European Urban and Regional Studies recent issues

Risky Migrants?: Low-Paid Migrant Workers Coping With Financial Exclusion in London

Datta, K. — 2009-09-17

Research on financial exclusion among migrant workers is scarce. A growing presence in advanced economies, migrant workers’ experiences of financial exclusion are shaped by a broad range of ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ side factors. In particular, this article argues that migrants’ understandings and management of risk are critical in shaping their engagement with financial services and products. Drawing upon empirical research conducted with low-paid migrant workers in London, this article explores the everyday financial practices and lives of low-paid migrant workers; the strategies which they devise in order to cope with financial exclusion as well as focusing specifically on self-exclusion as a strategy which signifies a particular understanding and management of risk.

New Facets of Urban Segregation in Southern Europe: Gender, Migration and Social Class Change in Athens

Arapoglou, V. P., Sayas, J. — 2009-09-17

This article explores how primary features of occupational restructuring, such as the feminization of employment and migration, and changes in patterns of residential mobility of Greek and migrant women since the 1990s have contributed to shaping new forms of sociospatial segregation in Athens. We examine changes in the occupational structure and in segregation indices from 1991 to 2001. Findings suggest that new gender and ethnic divisions in the occupational structure combine with residential mobility and introduce strong tendencies towards spatial fragmentation. Intra-urban and migratory flows reflect diversified occupational trajectories among women and contribute to shaping the socioeconomic profile of the destination areas: (a) migrant domestic and unskilled service workers locate to central city and suburban areas; (b) Greek managers and professionals, move to ‘upper-class suburbs’; (c) small Greek entrepreneurs and independent workers sprawl to peri-urban areas; (d) salespersons and clerks move to inner suburban areas.

Re-Bundling and the Development of Hollow Clusters in the East German Chemical Industry

Bathelt, H. — 2009-09-17

After the reunification, drastic economic restructuring processes occurred in East Germany due to a double transition: the transformation of the political and economic system, and the Fordist crisis associated with ongoing globalization processes. The challenges and shifts were particularly strong in the chemical industry, which had developed a structure of mass production characterized by an unsustainable exploitation of natural and economic resources. Drawing on a conception that views transformation and restructuring as a process of regional ruptures and re-bundling, rather than one that focuses on the lock-in of old industrialized regions, this article investigates the extent to which restructuring activities have been able to generate self-sustaining regional economies and networks in the East German chemical industry.The article is based on empirical research conducted in the regions of Leuna, Schkopau and Bitterfeld-Wolfen, which provides evidence that restructuring in the chemical industry did not create fully fledged clusters with strong interfirm linkages.Although the regional economies of the East German chemical industry were well linked to West Germany and to international markets through corporate ties, networks for learning and innovation remained weak.The development of these ‘hollow clusters’ was due to the persistence of a small industry basis, the dominance of branch operations with few local ties, and the limited importance of start-up firms. Such conditions, consequently, limit the prospects for growth in the East German chemical industry, suggesting that more diversified regional policies must be developed in the future.

The Role of Regional Development Agencies in Turkey: From Implementing EU Directives To Supporting Regional Business Communities?

Lagendijk, A., Kayasu, S., Yasar, S. — 2009-09-17

Turkey’s step-by-step embedding in the institutional and policy environment of the EU is currently compelling the country to establish a fitting structure of regional governance. A key element in this structure is the creation of regions at the NUTS-II level which will be equipped with Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). Yet the present political and economic situation in Turkey throws some doubt on the scope and future for RDA development. To what extent will the central state be able and willing to devolve authority and resources to the local level? And to what extent do regional institutional and business settings hold fertile ground for RDA development? The article will address these questions, first, by focusing on the broader political-institutional context of region and RDA formation; and, second, through a detailed case-study of one regional setting, namely Istanbul. The outcomes indeed point to a fragile basis for RDA development from both political and economic perspectives. However, they also help identify certain areas where RDAs, in a more bottom-up way, could help to fill serious gaps in the fabric of regional economic development, and may find external resources to do so.

