback on papers by international researchers (3 parallel sessions)

Thursday13 November

Room: Ruppert B

9.00 – 11.00 Lars Coenen (Lund University/NIFU)

Geography of Transitions 2: addressing local dimensions

11.15 - 12.00Toon Meelen

  • senior discussant: Lars Coenen
  • junior discussant:Bianca Cavicchi

12.15 – 13.00 Berenice Jung-Preller

The discursive dimension of sustainable building transitions

  • senior discussant: Lars Coenen
  • junior discussant:Andrea Simone

Room: Buys Ballot building, room 001

13.00-14.00 lunch

14.00-16.00 Yuko Aoyama (Clark University)

R&D alliances between MNE’s and NGO’s in India

16.15 - 17.00 Alexander Wong

Organizational Learning in International Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) in Asia

  • senior discussant: Yuko Aoyama
  • junior discussant: Swati Ravi

17.15 - 18.00 Annelies van Uden

Innovation in Developing Countries: Explaining Heterogeneity between Regions and Firms

  • senior discussant:Yuko Aoyama
  • junior discussant: Zoltan Elekes

18.15 - 19.00 Sandor Juhasz

The role of local networks in regional development

  • senior discussant:Yuko Aoyama
  • junior discussant: Teresa Farinha Fernandes

19.00 announcement of the best paper award

Friday14 November

Room: Ruppert 116

9.00 – 11.00 Andrea Morrison (Utrecht University)

Social network analysis

11.15-13.00 Pierre-Alex Balland (Utrecht University/Lund University)

Network dynamics and economic geography

13.00-14.00 lunch

Room: Universiteitsmuseum

14.00-18.00 Andrea Morrison and Pierre-Alex Balland (UtrechtUniversity)

Network analysis

Computer Practicum

Reference List

Bjorn Asheim

Asheim, B. T. and Gertler, M. (2005): The Geography of Innovation: Regional Innovation Systems, in Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D., and Nelson, R. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005, 291-317.

Asheim, B. T., Moodysson, J. and Tödtling, F. (2011): Constructing Regional Advantage: Towards State-of-the-Art Regional Innovation System Policies in Europe? European Planning Studies, 19, 7, 1133-1139.

Asheim, B. T., Lawton Smith, H. and Oughton, C. (2011): Regional Innovation Systems: Theory, Empirics and Policy. Special issue of Regional Studies, 45,7, 875-891.

Martin, R. and J. Moodysson (2013): Comparing Knowledge Bases: On the Geography and Organisation of Knowledge Sourcing in the Regional Innovation System of Scania, Sweden. European Urban and Regional Studies, 20, 2, 170-187.

Pierre-Alex Balland

Balland, P.A., de Vaan, M. and Boschma, R. (2013) The Dynamics of Interfirm Networks along the Industry Life Cycle: The Case of the Global Video Games Industry 1987-2007, Journal of Economic Geography , 13 (5): 741-765

Balland, P.A. (2012) Proximity and the Evolution of Collaboration Networks: Evidence from Research and Development Projects within the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Industry, Regional Studies, 46 (6): 741-756

Snijders, T. A., Van de Bunt, G. G., & Steglich, C. E. (2010) Introduction to stochastic actor-based models for network dynamics, Social networks, 32 (1): 44-60

Ron Boschma

Frenken, K., F.G. Van Oort and T. Verburg (2007), Related variety, unrelated variety and regional economic growth, Regional Studies 41, 685-697.

Neffke, F., M. Henning and R. Boschma (2011), How do regions diversify over time? Industry relatedness and the development of new growth paths in regions, Economic Geography 87, 237-265

Klepper, S. (2007), Disagreements, spinoffs and the evolution of Detroit as the capital of the U.S. automobile industry, Management Science 53 (4), 616-631

Boschma, R.A. & R. Wenting (2007), The spatial evolution of the British automobile industry: does location matter? Industrial and Corporate Change 16 (2), 213-238

Lars Coenen

Coenen, L., Benneworth, P. Truffer, B. (2012): Toward a spatial perspective on sustainability transitions. Research Policy Vol. 41, 968-979

Simmie, J. (2012). Path dependence and new technological path creation in the Danish wind power industry. European Planning Studies, 20(5), 753-772.

Bulkeley, H., & Castán Broto, V. (2013). Government by experiment? Global cities and the governing of climate change. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 38(3), 361-375.

Coenen, L., Moodysson, J., Westendorf, H. (forthcoming): Path renewal in old industrial regions: possibilities and limitations for regional innovation policy.Regional Studies

Koen Frenken

Boschma, R.A., Capone, G. (2014). Institutions and Diversification: Related versus Unrelated Diversification in a Varieties of Capitalismframework. Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography 14.21,

Dewald, U., Truffer, B. (2012). The local sources of market formation: Explaining regional growth differentials in German photovoltaic markets. European Planning Studies, 20 (3):397-420

Wenting, R., Frenken, K. (2011). Firm entry and institutional lock-in: an organizational ecology analysis of the global fashion design industry. Industrial and Corporate Change, 20(4): 1031-1048.

