Trade and Location of Producer Services: A Canadian Perspective

1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 597-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
W J Coffey ◽  
M Polèse
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Location Theory ◽  
Urban System ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Service Activities ◽  
Canadian Perspective ◽  
Locational Decision

The increasing importance of the service sector in modern economies necessitates the elaboration of a body of location theory applicable to service activities. An attempt is made in this paper to present elements of such a locational framework, with specific reference to producer services. Patterns of trade and of location are complementary aspects of the same problem. Thus three distinct channels through which producer services are traded are examined: direct and intrafirm exports by producer-service firms, and intrafirm exports by manufacturing firms. The last two ‘invisible’ channels, in particular, have important implications for the locational decision. A model for the locational analysis of producer-service establishments is then posited. The producer-service location problem may be conceptualized essentially as one of a trade-off between market-pull factors, specialized labour needs, and urban externalities. Last, the location of producer-service activities within the Canadian urban system is examined. These activities are found to be highly concentrated, but not in a simple hierarchical pattern, suggesting the importance of both specialized labour pools and urban externalities.

The Producer Service Complex of Edmonton: The Role and Organization of Producer Services Firms in a Peripheral City

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 761-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Z Michalak ◽  
K J Fairbairn
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Main Mode ◽  
Capitalist Production ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Organizational Linkages ◽  
Mode Of Production

In this paper the authors examine the subcontracting behaviour of producer service firms in a peripheral metropolitan city. The objective of this empirical investigation is to uncover spatial and organizational linkages of producer services that have developed in response to changes in the industrial organization of a modern capitalist production system. The focus is on three types of linkages, namely subcontracting, inputs of producer services, and inputs of goods and final services. The data collected through a survey of producer services in Edmonton reveal that subcontracting rather than internalization is the main mode of production. Therefore the producer service sector can play an important role as a supplier of indigenous higher-order services and innovations, inducing better productivity rates in other industrial sectors including resource-oriented local producers.

scholarly journals Location Theory in Reverse? Location for Global Production in the IT Industry of Bangalore

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 446-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolee Aranya
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Location Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Service Production ◽  
Offshore Industry

This paper is a detailed study of the location history of eight software and information technology (IT) enabled service firms, with varying attributes such as age of firm, type of work undertaken, and ownership sited in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. These cases are used to relate urban restructuring occurring in the city of Bangalore to the strategic shifting of location of firms within the urban fabric. While IT firms cannot be strictly classified as producer services, it is possible to contextualise their location decisions in terms of other office-based economic activities, such as producer services. Findings from the case studies are examined in relation to urban growth theories of the 1980s and 90s, which were related to an expansion of the service sector in advanced economies. The literature discussed in this paper explains the role of growth in producer services in suburbanisation of office space and the development of ‘edge cities’ and ‘suburban downtowns’ as alternatives to and in competition with traditional city centres. Studies of office location and contact patterns indicate the retention of management functions in the CBDs, with a consequent relocation of routine office operations to these suburban office spaces. The findings from the firms studied in Bangalore indicate a reverse pattern of peripheralisation of control functions and a retention of routine production functions in the core urban areas. The limited need for face-to-face contacts with actors in the local urban economy and the export-related output of this offshore industry are contributors to this apparent reversal of location dynamics. The paper briefly concludes with directions for future research on such specialised service production activity that is often being located in cities of developing countries, and its impact on the urban structure of these cities.

scholarly journals Knowledge Hubs in the German Urban System: Identifying Hubs by Combining Network and Territorial Perspectives

2011 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Growe ◽  
Hans H. Blotevogel
Keyword(s):  
Urban System ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Advanced Producer Service

Abstract This paper identifies hubs of knowledge-based labour in the German urban system from two perspectives: the importance of a metropolitan region as a place and the importance of a metropolitan region as an organisational node. This combination of a network perspective with a territorial perspective enables the identification of hubs. From the functional perspective, hubs are understood as important nodes of national and global networks, established by flows of people, goods, capital and information as well as by organisational and power relations. From the territorial perspective, hubs are understood as spatial clusters of organisations (firms, public authorities, non-governmental organisations). The functional focus of the paper lies on knowledge-based services. Based on data about employment and multi-branch advanced producer service firms, four main types of metropolitan regions are identified: growing knowledge hubs, stagnating knowledge hubs, stagnating knowledge regions and catch-up knowledge regions. The results show an affinity between knowledge-based work and bigger metropolitan regions as well as an east-west divide in the German urban system.

Strategic Behavior and Development Sequences in Producer Service Businesses

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
W B Beyers ◽  
D P Lindahl
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Strategic Behaviors ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Service Businesses ◽  
Depth Interviews

Though it is widely recognized that the producer services are among the fastest growing industries in advanced economies, there is little research documenting development experiences of establishments within these industries. In this paper we address this topic by illustrating types of strategic behaviors exhibited by producer service firms and the effectiveness of these behaviors, developing a taxonomy of firm segments, and relating types of strategic behavior to this taxonomy. The paper is based on results from 444 in-depth interviews. Key variables addressed in the analysis are drawn from the industrial sociology and business strategy literature and include organizational structure, age, dynamics of client and geographic markets, and changes in services supplied.