Regional Patterns in Vacancies, Exits and Rental Housing

Nordvik, V., Gulbrandsen, L. — 2009-09-17

Utilization of the housing stock is determined by the interplay between a slowly adjusted housing stock and changing regional patterns. Temporal mismatch between adjustments of the housing stock and regional change may lead to variations in the incidence of vacant housing units, over time and over space.Within this context this article analyses the determinants of exit rates from the housing stock in use and what determines the utilization of vacant housing units. This article demonstrates empirically that changes in the stock of vacancies in the housing stock within a municipality increase as one moves from the most central parts of the country towards the less central parts. Furthermore, the growth in the stock of vacant housing correlates positively with the share of inhabitants aged 65 years or over. We relate these empirical findings to a particular form of centralization which has taken place in Norway over the last 50 years: upon leaving the parental home, young people have often left the peripheral parts of the country.As their childhood homes were still inhabited by their parents, they did not leave any vacant housing units behind them.After some 30—50 years, the parents have died. Hence, a centralization process may produce vacant housing units — with a time lag of up to 30—50 years.

Urban--Rural Flows and the Meaning of Borders: Functional and Symbolic Integration in Norwegian City-Regions

Hidle, K., Farsund, A. A., Lysgard, H. K. — 2009-09-17

This article focuses on political and everyday interplay and integration between city and hinterland, investigating borders and boundaries in such interplay. Five Norwegian city-regions served as the empirical basis for analysing two empirical fields. In the first field — everyday mobility and flow — institutionalized interactions between the cities and their hinterlands were analysed as well as objectives and meaning as motivations in everyday mobility in the city-region between city and hinterland. In the second field — urban-regional economic development policy — the questions addressed related to the degree to which governance networks are developed as a tool in local economic development policy, the geographical span such networks have, and the degree to which actors are motivated by the idea of creating a city-region where the importance of borders is decreasing. The issues were discussed in a theoretical frame related to urban and boundary theory.The results demonstrated the multitude of meanings with regard to borders and boundaries, underscoring how fundamentally different cognitive approaches related to borders and flows are constituent in the two empirical fields as well as how borders and boundaries are used to separate and connect in fulfilling purposeful ends.

The Spatial Distribution of Internet Backbone Networks in Europe: A Metropolitan Knowledge Economy Perspective

Tranos, E., Gillespie, A. — 2009-09-17

This article attempts to explain the factors which determine the spatial distribution of the Internet backbone networks in Europe.These networks facilitate the modern economy by interconnecting cities, enabling communication and exchange and, consequently, enhancing the interaction between them.This infrastructural capital for the knowledge economy is far from evenly spread across Europe.The article uses principal components analysis and regression models to examine the influence of a range of socio-economic variables on the spatial distribution of the Internet backbones in Europe, and concludes that they largely follow existing patterns of development, urban concentrations of knowledge, nodes of transport provision and patterns of high accessibility.

Portuguese Child Labour: an Enduring Tale of Exploitation

Eaton, M., Goulart, P. — 2009-09-17

Child working remains a significant minority activity in semi-industrialized parts of the Portuguese labour market. This article outlines the scale and spatial extent of the phenomenon before debating the role of children employed in the textiles, clothing and footwear sectors.We consider key determinants governing supply and demand for these workers together with an evaluation of state-sponsored efforts to alleviate the situation. Analysis shows that some factories in mono-industrial parts of north-west and central-eastern interior Portugal are continuing to resist the globalization of competitive pressures.This is achieved by reducing real labour costs, utilizing informal work practices, exploiting the cheap productive capacity which minors bring and the legislative loopholes which prevent its eradication.