Boschma, R.A., Frenken, K. (2009). Some notes on institutions in evolutionary economic geography. Economic Geography 85(2): 151-158.

Boschma, R.A., Frenken, K. (2006). Why is economic geography not an evolutionary science? Towards an evolutionary economic geography. Journal of Economic Geography, 6(3): 273-302.

Simona Iammarino

Crescenzi R., Gagliardi L. and Iammarino S. (2014), “Local innovation and internationalization. Who benefits from Multinational Enterprises?”, PICK-ME Project (EU 7th FP), presented at the CIMR Workshop on Innovation and Internationalization

Iammarino S. and McCann P. (2013) Multinationals and Economic Geography. Location, Technology, and Innovation, Edwar Elgar: to skip through, particularly chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 and final.

Marin, A. and Bell, M. (2006) Technology Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): an Exploration of the Active Role of MNC Subsidiaries in the Case of Argentina in the 1990s.Journal of Development Studies, 42, 4, 678-697.

Anders Malmberg

Bathelt, H, Malmberg, A and P Maskell (2004) Clusters and Knowledge: Local Buzz, Global Pipelines and the Process of Knowledge Creation, Progress in Human Geography, 28(1): 31-56.

Malmberg, A & Maskell, P (2002) The Elusive Concept of Localization Economies – Towards a Knowledge-based Theory of Spatial Clustering. Environment and Planning A, Vol. 34: 429-449.

Malmberg, A, & Maskell, P (2006) Localized learning revisited, Growth and Change, 37(1): 1-18.

Maskell & Malmberg (1999) Localised learning and industrial competitiveness. Cambridge Journal of Economics Vol 23: 167-185.

Francesco Quatraro

Quatraro, F., 2014, Co-evolutionary patterns in regional knowledge bases and economic structure: evidence from European Regions, Regional Studies, forthcoming.
Colombelli, A., Krafft, J. and Quatraro, F., 2014, The emergence of new technology-based sectors in European regions : A proximity-based analysis of nanotechnology, Research Policy, forthcoming.
Quatraro, F., 2010, Knowledge Coherence, Variety and Productivity Growth: Manufacturing Evidence from Italian Regions, Research Policy, 39, 1289-1302.

Simone Strambach

Strambach, Simone (2010): Path Dependence and Path Plasticity. The Co-Evolution of Institutions and Innovation - The German Customized Business Software Industry. In: Ron Boschma und Ron Martin (Hg.): The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography. Cheltenham. Northampton: Edward Elgar, pp. 406–431.

Strambach, Simone; Klement, Benjamin (2012): Cumulative and Combinatorial Micro-dynamics of Knowledge: The Role of Space and Place in Knowledge Integration. In: European Planning Studies 20 (11), pp. 1843–1866.

Strambach, Simone (2008): Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) as drivers of multilevel knowledge dynamics. In: Int. J. Services Technology and Management 10 (2/3/4), pp. 152–174.

Bernhard Truffer

Carlsson, B. (2006)Internationalization of innovation systems: A survey of the literature Research Policy, 35 (1), pp. 56-67

Binz, C., Truffer, B. and Coenen, L. 2014. Why space matters in technological innovation systems - The global knowledge dynamics of membrane bioreactor technology. Research Policy 43, 138– 155.

Truffer, B., Coenen, L. 2012 Environmental innovation and sustainability transitions in regional studies. Regional Studies. 46 (2), 1-22.

Yuko Aoyama

Parthasarathy, Balaji and Yuko Aoyama. 2006. “From Software Services to R&D Services: Local entrepreneurship in the software industry in Bangalore, India.”Environment and Planning A38 No. 7 (July): 1269-1285.

Aoyama, Yuko and Balaji Parthasarathy, 2012. “Research and Development Facilities in India” Eurasian Geography and Economics 53 No.6 (October): 713-730.

Aoyama, Yuko and Rory Horner. Collaborative Governance for Global Public Goods: A Geographical paradigm. In review.

Map of buildings and bus stops

An interactive version of this map is available here

After arrival at Schiphol Airport, you can take a train to Utrecht Central Station. Train tickets are available from the yellow ticket machines near the platforms at Schiphol Plaza or from the ticket offices. There is a direct train to Utrecht every 30 minutes and the journey takes about half an hour.Once in Utrecht central station, you can take bus 12 or 28 to reach the buildings located in the campus (Van Unnik and Library). The Academiegebouw and the Universiteitsmuseum building are located in the city center (walking distance from the train station).