Edward J. Malecki

Corporate Organization of R and D and the Location of Technological Activities

Malecki E. J. (1980) Corporate organization of R and D and the location of technological activities, Reg. Studies 14, 219–234. This paper examines in detail the role of R and D and technological innovation in corporate strategy and structure, focusing on the manner in which R and D is treated in corporate spatial organizations. Organizational and locational aspects of large, multilocational firms are a manifestation of strategies and priorities concerning product mix, technology and production. Of particular importance is the choice between centralized and decentralized R and D, both organizationally and locationally. The locations chosen by firms for technological activities have a major impact on the economic development of regional economies, through agglomeration and the creation and maintenance of a regional technology base. Three location types for R and D, headquarters, production sites and innovation centers, are verified empirically from the R and D sites of U.S. corporations.

Dimensions of R&D location in the United States

Abstract R&D activities in the United States, as in other advanced economies, are geographically concentrated in certain types of locations. This study presents data on the location of four dimensions of R&D in the U.S.: industrial R&D laboratories, scientists and engineers engaged in R&D, scientists and engineers employed by the federal government, and research universities. Industrial R&D is much more concentrated in large urban areas than the other dimensions, and appears to locate more in response to the location of manufacturing activity than to the location of research universities and federal research facilities. The location of R&D employment, which includes government university, and industrial employees, is associated with facilities for all three types of R&D. Because of these factors, R&D in the U.S. is found on a significant per capita basis in 44 of 177 urban areas, most of them in the northeastern portion of the country. When two dimensions, industrial R&D laboratories and R&D employees, are combined as a measure of R&D concentration, the locational pattern is less clustered regionally. Ten urban areas in all regions of the U.S. are identified as important complexes of R&D. Since the location of R&D is a major indicator of comparative advantage for technological activities and the economic potential of urban regions, only a few areas of the U.S. are likely to remain important in the generation of innovations.

Science, technology, and regional economic development: Review and prospects☆

Abstract This paper reviews the literature on the location and regional effects of science and technology (ST these pools of mobile workers are most attracted to large urban areas. In only some of these areas, however, does the spin-off process result in the generation of new technology-based firms. The availability of local venture capital appears to be the principal influence on this variation. Government policy regarding science and technology has impacts on regions by contributing to the agglomeration of R&D. Government policy also often fails to recognize that S&T policy and industrial policy have regional effects that may be long-term in nature and most detrimental to those regions whose economies are least competitive. Finally, some priorities for future research on innovation in a regional setting are identified.

Federal R and D Spending in the United States of America: Some impacts on metropolitan economies

Malecki E. J. (1982) Federal R & D Spending in the Unitd States of America: some impacts on metropolitan economies, Reg. Studies 16, 19–35. Government R and D spending in the United States of America is highly concentrated in a small number of metropolitan areas. The effects of this spending are conceptualized in the context of technological change, and in terms of local income effects, agglomeration and spin-off processes, and inter-urban subcontracting linkages. Description of the location pattern of federal R and D spending reveals a highly agglomerated pattern in a few specialized urban regions. Inter-urban linkages through subcontracting for R and D tend to link fewer urban areas than do non-R and D linkages, reinforcing the concentrated pattern. Income change in metropolitan regions appears to be negatively influenced by federal R and D, suggesting that positive local effects are more likely derived from the more complex processes of agglomeration and spin-off.

Comments on landscape evolution and diffusion processes

Brown L. A. and Malecki E. J. (1977) Comments on landscape evolution and diffusion processes, Reg. Studies 11, 211–223. This paper is concerned with the linkage between landscape evolution and the diffusion of entrepreneurial or other organizational entities related to differentials in urban area growth. Drawing upon the conceptual model of diffusion agency establishment and a case study of the diffusion of the bank credit card in Ohio and West Virginia, this paper provides a detailed example of the considerable effect of a central propagator upon the temporal and spatial patterns of diffusion. One conclusion is that to account for the diffusion underpinnings of landscape evolution, the population and distance notions of traditional diffusion models and the assumptions of empirical regularity are not sound. Needed instead is a more comprehensive model, derived by looking towards the organizational decision making process, which often involves turning to the unique institutional setting in which such decis...

Information source usage in the migration decision

Abstract This paper examines the characteristics of information source usage in the migration decision. Its first task is to put forth a conceptual frame-work. This draws upon a framework developed earlier by one of the authors, but extends it to include phases of the migration decision-awareness, interest, and evaluation-under the hypothesis that the intensity of information source usage and the type of information gathered varies by phase. The second task involves reporting the results of a survey based upon a questionnaire that incorporated the conceptual framework. This instrument was administered to 274 migrants to Columbus, Ohio. In reporting the empirical findings of the survey, three questions are addressed: (1) What is the pattern, frequency and effectiveness of information source usage by migrants? (2) What type of information is obtained from each information source? (3) Does information source usage and/or type of information obtained vary by phases of the migration decision process?

Siting energy facilities in the USA: policies for the western states

Abstract Because of their rich and abundant reserve base, the western states of the USA are currently the focus of a major national effort to increase domestic energy production. A number of important problems, however, have arisen in siting the energy facilities which are needed to convert the regions energy resources into end-use fuels or electricity. Many of these siting problems are unique to the region and must be addressed if plans to exploit the energy resources of the western states are to be realized. Careful planning may assist in the siting process and reduce the undesirable impacts of energy conversion plants.