Migration: Cities, Regions and Uneven Development

Perrons, D. — 2009-06-19

Family, Welfare and Districts: The Local Impact of New Migrants in Italy

Mingione, E. — 2009-06-19

Southern European countries such as Spain, Greece and Italy have recently been the primary final destination of immigrants trying to reach Europe. For this reason these countries are becoming interesting cases for a comparison of the processes of settlement, integration and conflict experienced by immigrants. Even though a comprehensive comparative analysis among European states is not entirely feasible, we can already notice certain characteristics of immigrant settlements as well as the trajectories of their social and geographic mobility. This article is mostly centred on the Italian context and discusses three themes: recent immigration in some industrial districts, female immigrants as care workers in urban centres, and finally emerging/changing social conflicts as a direct consequence of immigration fluxes. The Italian cases illustrated in this article suggest the emergence of forms of territorial settlement which are not very segregated, but may in any event be potentially conflictual. In this respect I will discuss the growing economic competition among different types of immigrant entrepreneurs, the segregation and discrimination of immigrant children in schools, and finally the ethno-spatial conflicts which recently came to the fore in Milan.

Migrants, Economic Mobility and Socio-Economic Change in Rural Areas: The Case of Greece

Labrianidis, L., Sykas, T. — 2009-06-19

This article evaluates the contribution of Immigrants Working in Agriculture (IWA) and their socio-economic mobility over time. Up to the present, European and Greek literature has focused on immigrants' impact on metropolitan areas, in part due to the relatively insignificant role of agriculture in the European economies. Moreover, concerning the socio-economic mobility of IWA only snapshot views are available in the literature. Through field-work carried out in the northern Greek countryside, reinforced by analysis of the FADN database, we argue that the influx of immigrants in the early 1990s constituted a driving force in the development of the Greek countryside in a period during which long-term structural problems in the rural sector had condemned it to relative immobility. Immigrants' contribution is articulated at three levels. First, they enabled farmers who had abandoned agriculture to re-enter the sector and, at the same time, keep their non-agricultural jobs, thus increasing their sources of income. Additionally, IWA helped active farmers to expand their holdings, and to enrich and diversify their cultivations. Second, IWA have not displaced familial agricultural employment, as this was in decline prior to their arrival. Last, their employment allowed for a more flexible combination and specialization of capital and labour in the production process. Moreover, contrary to many developed countries, immigrants in the Greek countryside have displayed upward economic mobility over time.This is due mainly to occupational mobility in the agricultural sector and a movement to non-agricultural jobs, as well as spatial mobility between rural regions, which has increased the number of days of employment and income.

London's Migrant Division of Labour

Wills, J., May, J., Datta, K., Evans, Y., Herbert, J., McIlwaine, C. — 2009-06-19

This article is located in the maelstrom of debate about immigration and employment in the contemporary economy. The article presents original analysis of data from the Labour Force Survey and a workplace case-study in the cleaning sector to highlight growing employer dependence on a very diverse pool of foreign-born labour. The article explains such dependency by drawing on interview material collected from employers, employers' associations, community organizations and policymakers. In sum, we argue that London's Migrant Division of Labour (MDL) is a product of the semi-autonomous actions taken by employers, workers and government in the particular context of London. Understanding the MDL thus needs to encompass employer demand, migrants' `dual frame of reference' and limited access to benefits, as well as employers' preference for foreign-born workers over `native' labour supply.The state is also argued to play a critical role in this employment, determining the nature and terms of immigration, the accessibility and levels of benefits, and employment regulation. London's MDL is shown to intersect with, and in some cases overturn, existing patterns of labour market segmentation on the basis of human capital (class), ethnicity and gender.

Poles To Newcastle: Grounding New Migrant Flows in Peripheral Regions

Stenning, A., Dawley, S. — 2009-06-19

Identifying a missing local and regional scale in most analyses of UK migration, this article maps the geography of post-accession migrants from Central Europe (A8 migrants) and highlights the need to analyse the phenomenon of migration to localities and regions with little history of immigration and with underperforming labour markets. It draws on the particular example of the North East of England to ask how migrant workers are grounded in local labour markets, and uses this case-study to examine the interrelations between migration and labour markets. The article explores the role of different institutions — public and private — at different scales in mediating and regulating the labour market participation of migrant workers, and reviews the processes of A8 labour migration in the context of debates over regional labour markets and skills. In short, the article reflects in both conceptual and policy terms on the place of migrant workers in peripheral regions, and connects the analysis to debates over the potential contribution of migration to regional labour markets and economies, as policymakers increasingly look to migration for rejuvenation of skills and employment.

