scholarly journals Innovation and institutions from the bottom up: an introduction

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 975-1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID A. HARPER
Keyword(s):  
New Combination ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Policy Solutions

AbstractThis introduction canvasses broad themes relating to the nexus of innovation and institutions. It first examines the notion of a “new combination” – a core analytical concept in economic theories of innovation and explanations of emergent novelty through bottom-up processes. Following Schumpeter, different theorists have made different claims about the composition and structure of new combinations. Possible constituent elements include factors of production, capital goods, routines, information, ideas, technologies, and property rights. The article then looks synoptically at the institutional dimensions of innovation from alternative perspectives that focus upon different kinds of institutional rules and policy solutions to innovation problems. Neoclassical and evolutionary approaches tend to emphasize specific policy interventions in markets to channel behavior toward particular desired outcomes, whereas institutional and Austrian approaches tend to focus upon general institutional rules (e.g. property and contract) that frame markets and innovation processes. Finally, this article summarizes the papers in the special issue.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and crises of higher education: Responses and intensifying inequalities in the Global South

2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032110553
Author(s):  
Matt M Husain
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Global South ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Educational Transformation ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Equity In Education ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
The Rich

This special issue contributes to the vibrant debates concerning the ‘responses and intensifying inequalities in the Global South’ underway with regard to COVID-19 and the subsequent crises of higher education. With neoliberal globalization in a deeper crisis by the pandemic, transforming higher education and teaching configurations in ways that appease the rich and powerful players, while simultaneously seeking to neutralize forms of equity in education. Rather than pointing fingers at the broken structures and wider external economic framework, we argue that re-centring the humanistic, holistic and bottom-up approach that frames the post-pandemic higher education offers a more useful framework for understanding educational transformation in the contemporary period.

Laissez-Faire Activism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Colander ◽  
Roland Kupers
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Environment ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Embryonic Stage ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Small Change ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Policy Solutions ◽  
The Way

This chapter reconsiders the structure and governance issues of corporations and enterprises more generally as a concrete example of how a complexity approach changes the way we think about policy. It shows how a small change in the ecostructure, especially when applied at the formative embryonic stage of emerging institutions, can fundamentally change society from the bottom up, without massive state intervention. It argues that over time in some important sectors of the economy where social goals are important, existing for-profit and nonprofit enterprises can be replaced by socially friendly for-benefit enterprises, which are designed to allow social goals to be achieved in a sustainable way from the bottom up. The goal of the policy being advocated is to encourage the development of an institutional environment that is friendly to bottom-up policy solutions so that new socially focused enterprises can emerge and develop.

The Analysis of Conflict: A Micro-Level Perspective

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Verwimp ◽  
Patricia Justino ◽  
Tilman Brück
Keyword(s):  
Global Perspective ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Civilian Population ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Core Message ◽  
Armed Actors

This article introduces a special issue on the micro-level dynamics of mass violent conflict. While most analyses of conflict typically adopt a regional, national or global perspective, often using country-level data, this special issue takes an explicit micro-level approach, focusing on the behaviour and welfare of individuals, households and groups or communities. At a fundamental level, conflict originates from individuals' behaviour and their repeated interactions with their surroundings, in other words, from its micro-foundations. A micro-level approach advances our understanding of conflict by its ability to account for individual and group heterogeneity within one country or one conflict. The contributors to this special issue investigate the nature of violence against civilians, the agency of civilians during conflict, the strategic interaction between civilians and armed actors, the consequences of displacement, the effectiveness of coping strategies and the impact of policy interventions. The core message from these articles is that in order to understand conflict dynamics and its effects on society, we have to take seriously the incentives and constraints shaping the interaction between the civilian population and the armed actors. The kind of interaction that develops, as well as the resulting conflict dynamics, depend on the type of conflict, the type of armed actors and the characteristics of the civilian population and its institutions.

scholarly journals Special issue: The legacy of Paulo Freire. Contemporary reflections on participatory communication and civil society development in Brazil and beyond

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-410
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Suzina ◽  
Thomas Tufte ◽  
César Jiménez-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Paulo Freire ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Civil Society Development

This text works as an introduction for the special issue “The legacy of Paulo Freire. Contemporary reflections on participatory communication and civil society development in Brazil and beyond”. The text outlines the contribution that each of the six articles constituting this issue makes, examining how they state the relevance of Paulo Freire’s ideas for the development and understanding of a notion of participatory communication and the articulation of bottom-up development processes. In addition, each contribution looks at the significance that the legacy of Paulo Freire has for contemporary debates about politics not only in Brazil, but also in other settings.

scholarly journals Managing Collaborative Innovation Networks – Practical Lessons from a Belgian Spatial Planning Initiative

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Vidar Stevens ◽  
Annika Agger
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Innovation Networks ◽  
Collaborative Innovation ◽  
Collaboration Management ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Policy Solutions

Collaborative innovation networks are increasingly used as vehicles for fostering innovative policy solutions. However, scholars have noted that the extent to which collaborative networks can actually contribute to the development of innovative policy solutions depends on how they are managed. Empirical research on the management of collaborative policy innovation processes is, however, scarce. Therefore, we review in this article a case to add new insights to the causal link between collaboration, management, and innovation. Specifically, we examine the management strategies which helped a Flemish administrative network to develop a radical new Spatial Planning Policy Plan. This study shows that the best way to manage collaborative innovation networks is not to press directly for results, but take the time to invest in relationship-building and together agree on a planning and clear process steps. Such a management approach allows actors to get to know each other and from thereon expand, with more background and appreciation for the others’ goals, behaviors, and intentions, their group activities concerning the formulation of a radical and innovative policy plan.

