Knowledge Dynamics, Structural Change and the Geography of Business Services

Abstract

The paper provides a review of and presents some empirical evidence on the dynamics of knowledge, structural change and spatial concentration of economic activities, focusing on the case of business services (BS). It explores how the role of knowledge has evolved in relation to the dimensions of: (i) science, technology and structural change; (ii) the long-term processes of tertiarization of the economy -in particular the growth of BS; (iii) the spatial concentration of BS as an outcome of the increasing volume and complexity of knowledge and the need to manage it through spatial proximity. Our arguments are supported by empirical evidence on the spatial concentration of BS in the European regions.

When Linder meets Hirschman: inter-industry linkages and global value chains in business services

“…Taking stock on prior work on structural change, the economics of services and the determinants of specialisation in business services (Ciarli, Meliciani, and Savona 2012;Meliciani and Savona 2014) we have reverted to two alternative voices often neglected in both trade and GVCs scholars' circles, those of Hirschman and Linder (Hirschman 1958;Burenstam Linder 1961). In particular, we reprise the theoretical stands by Hirschman and (a modified version of) the Linder Thesis, and consider them jointly to explain the propensity to participate in services offshoring and GVCs.…”

“…and the widespread diffusion of ICTs have counter-balanced this view (for a review, seeCiarli, Meliciani, and Savona 2012;Gallouj and Savona 2008;Meliciani and Savona 2014). The empirical evidence on the emergence of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) has often coupled with this rhetoric 6 .When it comes to patterns of structural change in developing countries, involving shifts from agriculture to low-tech industries and services, the empirical evidence is more controversial(Dasgupta and Singh 2005;Dasgupta and Singh 2006;Bah 2011), and rarely takes into account the global dimensions of structural changes, with notable exceptions (McMillan, Rodrik, and Verduzco-Gallo 2014; Rodrik 2015).…”

How do various types of regions attract creative industries? Comparison of metropolitan, old industrial and rural regions in Czechia

“…In addition, large (capital) cities often have a gateway function, providing access to knowledge transmitted through trans-local knowledge pipelines (Keeble, D. and Nachum, L. 2002). Metropolitan cores concentrate all service industries that are the key customers for CI and other knowledgeintensive business services (Ciarli, T. et al 2012). CI tend to require geographical proximity to their principal customers -corporate, headquarters, public institutions and firms in various (knowledge-intensive) business services that are disproportionately concentrated in the largest urban agglomerations (Keeble, D. and Nachum, L. 2002;Gallego, J. and Maroto, A.…”

When Linder Meets Hirschman: Inter-Industry Linkages and Global Value Chains in Business Services.

“…The study of the effects of structural change on economic performance of countries has traditionally brought about concerns about de-industrialization processes and the erosion of capital accumulation in advanced countries 5 . In some cases, positive expectations on knowledge accumulation and leveraging for the rest of the economy, intrinsic in some business services 6 and the widespread diffusion of ICTs have counter-balanced this view (for a review, see (Ciarli, Meliciani, and Savona 2012;Gallouj and Savona 2008;Meliciani and Savona 2014)). The empirical evidence on the emergence of KIBS has often coupled with this rhetoric 7 .…”

“…In particular, we reprise the theoretical stands by Hirschman and (a modified version of) the Linder Thesis, and consider them jointly to explain the propensity to participate in services offshoring and GVCs, as a competitive explanation with respect to the traditional determinants of cost and factor endowments, that are the backbone of trade theories. Building on the results of our previous work (Meliciani and Savona 2014), and taking stock of the literature on the economics of services (Ciarli, Meliciani, and Savona 2012;Gallouj and Savona 2008), we claim that the higher the domestic specialisation in 'Business Services (BS henceforth) Hirschman linked' industries 4 , that are the sectors with the highest intermediate demand of services, the higher the propensity to participate in BS GVCs directly and indirectly, in line with what Linder claimed to be the case for the composition of final domestic demand favouring trade in similar sectors.…”