Corporate Ecologies of Business Travel in Professional Service Firms: Working Towards a Research Agenda

Faulconbridge, J. R., Beaverstock, J. V., Derudder, B., Witlox, F. — 2009-06-19

International business travel has always been an important labour process in the accumulation of capital for the firm. It is surprising, therefore, that relatively little time has been devoted to the study of business travel, both as a facet of contemporary mobility and as an economic practice. In this article we review how existing literatures provide insights that can be used to understand the role of business travel as international labour mobility in the contemporary professional service economy. In doing so, we reach the conclusion that there seem to be at least two significant voids preventing a more sophisticated understanding from emerging. First, we suggest that international business travel needs to be studied not in isolation but instead as one component in a wider ecology of mobility which `produces' the global firm. Second, we argue that it is important to know more about the time-space dynamics of international business travel in terms of how spatial relations are produced and reproduced by different forms and geographies of travel. We make these arguments and explore their implications using data collected through interviews in advertising, architecture and legal professional service firms.We conclude by identifying a research agenda designed to allow a better understanding of business travel to emerge in corporate and mobility discourses.

International Migration, Uneven Regional Development and Polarization

Williams, A. M. — 2009-06-19

This article explores four aspects of the underdeveloped conceptualization of the role of international migration in uneven regional development and polarization in cities. First, it emphasizes the way in which human mobility transfers not only human capital but also knowledge and material capital, and that these are interrelated. Second, it considers how changes in the nature of mobility have implications for uneven regional development. Third, it develops the concept of enfolded mobilities, as a way of understanding how individual migrations are directly enfolded with those of other individuals, either through associated or contingent movements, or through consequential migration at later stages in the life course. Finally, it discusses how governance impinges on and mediates the key relationships between mobility and uneven regional development.

The Role of Leadership in the Success of Participatory Planning Processes: Experience From Turkey

Gedikli, B. — 2009-03-20

The literature discusses how successful results in a participatory planning process can be achieved in localities with qualified social capital; that is, civil organizations and relationships built up within a community. Nevertheless, despite low-profile development figures and an inadequate number of civic associations (social capital),the Provincial Development Planning Process in Sanliurfa (Turkey) was achieved by local stakeholders, who shared their views on the problems and potentials of the province and established a vision for the future. This study aims to examine the factors which lay behind the success of the participatory planning process in Sanliurfa despite the lack of social capital.The leadership undertaken by powerful actors in the public sector can be said to have played the main role. The Provincial Development Planning Process was initiated and coordinated by the highest planning organization in the country, the State Planning Organization. In the case of Sanliurfa, the planning process was coordinated jointly by a strong central-level public administration (South Eastern Anatolia Regional Development Administration) and the Sanliurfa Governorship. This article claims that a participatory planning process can be realized in settlements with immature social capital, as in Sanliurfa, if guided intensely by powerful institutions. However,this does not weaken the significance of social capital, as the participation of stakeholders in the planning process does not guarantee a successful implementation of the plan.The tradition of collective action (mature social capital) plays a crucial role in implementation. Moreover, for `bottom-up' processes (i.e. voluntary local development projects) social capital comes to the forefront as a significant factor.

