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This paper proposes a critical discussion of the political economy of hydropower construction in the communist space. We use political economy, economic history and political ecology literature in order to reveal the economic and political relations in which hydropower is embedded in socialist states. The case analysed is the Iron Gates, a joint Romanian-Yugoslav project which raises specific questions about the techno-political framework of the new 'hydraulic landscape' and its place in socialist economies and societies. The case reveals important transformations in the political and economic relations within the Soviet bloc and provides a description of the complex institutional setting used in the construction of the hydropower system. In parallel, the paper explores the contribution of political power in the construction of the Iron Gates and especially its use in connection with the ideological production of the new communist regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the contemporary dynamics of industrial restructuring within Newcastle, a peripheral South African town that was, in many senses, a product of state industrial decentralisation and other apartheid policies. Processes of globalisation, and particularly the shift away from a regime of import substitution in the context of economic crisis, have been key to the form of restructuring that has occurred in Newcastle. But restructuring has also been shaped by local economic and political dynamics, as well as by South Africa's political transition. The paper explores the different ways in which globalisation has occurred in the main sectors: iron and steel, chemicals, and clothing, and their varying effects over time. It shows the limits of hypotheses assuming a recentralisation of production in the context of globalisation and the introduction of new technologies, but demonstrates nevertheless the vulnerability of towns such as Newcastle in the current era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the time of post‐industrialism, the increasing costs of life, scientific and technical development, an increase in the level of education and ecological barriers resulted in the decentralization of economic activity. One of the consequences of this is an increase in the locational attractiveness of the suburban zone. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the contemporary processes concerning location and concentration of industry in a post‐socialist city illustrated with an example of the city of Wrocław. The conducted research enabled us to determine the functional specialisation of gminas (municipalities), which served as the basis for the construction of a simplified model of the suburban zone in the post‐industrial period. In order to diagnose the extent of development and the level of spatial differentiation of the process of industrial activity concentration, the authors applied a location quotient (LQ) as well as a taxonomic method of linear ordering of distances from so‐called development pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is a central aspect of their reform in transitional China. This study traces the processes by which large industrial SOEs in Lanzhou are reorganised externally and expanded internally, and analyses their effects on regional industrial development. The study is qualitative, based on enterprise surveys and their historical documents. The paper demonstrates that the reorganisation process was government-pushed, and that the government also played some role in the diversification and performance of large SOEs. In addition, the diversification of large SOEs in Lanzhou was subject to market conditions and SOE-specific factors, and the influence of the national reorganisation policy on industrial development in Lanzhou was linked to the product and scale structure of local enterprises. As such, the study calls for a context approach that analyses the reorganisation and diversification of large enterprises in transitional China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic internationalisation and globalising processes have a dialectical appearance. The trend towards homogenisation in an economic, social, political and cultural sense will meet with regionally generated production, innovation and knowledge systems that, while responding to these external influences, develop their own manifestation of the global-local nexus. The developments in Mexico's North East, with the industrial city of Monterrey as its core centre, present an example of the impact of these forces. Until 1988 Monterrey industries were operating on a protected domestic market. This situation changed with the opening up of the Mexican economy in that year and the signing of the NAFTA agreement with the USA and Canada in 1993. This paper analyses this insertion in the world economy and the regional response, first on an institutional level where the special brand of family capitalism — as found in Monterrey — is confronting the exigencies of international competitiveness and the organisation of business practice it requires. Second, on a sub-regional level, we observe the reaffirmation of regional idiosyncracies in the social, political and cultural sphere. The interaction between these two processes has been creating a most interesting case of glocalisation within the context created by NAFTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the role of Taiwan's ‘latecomer firms’ that are also large firms in developing technological capability within the electronics industry. Taiwan illustrates a latecomer country that has industrialised in the late twentieth century through export-based industrialisation and latecomer firms are indigenous influences shaping this process. Large firms comprise a business segment distinctive from small firms and giant MNCs, and are characterised by strong commitments to innovation. Conceptually, a framework is outlined that connects latecomer firms with the triad business segmentation model, local technology learning as summarised by reverse product cycle dynamics and clustering. Empirically, the study focuses on the evolutionary dynamics of a latecomer case study, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, to reveal important insights regarding the development of Taiwan's internationally competitive technological capabilities. The case study reveals the significance of large latecomer firms to the technology learning process, and in reducing technology gaps with global leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]