Search results for "Economic Geography"
showing 10 items of 682 documents
Migration, Productive Return and Human Capital: Lessons from the new Governmental Policy on Migration in Ecuador
2017
In 2008, the Government of Ecuador initiated a programme for productive return dubbed the Cucayo Fund, aimed at financing small businesses for migrants who were returning to the country. This programme has been a cornerstone in the new governmental policy on migration. In 2015, the IOM considered it an exemplary practice among the instruments enabling the economic and social reinsertion of returning migrants. In this article, based on the mining and analysis of the implementation data from the Cucayo Fund in the three provinces comprising Administrative Region No 7, we specifically examine the incidence of human capital accumulated by the migrants in the success of their ventures. Our resul…
Between a ‘student abroad’ and ‘being from Latvia’: inequalities of access, prestige, and foreign-earned cultural capital
2017
This paper visualises tertiary-level students who study abroad as simultaneously both international students and members of an emerging diaspora. Coming from a country (Latvia) which is peripheral and relatively poor by European standards, students go abroad for multiple reasons not necessarily directly connected with study (e.g. family reasons, labour migration); yet their evolving diasporic status is instrumentalised by the Latvian government which wants them to return and contribute to the country’s development. Based on 27 in-depth interviews with Latvian students and graduates who have studied abroad, our analysis focuses on three interlinked dimensions of inequality: access to educati…
Involving Universities in Regional Upgrading in the Periphery: Lessons from Northern Europe
2017
This chapter presents and discusses two cases of regional upgrading involving public-run universities in two Northern European countries, Norway and the Netherlands. More specifically, it illuminates how academic groups associated with the field of medicine took pro-active steps to establish and further develop regional coalitions which, over time, have resulted in situated learning. The focus on processes of university-regional engagement and mutual satisfaction in a context where universities are pressured to be globally excellent allow lessons to be drawn for regions in Southern Europe. Subtle transfer is nevertheless required to account for universities’ autonomies and organisational ca…
Paths of local development: Two technological districts face-to-face
2009
In this paper we compare the two hi-tech districts of Catania and Genoa, which are within the same national context and economic sector, with the aim of explaining their different choices (the promotion of external investments, in the first case, and fostering of the development of small businesses, in the second case) in the light of the local economic structure and the role played by political, economic, and educational institutions. Local actors have differently influenced the development of a professional community through the interpersonal networks of entrepreneurs and the performance obtained by local small businesses. While Catania has experienced a higher and more rapid growth, deve…
The ‘actually existing’ cultural policy and culture-led strategies of rural places and small towns
2016
Abstract Questions regarding the relevance of culture-based development strategies are even more relevant to ask when such strategies are applied to rural places and small towns. In urban contexts, the number of citizens and the volume and variety of the cultural sector, other industries and services are important success criteria. In small Norwegian rural municipalities, these factors are even more critical because the Norwegian rural context is characterized by low population density and low variety and volume in industries and services. Rural places and small towns are, to a large extent, neglected in the culture-led development studies, and likewise, culture is largely neglected in rura…
Innovation and networks in rural areas. An analysis from European innovative projects
2014
Abstract Innovation is a central factor for the development of rural areas, both in terms of diversification and increased competitiveness, also related to new structures of governance. The creation, adoption or adaptation of innovations is particularly complex, requiring the right combination of local knowledge (often tacit and implicit) with expert knowledge (often more explicit and formalised), as well as the support of extensive networks. This paper analyses a number of innovation projects in several European rural areas, through the data collected via in-depth interviews. It examines the projects' contributions and the role played by stakeholders in each stage of the projects. On the o…
DETERMINANTS OF EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT OF RURAL AREAS IN POLAND
2017
The article is an aimed attempt at the diagnosis and evaluation of the educational level (character) of rural population in Poland perceived as educational advancement as well as of its environment (background). Growing importance of education in improving professional opportunities, changing educational aspirations and parents’ support as well as positive internal migration trends were emphasised. Rural regions are still lagging behind urban areas, though optimistic characteristics indicate receding stigmatisation and marginalisation of the Polish country with internal migration of young and educated individuals, including affluent ones (potential luxury goods buyers), to rural area…
Public Participation in Planning Processes Under the Confinement Regime: Perspectives of Municipality Urban Planning Offices in Poland
2020
The lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic (March – June 2020) affected not only the economy, but also the functioning of the administration, and thus procedures connected with spatial planning. Spatial planning at the local level, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity enshrined in the Polish constitution, belongs to the so-called “commune’s own tasks”1. Formal spatial planning procedures in Poland, equipped with administrative, technical consulting apparatus, were subjected to stress testing during the pandemic. The crisis situation not only highlighted their weaknesses unprecedentedly, but also showed new opportunities and caused changes in conducting procedures. The di…
Migration and mobility in a rapidly changing small town in northeastern Ethiopia
2012
This paper presents empirical material collected in the zonal capital town of kemise (population around 34,000) and three surrounding rural areas (peasant associations) in northeastern ethiopia. The study area is located in the oromiya zone of the large amhara region. The paper attempts to show how rural areas and the town of kemise are economically interdependent and demonstrates the role of migration and mobility in influencing and shaping the rural and urban economies. The town fulfils, inter alia, important administrative, marketing, service and retailing functions. The most successful rural households appear to be those that use non-farm and off-farm opportunities and assets (for exam…
Salud pública, espacio urbano y exclusión social en la España de posguerra: la epidemia de tifus exantemático en la ciudad de Valencia, 1941-1943
2019
Resumen Tras la Guerra Civil, las deficientes condiciones higiénico-dietéticas de gran parte de la población española favorecieron la aparición de enfermedades epidémicas. El tifus exantemático puso en jaque a las autoridades sanitarias, especialmente durante la primavera de 1941, cuando el ciclo epidemiológico de la enfermedad y la falta de infraestructuras se aliaron para provocar una grave crisis sanitaria. El régimen franquista, consciente de que esta situación dificultaba su legitimación, no dudó en utilizar la exclusión social como parte de su política sanitaria contra esta epidemia. El artículo analiza en profundidad el caso de Valencia, una ciudad que durante la guerra, por hallarse…