New Euroregional Territories, Old Catalanist Dreams?: Articulating Culture, Economy and Territory In the Mediterranean Arc

Prytherch, D. L. — 2009-03-20

This article analyses the history of the Euroregionalist idea of a so-called Mediterranean Arc. By tracing historical debates about the economic integration of neighbouring Catalan-speaking regions in the North-western Mediterranean, I explore how economic restructuring and cultural regionalism/ nationalism can be synthesized within the `New Regionalist' politics of the economic macroregion or Euroregion. Emerging European regions are at the centre of theoretical debates about state rescaling and new regionalism. Recent scholarship now points past structurally overdetermined interpretations of regionalization — focused exclusively on economic globalization, European integration, and state institutions — towards empirically rich, cultural-economic analyses exploring how economy and culture are dialectically co-constituted and articulated relationally. I offer such a case-study of the century-old Catalan national project of integrating Valencia with Catalunya as the core of a wider macroregion, now called the Euroregion of the Mediterranean Arc. Analysing writings by prominent Valencian Catalanists over a century reveals how the economic and cultural have long been dialectically synthesized and articulated relationally in a macroregion said to be economically competitive, Catalan-speaking, and linked more to the Mediterranean and Europe than Madrid.And it suggests neither Euroregionalism nor new regionalism is particularly new in places like Valencia and the Mediterranean Arc.

Formal and Informal Employment in Europe: Beyond Dualistic Representations

Williams, C. C. — 2009-03-20

This article reveals that formal labour markets in the European Union are not always quite as pure, wholesome and legitimate as might be supposed. Until now, it has been commonly assumed that the formal economy is separate and discrete from the informal economy. To contribute to the emerging literature showing that this is not always the case and that the formal economy can be permeated by informal practices, a so far little discussed employment arrangement is here brought to the fore in which formal employers pay their formal employees two wages, one declared and the other an undeclared (`envelope') wage. Reporting a 2007 survey composed of 26,659 face-to-face interviews in the 27 EU member states, the finding is that some 5 percent of all formal employees receive such undeclared wages from their formal employers which amount on average to two-fifths of their wage packet. However, this employment practice is not evenly distributed across the EU. Such quasi-formal employment is markedly more prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), where the undeclared wage is more likely to be paid for regular employment hours, while in Continental Europe and Nordic countries undeclared wages are less common and are received mostly for overtime or extra work conducted. Given the prevalence in the EU of this hybrid employment practice which is neither purely formal nor informal, the article concludes by calling for greater recognition of how formal and informal employment are sometimes intimately interlocked and entwined rather than separate and discrete spheres.

Student Communities and Landscapes of Creativity: How Venice -- `The World's Most Touristed City' -- is Changing

Paolo Russo, A., Sans, A. A. — 2009-03-20

Faced with global pressures and intensifying competition, `growth coalitions' in European cities respond with the construction of iconic consumption landscapes. In many cases, such efforts are questionable because they abide by unimaginative, mainstream planning concepts, resulting in an erosion of the idiosyncratic qualities of urban landscapes. The serial reproduction of cityscapes also extends to tourism development strategies, which fail to meet the increasing demand expressed by travellers for genuine and creative experiences. However, the `knowledge city' is populated with new actors producing alternative images and brands.Among these, academic and student communities are emerging as significant agents of urban regeneration. This article discusses the potential role students play as generators of landscapes of creativity, which develop as appealing spaces for cultural consumers, including `new cultural tourists'.The fluid,glocal geography of student activity may well be the epicentre of change for destinations now basing their product on an unreflexive relation between gazers and place,towards a more sustainable engagement of visitors in creative production and consumption. However, this process presents substantial challenges for policy and may be short-lived. Illustrations are provided from the case of Venice, Italy, a paradigmatic mass tourism destination where student-related activities are breathing new life into a clichéd tourism product.

