An Evolutionary Economic Geography Perspective on Types of Operation Development in West Lake, China

The types of operation play a key role in facilitating tourism consumption and economic development in a tourism destination. By adopting evolutionary economic geography theory, the paper analyzes the types of operation in West Lake Scenic Area from 1978 to 2013. First, an evolution process consisting of four stages is underpinned, and they are: the new establishment stage, the preliminary development stage, the speedup development stage, and the stabilized maturity stage. Specifically, the distinct characteristics associated with operation types are compared and evaluated at different stages throughout the process. The evolution trees are introduced to scrutinize types of operation development. The results of evolution trees demonstrate the substantial increase in both numbers and types. Second, by applying GIS spatial analysis, the paper also analyzes the spatial evolution characteristics on the types of operation, and the results unveil the co-existence of centripetal and centrifugal forces: the processes of spatial agglomeration and spatial dispersion. More specifically, we recognize the spatial process includes the emergence of node and concentration(1978–1995), the sparse distribution and intensity reduction(1996–2002), the patchy distribution and spatial agglomeration intensification(2003–2008), the dispersed distribution and core area agglomeration(2009–2013). Lastly, path dependence on resource endowment, government and market innovation, knowledge learning and spillover can reasonably explain the types of operation evolution. In conclusion, the evolutionary economic geography theories provide new theoretical and empirical perspectives for tourism policy analysis. At the same time, our comprehensive evidences impart more comprehensive insights and offer useful managerial and policy implications.

Analyzing Industrial Structure Evolution of Old Industrial Cities Using Evolutionary Resilience Theory：A Case Study in Shenyang of China

The recession and revitalization of old industrial cities concerns urban industrial evolution and its characteristics. Based on the theory of evolutionary resilience, we developed an analytical framework for the industrial structure evolution of old industrial cities, and applied the framework to a case study in Shenyang. The following conclusions are drawn. First, since 1978, Shenyang's industrial growth capacity has shown fluctuation between ‘contraction-expansion'. As the secondary industry has a much stronger expansionary and contractionary capacity for growth, this results in lacking stability leading to industrial structure transformation. Second, since 1999, the orientation towards a high-end manufacturing industry in Shenyang has weakened, and the evolution of the new and old growth path is characterized by low-end orientation. Third, since 2007, Shenyang's industrial innovation output capacity has dropped sharply which has been significantly affected by scientific and technological personnel and enterprise-owed science and technology institutions and to a less extent by R&D expenditure. We applied the resilience theory to study the industrial evolution of an old industrial city, explored new study perspectives on industrial evolution and verified the applicability of the resilience theory. This paper provides a scientific reference for understanding the recent deceleration in economic growth in the Northeast old industrial base, and for exploring new paths toward revitalization.

New Perspectives on Restructuring of Old Industrial Areas in China: A Critical Review and Research Agenda

The restructuring of old industrial areas has been receiving much attention in regional development studies both in industrialized and emerging economies. Although ample Chinese-speaking studies have been published on the topic, most of them suffer from paying too little attention to dynamic multi-scalar interactions between firms, institutions, policies and places, as well as a too strong focus on individual cases. They also mostly disregard internationally recognized concepts and theories in the field. Based on these internationally recognized modern concepts, this paper therefore puts forward some potential avenues for future research on the evolution of old industrial areas in China, which should overcome existing deficits in the Chinese-speaking literature. It suggests that some evolutionary economic geography concepts such as path dependence, lock-in, path creation, relatedness, as well as multi-scalar institutional and leadership approaches have useful potentials to better understand the evolutionary processes and mechanisms of old industrial areas in China.

Regional Innovation Policies for High-Technology Firms： The Importance of the Cluster Life Cycle

The present work makes an in-depth analysis of an aspect not yet sufficiently examined by the studies into regional innovation systems, relating to why the policy makers must adopt regional innovation policies in accordance with the development cycle of the active clusters in the territory. The analysis carried out in the course of the work contributes towards understanding the validity of an evolutionary-type development model for which the regional innovation policies for the growth of high-tech firms should dynamically change in relation to the various cluster stages. The development model proposed provides a framework for the policy makers in order to state more efficiently through time the regional innovation strategies.

Harnessing the potential of additive manufacturing technologies:Challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurial strategies

Additive manufacturing(AM),a revolutionary production technique that will make many previously inconceivable innovations a reality,is transforming the manufacturing sector.The technologies behind AM have a generic character and possess immense and transformative potential that will be felt across different sectors of the economy.This paper studies how entrepreneurs can access,exploit,and diffuse this new disruptive knowledge,as well as the potential challenges that lie ahead.Further,we examine the magnitude of the knowledge pool created by the Top 10 countries in AM research from 2011 to 2016;specifically,we determine the leading countries,the pattern of organizational and international collaborations,leading disciplines contributing to AM,and the pattern in authors'affiliations.We find that the US is clearly the dominant country,while China witnessed a notable acceleration in AM research between 2014 and 2016;we also show that universities are the predominant actor in codified AM knowledge creation.Using this information,we paint a vivid picture of the technological and market opportunities for entrepreneurs and identify the gaps in the current knowledge production environment;we find that the challenges currently faced by entrepreneurs could be overcome through academic entrepreneurship,collective entrepreneurship,and the actions of an entrepreneurial state.

The industrial dynamics of water innovation:A comparison between China and Europe

The expansion of the green economy agenda has increased the attention on ecoinnovations globally,with issues related to water stress identified as one of the major bottlenecks for sustainable economic growth.Using evolutionary economic theory,this study investigates the industrial dynamics of the water sector,comparing China and Europe using patent data.This comparison feeds into the“catching up”literature,addressing the challenges of the“green economy”agenda in different regions in various stages of development.We highlight the neglected micro-dynamics of water innovation,investigating the roles of different innovators in the development of water technological trajectories,with a special focus on water innovations closely related to climate change adaptation and mitigation technologies.Public water innovators(universities)were found to be more important in China than in Europe.Similarities were also identified between Europe and China;big companies were found to be the main innovative leaders with no substantial changes documented over the timeframe investigated.Overall,the finding implies a rapid Chinese technological catching up of water technologies in the last three decades,where our research has pointed towards the role of redirection of Chinese policies with a stronger focus on sustainable development.The analysis,overall,sheds light on the state and nature of the globalizing green growth agenda.