Industry clusters and SMEs

Studie naar de rol van clusters van bedrijven in de economie. Clusters van bedrijven krijgen een groeiende aandacht op alle bestuurlijke niveaus. De achterliggende gedachte is dat samenwerking tussen bedrijven op technologisch gebied leidt tot de creatie van extra toegevoegde waarde, niet alleen voor de samenwerkingspartners zelf, maar ook voor de lokale, regionale en nationale economie. In de studie wordt een clusterdefinitie gepresenteerd en een raamwerk dat als basis kan dienen voor nader onderzoek naar de rol en positie van het MKB in clusters.

Krimpen met beleid: van afwachten tot afbreken

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The prevention of potato volunteers in organic farming systems by using pigs.

In organic agriculture potato volunteers, presenting an important primary inoculum source for late Blight (Phytophthora infestans), are controlled by mechanical meth-ods. These may be partly replaced by ‘foraging’ livestock animals, such as cattle, sheep, horses, ponies or pigs. Most animals eat only the remaining potatoes on the field surface; however, pigs also dig up potatoes. This paper reports on two experi-ments with pigs (sows or finishing pigs), which appear to be very effective in digging up potatoes that are left in the field after the potato harvest within a reasonable time period. However, the workload for the farmer, problems with animal health and meat quality and possible damage to the soil structure seriously limit the applicability of pigs for the control of potato volunteers. Aspects of animal health, animal nutrition and environmental aspects (nutrient excretion) are discussed

Organic Milk Quality in the Netherlands : Distinguishable from conventional milk?

Recent studies have indicated possible positive interactions between organic animal production and, particularly, and various vitamins. As possible distinguishing quality parameters for organic milk, the differences between organic and conventional milk in Netherlands for fatty acid composition and vitamins were investigated in milk samples form supermarkets at several points in time. We have also investigated possible differences in taste and two alternative analytical parameters (bio-photons and bio-crystallisations) because a single quality parameter, like poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), hardly reflects organic intentions to produce quality in a more holistic way being an inherent reflection of proper agricultural practices. These two alternative parameters try to relate to the hypothesis stating that the structure (the ‘order’) of food is just as important to human health as the material composition (Bloksma et al, 2008)

Mest van boven: Kunnen maai- meststoffen alleen voldoende stikstof leveren en is dat rendabel?

De biologische akkerbouw in Nederland is indirect afhankelijk van vee. Het klassieke gemengde bedrijf, waarin dieren de mest leveren voor de plantengroei, is niet meer de standaard, maar bemesting met dierlijke mest is wel de basis waarop de gewassen groeien. Is het mogelijk om zonder aanvoer van dierlijke mest goede opbrengsten en kwaliteit te realiseren

People, Place and Partnership: Exploring Strategies to Revitalise Town Centres

More and more town centres in Western Europe are in decline, as indicated by growing shop vacancy rates in shopping streets. To turn the tide, decision makers look for revitalisation strategies. Are there any solutions? Making use of theoretical insights, empirical findings and anecdotal evidence from the Netherlands, we suggest that town centre revitalisation is a matter of connecting people, place and partnership. First, strategies should be based on an understanding of how customers (people) behave. Secondly, redesign of the physical environment (place) might be needed, since visitors prefer compact centres that are built on a human scale and known for a unique profile. Finally, close collaboration between a wide range of local stakeholders (partnership) is essential. We conclude that town centre revitalisation is possible, but takes a lot of energy and patience from the actors involved

Beyond the blue banana? Structural change in Europe's geo-economy

For centuries, the so-called 'Blue Banana' has shown the greatest development potential in Europe's geo-economy. This metropolitan area, extending from the north-west of London through Germany to Milan, traditionally has been a breeding place for entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe. Recently, however, commentators have identified the 'Sunbelt' from Milan to Valencia and - anticipating the coming enlargement of the European Union - the 'Yellow Banana' from Paris to Warsaw as the growth poles of the future. Ultimately, it is claimed, these emerging centres of gravity may even take over the dominant position of the Blue Banana in the European economy. In this paper we explore the question how likely it is that the contemporary structure of Europe's economic-geographical system is really changing in the next decades. After a short discussion of the 'stylized facts' of unbalanced growth in Europe we develop a framework in which insights from structural change theory and economic geography are combined. In particular, we link the literature on sectoral changes from industry to services in time with spatial concepts such as urbanization economies, institutional inertia and geographical path dependency. With the help of this framework it is argued that over time the techno-economic and institutional structure of specialized regions may become locked-in into rigid trajectories. Simultaneously, we suggest that regions with sectoral diversity provide the flexibility which is needed to absorb new techno-economic developments and to develop 'new combinations'. This framework of structural change in time and space is applied to the European context. We find that it is particularly the Blue Banana that may face a favourable future. The fact is that thanks to its diversified structure this area rather than the Sunbelt and the Yellow Banana can build on strong urbanization economies. Therefore, we expect that the Blue Banana despite its industrial tradition continues to be the major economic growth axis in the European service economy. In this line of reasoning, also European structural policy may take on a different aspect: rather than aiming for regional balance the policy objective might be striving for an optimal economic, institutional and infrastructural connection of less developed regions to the Blue Banana. In this way, spread effects from cities in the Blue Banana to connected areas are facilitated, which ultimately may contribute to a less unbalanced growth of Europe's geo-economy

Auf der Suche nach neuen Kombinationen von Trends und Tradition

In der gegenwärtigen wissensbestimmten Wirtschaft betreiben Staaten in einem zunehmenden Maße Innovationspolitik. Ein wichtiger Teilbereich ist dabei die Entwicklung und Stärkung von Clustern, in denen Zulieferer, Abnehmer und wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen zusammenarbeiten. Ist solch eine Clusterpolitik sinnvoll? --