Cross-Border Regions and Territorial Restructuring in Central Europe: Room for More transboundary Space

Johnson, C. M. — 2009-03-20

As the world's `first postmodern political form', Europe provides an excellent laboratory for exploring how border regions offer new spaces of/for governance, cultural interaction, and economic development. With the backdrop of dynamic transboundary regionalization in Europe, this article has two goals: the first is to provide a critical review of some recent literature on territorial restructuring whose spatial ambit curiously omits transboundary space. Second, the article follows in the tradition of recent literature on regionalism in geography by exploring competing visions of the scales which are appropriate for organizing particular political and economic activities, in order to call for more engagement with transboundary regionalism.A case-study from Saxony (Germany) shows that the functional utilitarianism — and resulting short half life — of some European transboundary regions is a factor inhibiting the emergence of coherent regions.This notwithstanding, evidence also suggests that cross-border cooperation is becoming a key tool as localities and other territories strive to become `global'. The tangled map of current regional initiatives within the European Union (EU) reflects the temporal emergence and disappearance of cross-border regions in response to changing political priorities and shifting macro-institutional funding sources. The article shows that transboundary regions play an important role in territorial restructuring in Central Europe, but not necessarily in the way EU regional policy intends.

A Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Green Spaces in European Cities

Baycan-Levent, T., Vreeker, R., Nijkamp, P. — 2009-03-20

Green spaces, such as parks, are an essential constituent of urban quality of life. It is noteworthy, however, that some cities have been more successful in implementing a green space policy than others. This article aims to assess the complex and heterogeneous supply of urban green spaces by means of a multidimensional evaluation approach, and to compare the `green performance' of European cities in terms of the present situation, priorities in decision making and planning, and their success level as evaluated by experts in the field. The article examines urban green spaces from the viewpoint of relevant indicators, in particular `quantity and availability of urban green spaces', `changes in green spaces', `planning of urban green spaces',`financing of urban green spaces' and `level of performance', on the basis of a comparison of 24 European cities. It deploys a proper type of multi-criteria analysis for mixed quantitative and qualitative information, coined Regime Analysis.A comparison of urban green spaces in European cities by means of this multi-criteria analysis brings to light the critical elements in green space availability and sets out choice directions based on priorities in decision making and policy evaluation.The results of this Regime Analysis show that when only the indicators on the availability of urban green spaces are used to assess the green performance with a view to a ranking of European cities, the Southern European cities are in the lead. However, when the planning performance indicators are also taken into consideration, the Northern European cities appear to have higher scores.

Editorial: The Changing Face Of the European Periphery in the Automotive Industry

Domanski, B., Lung, Y. — 2009-01-09

Modular Production and the New Division of Labour Within Europe: The Perspective of French Automotive Parts Suppliers

Frigant, V., Layan, J.-B. — 2009-01-09

This article focuses on the emergence of a new international division of labour in the auto parts industry. Its first section examines the hypothesis that the shift to modular production offers a chance to modify value chain geography inasmuch as modularity causes new opportunities and constraints in geographic proximity terms. An analytical matrix is provided and applied to New Accession Countries, with special consideration being given to French suppliers' circumstances due to the requirement that host country characteristics and company specificities be analysed simultaneously. The second section tests this matrix using statistical data and culminates in a case-study. It will be demonstrated that New Accession Countries are being integrated with the rest of the Continent, due to firms' ongoing search for location-related advantages and because of a tightening/easing interaction that is associated with proximity constraints.

Changing East-West Division of Labour in the European Automotive Industry

Jurgens, U., Krzywdzinski, M. — 2009-01-09

The article deals with the impact of the emerging new division of labour between Western and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) on work and employment, both in the Western and CEE countries. Major points of discussion will be the hypothesis of a `hollowingout' of the Western European auto industry, and the hypothesis of a `regime flight'; that is, the claim that companies use CEE locations to escape the collectively regulated work models of Western Europe. The article draws from our own empirical research, including company case-studies in Western and Eastern auto plants, and on statistical analysis. The main conclusions are: in CEE countries, an upgrading process of production sites can be observed, which challenges the view of an emerging `high end/low end' division of labour between the West and the East.While relocation has led to some losses of low-skill jobs in Western Europe, the overall effect of the expansion of the automotive industry to CEE on growth and employment in Western Europe was positive.The impact of low-cost component imports from CEE countries has increased the competitiveness of the German firms, which are by far the main investor in CEE countries. Our case-studies reveal no trend towards regime flight from Western European work models, but management threats of relocation have become commonplace and have led to a renegotiation of work models in Western European countries. In CEE countries, the work models of automobile companies more and more are oriented at a high-road path.This development is fostered by the companies' responses to the problems of migration and the increasing shortage of skilled labour.

