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 CONTENTSEditorialJournal Articles
Relational Economic Geography: A Partial Understanding or a New Paradigm? Participation in Export Markets and Productivity of Plants in Los Angeles,
1987-1997 Innovation and Peripherality: An Empirical Comparative Study of SMEs in Six
European Union Member Countries Alliance-Driven Governance: Applying a Global Commodity Chains Approach to
the U.K. Biotechnology Industry
BOOK REVIEWSThe New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a
Global Economy, by AnnaLee Saxenian Clusters and Regional Development: Critical Reflections and Explorations,
edited by Bjørn Asheim, Philip Cooke, and Ron Martin Relocating Global Cities: From the Center to the Margins,
edited by M. Mark Amen, Kevin Archer, and M. Martin Bosman Knowledge Flows in European Industry, edited by
Yannis Caloghirou, Anastasia Constantelou, and Nicholas S. Vonortas The Social Sources of Financial Power: Domestic Legitimacy and International
Financial Orders, by Leonard Seabrooke Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective, by
Manuel Castells, Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Jack Linchuan Qiu, and Araba Sey The Neoliberal City: Governance, Ideology, and Development in American
Urbanism, by Jason Hackworth Politics, Products, and Markets: Exploring Political Consumerism Past and
Present, edited by Michele Micheletti, Andreas Follesdal, and Dietlind
Stolle
ABSTRACTSRelational Economic Geography: A Partial Understanding or a New Paradigm?, by Peter Sunley Abstract: Relational approaches in economic geography have grown in popularity and influence, but have not been critically evaluated or discussed. This article argues that poststructural and network-based versions of relational economic geography undoubtedly open up new research issues and provide tools for certain purposes, but questions whether they provide a coherent research agenda and new theoretical paradigm that can guide the reconceptualization of economic geography. The article addresses two main cases for a relational approach: its correspondence with a knowledge- and network-based capitalism and the claim that it provides an improved philosophy and ontology. It finds problems with both cases and argues that the approach provides an imprecise and selective ontology that is preoccupied with microscale processes. As a result, relational economic geography does not lend itself to causal explanations and schemas, is incapable of discriminating among different economic theories, and could become immune to empirical evaluation. In many cases, it seems to disregard many of the valuable insights of institutionalist and critical realist approaches, including the implications of emergence. The article concludes that instead of searching for a microlevel relational perspective or a new vocabulary, economic geography’s analysis of connections and relations would be better set within an evolutionary and historical institutionalism that understands economic relations as forms of institutional rules and practices and does not privilege ties and networks over nodes and agents. Key words: relational, networks, microlevel, realism, emergence, institutions.
Participation in Export Markets and Productivity of Plants in Los Angeles, 1987-1997, by Sébastien Breau and David Rigby Abstract: This article investigates the relationship between the productivity of plants and participation in export markets in the greater Los Angeles area using unpublished plant-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Research Database. Two key questions are examined: (1) do plants that export learn in foreign markets and become more efficient, or (2) do more efficient plants self-select into export markets? The results support previous claims that more productive plants tend to self-select into export markets. Little support is found for the learning-by-exporting argument. The policy implications of these findings are discussed. Key words: exports, plant productivity, microdata, Los Angeles.
Innovation and Peripherality: An Empirical Comparative Study of SMEs in Six European Union Member Countries, by Andrew Copus, Dimitris Skuras, and Kyriaki Tsegenidi Abstract: This article examines the rates of innovative activity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in central areas and equally developed but less accessible areas in six European Union member states. The probability of innovating is well predicted by the observable characteristics of firms, entrepreneurial characteristics, and business networks. More accessible areas consistently present higher rates of innovative activity than do their peripheral counterparts. The difference in the rates of peripheral and central areas is decomposed into observable and nonobservable factors. The entire innovation gap is attributed to nonobservable factors that constitute a combination of behavior and environment. Innovation policy for SMEs should aim to meet businesses’ specific needs (firm-specific factors) and to sustain and improve the innovative environment. Key words: regional innovation gap, European Union, SME innovation policy.
Alliance-Driven Governance: Applying a Global Commodity Chains Approach to the U.K. Biotechnology Industry, by Kean Birch Abstract: As the economy has globalized, it has also regionalized, which has led to the integration of different spaces across different scales. A number of theories contend that the endogenous assets of these locations provide them with the means to compete in this globalizing economy, especially in relation to knowledge-based sectors like biotechnology. Among these theories, the cluster concept stands out. However, there is little support for the arguments that local linkages are the central contributors to innovation. Extralocal linkages have also been highlighted, suggesting that other theories that account for these linkages may prove useful in the discussion of knowledge-based sectors, in general, and biotechnology, in particular. One such theory is the concept of global commodity chains, which explicitly concerns the interconnections within and across different geographic scales. As yet it has seldom been applied to the biotechnology industry. This article uses the approach to explore the U.K. biotechnology industry. Key words: biotechnology, clusters, global commodity chains, global production networks, alliance-driven governance.
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Economic Geography is an internationally peer-reviewed journal, committed to publishing the best theoretically-based empirical articles that deepen the understanding of significant economic geography issues around the world.
Economic Geography is published quarterly in January, April, July, and October by Clark University. 