The Current State of Knowledge in International Business in Producer Services

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1153-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Bagchi-Sen ◽  
J Sen
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Entry Modes ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Definition Of

In this paper the authors review recent research on the characteristics and operations of service multinationals. To provide an understanding of the determinants of internationalization, entry modes, and strategies of product and market diversification, examples are taken from producer service firms with specific emphasis upon accounting and advertising services. The competitive advantage of service multinationals in the United States and Western Europe is at the core of most discussion; however, the competitive strategies of the Japanese advertising firms vis-à-vis their Western counterparts are discussed to highlight interorganizational differences. This paper is organized into five sections: the definition of services and the determinants of growth in producer services in the industrially advanced nations; theoretical explanations of international investments in services; empirical research on the determinants of internationalization, entry mode, and business strategies of service firms; industry-specific examples of competitiveness in accounting and advertising; and implications for future research.

scholarly journals Germany’s Polycentric Metropolitan Regions in the World City Network

2011 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelika Münter
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Urban System ◽  
World City ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network

Abstract On a regional scale, two types of polycentricity can be observed. The first involves polycentric metropolitan regions that have evolved in the course of post-suburban development around a previously monocentric city, whereas the second type involves neighbouring metropolises evolving into a multi-core polycentric metropolitan region due to an increase in the functional interaction between each other. The German urban system is characterised by both types of polycentricity. In this paper I examine the role of these two types of polycentricity within the context of globalisation. I address the question of whether individual metropolitan cores and metropolitan cores and their associated post-suburban areas share the global functions of a metropolitan region or whether such functions are concentrated in a single city within the metropolitan region. To this end, I analyse the locations of leading global advanced producer service firms in Germany in their role as sub-nodes of the world city network. Finally, I discuss the empirical findings in the context of modelling the world city network.

scholarly journals Producer Services Openness and the Development of Servitization: The Perspective of Two-Way Openness

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Wei Chen ◽  
Yinzhong Chen ◽  
Yifei Hao ◽  
Sili Chen
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Robustness Analysis ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Import Trade ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Factor Intensities

This paper brings producer services “bringing in” and “going out” into the same analytical framework and explains the influence mechanism of producer services opening on the development of servitization from three aspects of import trade, FDI, and OFDI. On this basis, using the latest input-output data of WIOD, this paper constructs some indicators to measure the openness of producer services such as import trade penetration, FDI penetration, and OFDI penetration and then empirically tests the impact of producer services openness on the development of servitization in China. The results show that the openness of producer services has a significant positive impact on the development of China’s servitization. In addition, the robustness analysis based on variable substitution and different estimation methods shows that the conclusions are robust. The heterogeneity test shows that the impact of producer services openness on servitization has heterogeneity. The specific performance is as follows: there is different impact of producer service sector openness on the development of servitization; the impact of producer service openness on the development of servitization with different factor intensities is also different; and there is also different impact of producer service sector openness on the development of servitization with different factor intensities. The policy implications of these research conclusions are as follows: firstly, taking co-construction of the “Belt and Road” as a chance to promote the new open pattern; secondly, focusing on expanding the openness of high-end producer services; and thirdly, taking innovation driven development as the guide to increase R&D investment of producer services.

Business-Service Activities in British Provincial Conurbations

1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 1343-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
J N Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Regional Policy ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Employment Growth ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
External Control ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Business Service ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Business Services ◽  
Service Activities

Business-service activities are poorly represented in provincial areas of the British economy, and this acts as a constraint on the economic growth of these locations. This argument is developed in a survey investigation of business-service offices in the conurbations of Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham. It is argued that external control is an important feature of the business-service sector, and that the organisational structure of multisite service firms influences the supply of business services. The importance of indigenous employment growth and industrial movement in provincial cities is examined. It is suggested that some business services generate regional exports, and should therefore, be given regional policy support.

Producer-Service Firms in a Declining Manufacturing Region

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
J W Harrington ◽  
J R Lombard
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
New York State ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Employment Structure ◽  
York State ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Service Activity ◽  
Service Employment

An overview is provided of producer-service activity (intermediate services, sold primarily to businesses) in metropolitan Buffalo (NY) from 1970 to 1986. This period brought drastic structural changes to the region's economy, such that nonmanufacturing activity in general took a far greater share of employment and output than before. After a conceptual and empirical background is given to the study of producer services, the changes in sectoral employment structure in western New York State is presented, including producer-service employment on an industry-by-industry basis. Then, the intrametropolitan location preferences of producer-service establishments are examined. Finally, questions are addressed regarding the role that these industries play in bringing income into the region.

Should I Stay or Should I Go: Predicting Advanced Producer Services Firm Expansion and Contraction

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary P. Neal ◽  
Ben Derudder ◽  
Peter J. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Degree Sequence ◽  
Location Decisions ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Firm Location ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Location Selection ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Advanced Producer Services ◽  
Advanced Producer Service

The literature on firm location selection allows us to retrospectively explain why firms did locate in particular places. However, it remains challenging to prospectively predict where they will locate. In this article, we propose a simple conceptual model of firm location decisions, then operationalize it using the ordinal stochastic degree sequence model (oSDSM). We use this model to predict whether 104 advanced producer service firms will expand, contract, or maintain their presence in each of 525 cities, and find that these predictions are accurate in more than 86 percent of cases. We conclude with suggestions for further refinement of this model.

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