Mechanics of Fibrous Biological Materials With Hierarchical Chirality

2016 ◽  
Vol 83 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huijuan Zhu ◽  
Takahiro Shimada ◽  
Jianshan Wang ◽  
Takayuki Kitamura ◽  
Xiqiao Feng
Keyword(s):  
Biological Materials ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Chirality Transfer ◽  
Bacterial Flagella ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Mechanics Model ◽  
Chiral Structures ◽  
Biological World ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Structural Levels

Chirality simultaneously exists at different length scales in many biological materials, e.g., climbing tendrils and bacterial flagella. It can transfer from lower structural levels to higher structural levels, which is tightly associated with the growth and assembly of biological materials. In this paper, a continuum mechanics model is presented for understanding the bottom–up transfer of chirality in fibrous biological materials. Basic physical mechanisms underlying the chirality transfer in biological world are revealed. It is demonstrated that the chirality of constituent elements at the microscale can induce the twisting of higher-level structures, which may further transfer into the macroscopic morphology in different manners, rendering the formation of hierarchically chiral structures in tissues or organs. The bottom–up transfer mechanism of chirality may provide a limit to the macroscopic size of biological materials through the accumulative contribution of twisting.

scholarly journals Social Innovation: Integrating Micro, Meso, and Macro Level Insights From Institutional Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakomijn van Wijk ◽  
Charlene Zietsma ◽  
Silvia Dorado ◽  
Frank G. A. de Bakker ◽  
Ignasi Martí
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Cycle Model ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Innovation Processes

Social innovations are urgently needed as we confront complex social problems. As these social problems feature substantial interdependencies among multiple systems and actors, developing and implementing innovative solutions involve the re-negotiating of settled institutions or the building of new ones. In this introductory article, we introduce a stylized three-cycle model highlighting the institutional nature of social innovation efforts. The model conceptualizes social innovation processes as the product of agentic, relational, and situated dynamics in three interrelated cycles that operate at the micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis. The five papers included in this special issue address one or more of these cycles. We draw on these papers and the model to stimulate and offer guidance to future conversations on social innovations from an institutional theory perspective.

scholarly journals Emergence of floating offshore wind energy: Technology and industry

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Bento ◽  
Margarida Fontes
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Systemic Understanding ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Innovation Processes

The paper investigates the construction of strategies aiming to up-scale low-carbon innovations from pilot to full commercial scale. This requires a systemic understanding of the evolution of the technology along with the organizations and infrastructures supporting its development. Technological innovation systems concepts operationalize system building processes, including the establishment of constituent elements and the performance of key innovation activities. The study surveys the national roadmaps published between 2009 and 2014 for offshore wind energy in deepwaters (more than 50 m deep) which inform on how actors expect the system to grow, including the innovation activities crucial to achieve it. The roadmaps point to the role of guidance and legitimacy as triggers of changes in other innovation processes (knowledge creation, experimentation and so on) needed for take-off. The analysis reveals that the growth plans conveyed in the roadmaps are overly optimistic when compared with the time taken to develop offshore wind energy in fixed structures for shallow waters. Several countries have adopted supporting policies following the publication of the roadmaps, but weaknesses in crucial innovation processes (e.g. specialized skills) and external factors (e.g. crisis, regulatory approval) resulted in a delay of the first large investments. Policy should be based on realistic expectations and adequate to the phase of innovation, such as the promotion of technology-specific institutions (standards, codes, regulations and so on) in technology up-scaling. New directions for research are also provided.

scholarly journals DISPLACEMENT EFFECTS OF LATVIAN RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2007-2013

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Elita Benga ◽  
Juris Hāzners ◽  
Zaiga Miķelsone
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Substitution Effect ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Displacement Effect ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Rural Development Programme ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Displacement Effects

Periodic evaluation of EU Member States Rural Development Programme (RDP) specific policy interventions is considered crucial in policy development. The main reasons for the evaluation of specific policy interventions are the assessment of a programme’s impact, the improvement of programme management and administration, identification of necessary improvements in the delivery of interventions and meeting the accountability. The core question to be answered in programme evaluation is whether the stated objectives are accomplished by particular intervention (support or „treatment” provided to programme participants). The main problem in the process of evaluation is the assessment of the counterfactual outcome by modelling the situation where treatment is absent. The counterfactual outcome has to be estimated by statistical methods as it is usually not observed. General equilibrium effects occur when a programme affects units other than its participants. The most important possible impacts are the substitution effect and the displacement effect. Displacement effects are unplanned and indirect. They usually play a more important role in the evaluation at the programme level than in the evaluation of RDP individual measures. Displacement effect is the programme effect that occurs in a programme area at expense of another area. It takes place if farms located in one geographical area, which is not a subject to RD support, becomes adversely affected by a support provided to farms located in another geographically area. The existing study provides an assessment of the displacement effects on the employment in unsupported units at the programme level after the net effects on the employment calculated at the measure level are aggregated over the entire programme.

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