Industrial Upgrading Through Foreign Direct Investment in Central European Automotive Manufacturing

Pavlinek, P., Domanski, B., Guzik, R. — 2009-01-09

This article draws on the global value-chain approach to investigate industrial upgrading in the automotive industry of four Central European (CE) countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. We review post-1990 production trends and the associated changes in the geography of automobile production in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) based on inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI).To evaluate industrial upgrading, we examine the changes in the international trade of CE countries with automotive products classified in three value-added classes between 1996 and 2006, and we consider the increasing location of automotive design in CE by foreign investors.We classify CE automobile assembly plants into four types based upon the role of local design, local content, and their links with domestic economies. Based on the results of the analysis, we consider the effects of FDI and industrial upgrading on the role of CE in the European automotive production system.

Managed Flexibility: Labour Regulation, Corporate Strategies and Market Dynamics in the Swedish Temporary Staffing Industry

Coe, N. M., Johns, J., Ward, K. — 2009-01-09

This article provides an account of the temporary staffing industry outside its two largest markets, the UK and the US. It argues that there is greater national variation in industry characteristics than has generally been acknowledged, using the example of Sweden to illustrate the importance of understanding staffing industries in relation to the regulatory context in which they are embedded. Drawing on secondary materials and interviews with senior officials in transnational and domestic temporary staffing agencies, labour unions, industry trade bodies and government departments, the article asserts that the temporary staffing industry should be understood as an active agent of labour market restructuring. It provides a detailed analysis of the Swedish industry's distinct periods of expansion, charting its legalization and subsequent growth in the context of a highly regulated labour market. In conclusion, the article makes two key points. First, the Swedish temporary staffing market is the product of a particular social democratic welfare state regime and the roles played by the different social partners which lead to the production of a managed flexibility. Second, the particularities of the Swedish system, and the need for transnational staffing agencies to adapt their activities, underline how firms both shape, and are shaped by, the economic and social characteristics and dynamics that exist in the territories in which they invest.

One Less Barrier to Foreign Direct Investment in Turkey?: Linkages Between Manufacturing and Logistics Operations in Istanbul and the Marmara Region

Ozdemir, D., Darby, J. — 2009-01-09

Despite various reasons for the relatively low levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into Turkey throughout the postwar period, Istanbul has proved relatively successful in attracting inward FDI in services in recent years. Increased production by both foreign and domestic manufacturers in the wider Marmara region has also resulted in a concentration of service sector firms in the greater Istanbul metropolitan area. Examination of the profile of foreign investors and investment categories reveals that Germany and the Netherlands remain major sources of investment, and that investment from these two countries shows the most marked signs of functional linkage between manufacturing and service projects. This growth of functional linkage, exemplified by the increased importance of logistics operations, may represent the removal of one more factor inhibiting inward investment into Turkey on a scale appropriate to its size and growth potential.

Euro Commentary: Regional Differences in the Growth Patterns of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: an Approach Based On the Spanish Case

Gonzalez-Lopez, M. — 2009-01-09

This article aims to analyse the regional dynamics of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), an activity usually associated with the so-called knowledge-based economy (KBE). As will be seen later, most of the studies of this sector refer to central and metropolitan regions but little has been said about the characteristics and nature of its growth in other regions.A study of the Spanish case has been made which tries to identify specific patterns of KIBS development in different kinds of regions. The results obtained indicate that KIBS interregional trade decisively shapes KIBS regional growth in such a way that, on the one hand, it contributes to the concentration of these activities in metropolitan and well-developed regions and, on the other hand, it makes KIBS growth in less developed regions (LDRs) externally dependent.