We will review some of the major results in random graphs and some of the more challenging open problems. We will cover algorithmic and structural questions. We will touch on newer models, including those related to the WWW.

Random graphs

The paper is concerned with spatial clustering of economic activity and its relation to the spatiality of knowledge creation in interactive learning processes. It questions the view that tacit knowledge transfer is confined to local milieus whereas codified knowledge may roam the globe almost frictionlessly. The paper highlights the conditions under which both tacit and codified knowledge can be exchanged locally and globally. A distinction is made between, on the one hand, the learning processes taking place among actors embedded in a community by just being there dubbed buzz and, on the other, the knowledge attained by investing in building channels of communication called pipelines to selected providers located outside the local milieu. It is argued that the co-existence of high levels of buzz and many pipelines may provide firms located in outward-looking and lively clusters with a string of particular advantages not available to outsiders. Finally, some policy implications, stemming from this argumen...

/pdf/clusters-and-knowledge-local-buzz-global-pipelines-and-the-29bsuyvekg.pdf

Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation

The author systematically examines one of the important issues of information — establishing the market price. He introduces the concept of «search» — where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers. The article deals with various aspects of finding the necessary information.

Economics of Information

Social Network Analysis

The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism


 In this article, we argue that learning across fields depends on the social construction of (in)commensurability rather than on the ‘distance’ between bodies of knowledge. Building on Fleck’s (1935) original concept of thought collectives, we examine how two professions, engineers and industrial designers, often fail yet sometimes succeed to make their knowledge commensurable and co-create innovation. Empirically, we draw on qualitative fieldwork in Baden-Württemberg to identify three types of relations between industrial design and technical innovation: separation (design without designers), sequential collaboration (shallow and aesthetic design), and co-creation (pervasive design). We extend the concept of inter-collective learning geographically and explore how place and various scales of space affect local thought styles, the retention of thought solidarity and the emergence of new temporary thought collectives.

In the mood for learning? How the thought collectives of designers and engineers co-create innovations

The author of this article goes beyond acknowledging networks as a governance mode to elaborate on the actual forms of governance that convey legitimate and acceptable coordination. He advances the concept of lateral network governance in the empirical context of organized networks, in which organizations pool resources and join their interests in the pursuit of common goals. To solve the puzzle of having independent equals commit themselves to coordinating their actions, the author aims to overcome the traditional dualism between formal and informal mechanisms of governance. Instead, he conceives lateral network governance as a structure for the legitimate delegation of decision-making. He develops a social network analytic approach to assessing the relational distribution of legitimacy. With his empirical analysis of two case studies of inter-firm network organizations, he illustrates the degree to which the actual legitimacy distribution diverges from formal governance authority. Lateral network governance has practical implications for inter-organizational networks and network managers.

/pdf/lateral-network-governance-18c7sqvpv9.pdf

Lateral Network Governance

Abstract The study of networks has been characterized by a dualism of methods. Researchers either use interpretive methods to explore the quality of social relations, or quantitative methods to assess the formal structure of network connectivity. However, because relational and structural characteristics of networks are interdependent, we present a method for Situational Organizational Network Analysis to overcome this dualism. In sequencing and integrating qualitative, quantitative and action research techniques, SONA is designed to help unveil authentic understandings of socially meaningful structure in compliance with research ethics. Drawing on a decade of research experience we describe the workings of this integrative method and elaborate on its valued-added compared to single methods. Building on selected applications, we demonstrate how the tailored use of SONA enhances cross-validation, supports original theory-building, and empowers reflexive transformative research.

/pdf/sona-a-relational-methodology-to-identify-structure-in-39j1e49rcv.pdf

SONA: A relational methodology to identify structure in networks

Die sozialwissenschaftliche Geographie widmet sich dem Verhaltnis zwischen Territorium und Gesellschaft. Sie fragt nach der spezifischen raumlichen Organisation sozialer Praxis, gesellschaftlicher Institutionen und wirtschaftlichen Austauschs. In einer vormodernen Gesellschaft stellt sich dieses Verhaltnis relativ einfach als uberwiegend lokale Lebens- und Wirtschaftsweise dar. Die geographische Analyse konzentriert sich vor allem auf die Kontextualitat und Diversitat regional verfasster gesellschaftlicher Ordnung. Im Zuge der Modernisierung ermoglichen neue Transport- und Kommunikationstechnologien eine zunehmende geographische Entankerung der Lebensverhaltnisse (Werlen 1999). Diese Entkopplung sozialer Interaktion von der Notwendigkeit korperlicher Anwesenheit wandelt den Zusammenhang von Territorium und Gesellschaft in eine interessante Frage: Wie und warum organisieren sich soziale oder wirtschaftliche Beziehungen in geographischer Perspektive? Wenn der Wertschopfungsprozess eines Gutes nicht mehr notwendigerweise lokal sein muss, ist es umso interessanter zu klaren, unter welchen Bedingungen er uber grose Entfernung oder eben doch lokal organisiert ist. Die wirtschaftliche Globalisierung bringt auffallige geographische Veranderungen mit sich. Wahrend sich wirtschaftliche Beziehungen weltumspannend immer starker verflechten, wachsen alte und entstehen neue lokale Agglomerationen. Auf der Suche nach Erklarungen fur regionalwirtschaftliche Spezialisierungen einerseits und der Organisation raumlich getrennter wirtschaftlicher Beziehungen andererseits hat der Begriff des Netzwerks grose Bedeutung gewonnen. Dieser Beitrag verweist auf vier wichtige Entwicklungs- und Verwendungszusammenhange von Netzwerkansatzen in der wirtschaftsgeographischen Forschung: Netzwerke materieller Infrastrukturen, regionale Unternehmensnetzwerke, Stadtenetzwerke und Migrationsnetzwerke. Die Darstellung widmet sich insbesondere solchen Ansatzen, die Netzwerke (als Erkenntnisgegenstand) auch mit netzwerkanalytischen Begriffen untersuchen.

Netzwerkforschung in der Geographie

The rise of global competition in a knowledge society and budget cuts in public spending have spurred an interest in the effects of universities on their regional economies. In contrast to the legacy of local impact analysis, this study examines the economic impact of an entire university landscape on a large regional economy: the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany. Its methodology overcomes some of the traditional challenges and develops a differential incidence approach by benchmarking the impacts of universities against alternative public expenditures. Empirically, this study reveals that Baden-Wurttemberg’s nine public universities multiply initial state funding by a factor higher than two in regional impact. They account for an annual aggregate economic impact of €3.7 billion in value-added, 63,000 jobs, and €350 million in tax revenues. The attraction of students and research funding from outside the regional economy are found to be major levers when compared to alternative public expenditures.

/pdf/the-economic-impact-of-the-universities-in-the-state-of-4sczzzu5ii.pdf

Johannes Glückler

Papers

In the mood for learning? How the thought collectives of designers and engineers co-create innovations

Lateral Network Governance

SONA: A relational methodology to identify structure in networks

Netzwerkforschung in der Geographie

The Economic Impact of the Universities in the State of Baden-Württemberg