Reconfiguring supplier relationships between local and global: History matters

Small and medium-sized companies are increasingly facing international markets as part of their processes of growth and development. A great deal of literature deals with different patterns of growth and international development that are specific to SMEs with respect to large companies. Fewer studies have been conducted on the reconfiguration of company supplier relationships involved in these processes. This paper focuses on the role played by the consolidated set of company supplier relationships when the firm faces some critical stages in its process of development, i.e., growth from small to mid-sized and the implementation of new ventures abroad accessing new business relationships with international suppliers. A multiple and longitudinal case study shows how the local set of supplier relationships of four mid-sized Italian mechanical companies acting in industrial districts has played an important role in shaping the emerging set of supplier relationships and addressing companies' actions in their growth and internationalization processes.     

西部地区传统产业集群整合途径研究——以成都市家具产业集群为例

产业集群对西部地区缩小区域差距,进行技术创新,提高区域竞争力等方面具有重要意义。本文通过对产业集群理论的基本论述,以成都市家具产业集群为例,寻求西部地区传统产业集群整合途径。     

A baseline model of industry evolution

The paper analyses some general dynamic properties of industries characterized by heterogeneous firms and continuing stochastic entry.After a brief critical assessment of some significant drawbacks of recent contributions to modeling of stochastic industrial dynamics, we propose a novel analytical apparatus able to derive some generic properties of the underlying competition process combining persistent technological heterogeneity, differential growth of individual firms and turnover. The basic model, we suggest, is indeed applicable with proper modifications to a large class of evolutionary processes, well beyond industrial dynamics.JEL Classification: L11, O30, C60Support to this research by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria; the Fujitsu Research Institute for Advanced Information (FRI), Japan; the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR, prot. 2002132413 003) and the Free University of Bozen Bolzano, Italy, is gratefully acknowledged. Comments by Andrea Bassanini, Francesca Chiaromonte, Steven Klepper, Uwe Cantner, Drew Fudenberg and the anonymous referees helped in shaping the paper to its present form. Mariele Berté provided the computer simulations of the model. The usual caveats apply.Correspondence to: G. Dosi     

Taiwan's ICP mechanism—a review and a stage approach

Most developing countries achieved necessary critical technology quickly and efficiently through the offset channel. Taiwanese government procurement is one of the most important sources of technological development. Over the past 10 years, this performance has not been remarkable in obtaining improved rising defense technology using the offset (namely, Industrial Cooperation Program, ICP). The main objective of this paper is to discuss the problems with Taiwan's ICP and propose a four-stage approach for Taiwan's ICP mechanism detailed improvements are suggested for Stage I and Stage II. F-16 fighter coproduction was used as an example to simulate Stages I and II in the four-stage approach process, considering all three levels of technology, economics and national security, to establish a set of fuzzy multiple criteria decision mode to identify the evaluative criteria variables and project item's order for ICP project. This decision mode was identified as a workable method.     

非农投资总量、结构和要素替代对就业的影响

将影响非农产业就业量的增长因素分解为:投资总量效应、结构变化效应和要素替代效应;投资总量的增长是拉动非农就业增长的主要力量,投资的行业结构变化效应以及要素替代效应导致了非农就业的下降。     

警惕我国企业集群发展中潜在问题

企业集群是当今区域经济发展规划的新趋势 ,引起了多学科领域学者关注。我国已经出现了一些企业集群的雏形 ,但是这些企业集群都存在不同的问题。以东莞、温州及部分的高新区为例 ,从各自的形成过程、发展轨迹等角度 ,讨论了各具特色的区域集群存在的不同性质的问题     

Test validation from a conceptual and legal perspective: Issues and trends

A little-explored issue in the psychological and legal literature involves test validation. This article discusses issues of test validation from both psychological and legal perspectives. Areas of inconsistency are noted and probable future directions are high-lighted.     

知识系统跨越式升级中政府的作用研究--基于产业集群知识系统的分析

引领科技发展的新创知识虽然是未来经济社会发展的动力源泉,但由于缺乏市场的长期检验,这类新创知识早期应用成本和风险均较高,导致集群企业很难主动接受。文章在相关文献综述的基础上,阐释了集群知识系统运行的基本假设,构建了一个基于传染病模型的政府参与的集群知识扩散模型,通过数理推导发现,无论产业集群内现存知识的传播再生数多大,政府宏观调控和激励政策在集群内新创知识推广和应用过程中的作用显著,能够加快集群内知识系统的跨越式升级,最后文章提出了促进集群内新创知识应用的政策建议。     

Natural selection and rational decision: two concepts of optimization

There are two different kinds of optimization: “selection” and “rationality” optimization. Selection optimization characterizes competition in human and nonhuman societies sharing the same market or niche. “Rationality optimization”, on the other hand, characterizes human and nonhuman decision making processes. The two kinds of optimization generate the same result: agents end up behaving efficiently. Nonetheless, we should not downplay the differences between the two kinds of optimization. Otherwise, we would fail to capture the role of rationality in the development of the organism and possibly its implication for evolution.