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Path Dependency (path + dependency)
Selected AbstractsPOWER LEARNING OR PATH DEPENDENCY?PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2010INVESTIGATING THE ROOTS OF THE EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY A key motive for establishing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was restoring public confidence in the wake of multiplying food scares and the BSE crisis. Scholars, however, have paid little attention to the actual political and institutional logics that shaped this new organization. This article explores the dynamics underpinning the making of EFSA. We examine the way in which learning and power shaped its organizational architecture. It is demonstrated that the lessons drawn from the past and other models converged on the need to delegate authority to an external agency, but diverged on its mandate, concretely whether or not EFSA should assume risk management responsibilities. In this situation of competitive learning, power and procedural politics conditioned the mandate granted to EFSA. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council shared a common interest in preventing the delegation of regulatory powers to an independent EU agency in food safety policy. [source] Path Dependency and the Reform of English Local GovernmentPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2005Francesca Gains This paper uses the concept of path dependency to examine the changes to the political management structures of English local government. We note how the possible experience of decreasing returns among some local authority actors combined with the powerful intervention of politicians within New Labour at the national level led to a significant break from past policy and the imposition of measures to establish a separate executive that was claimed as a radical step forward for local democracy. Using survey data from the Evaluating Local Governance research team (http://www.elgnce.org.uk), we explore the establishment of a separate political executive in all major local authorities and map out the style of decision-making that is emerging. We find that some established institutional patterns reasserted themselves in the process of implementation, but that increasing returns are not as great as some theorists of path dependency would suggest and they may be a force for system change as well as for stability. [source] Path Dependency and Comparative Industrial Relations: The Case of Conflict Resolution Systems in Ireland and SwedenBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2009Paul Teague This article uses the theory of path dependency to explain the evolution of employment conflict resolution systems in Ireland and Sweden. It argues that the traditional ,voluntarist' conflict management path followed in Ireland has fragmented as a result of a series of internal developments that have reduced trade union density, increased the importance of employment law in the settlement of workplace disputes and established social partnership as the main wage-setting mechanism. By contrast, the Swedish system has experienced reform within the boundaries of the established conflict management path, which is largely attributable to the still powerful role played by trade unions within the country. Thus, while the operating rules of the system have changed, its core underlying principles , collectivism and self-regulation , remain intact. [source] TOWARDS A UNIFORM CONCEPT FOR THE COMPARISON AND EXTRAPOLATION OF ROCKWALL RETREAT AND ROCKFALL SUPPLYGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2007MICHAEL KRAUTBLATTER ABSTRACT. Rates of rockwall retreat and rockfall supply are fundamental components of sediment budgets in steep environments. However, the standard procedure of referencing rockwall retreat rates using only lithology is inconsistent with research findings and results in a variability that exceeds three orders of magnitude. The concept proposed in this paper argues that the complexity inherent in rockfall studies can be reduced if the stages of (i) backweathering, (ii) filling and depletion of intermediate storage on the rock face and (iii) final rockfall supply onto the talus slopes are separated as these have different response functions and controlling factors. Backweathering responds to preweathering and weathering conditions whereas the filling and depletion of intermediate storage in the rock face is mainly a function of internal and external triggers. The noise apparent in backweathering rates and rockfall supply can be reduced by integrating the relevant controlling factors in the response functions. Simple conceptual models for the three stages are developed and are linked by a time-dependent ,rockfall delivery rate', which is defined as the difference between backweathering and rockfall supply, thus reflecting the specific importance of intermediate storage in the rock face. Existing studies can be characterized according to their ,rockfall delivery ratio', a concept similar to the ,sediment delivery ratio' used in fluvial geomorphology. Their outputs can be qualified as trigger-dependent rockfall supply rates or backweathering rates dependent on (pre-)weathering conditions. It is shown that the existing quantitative backweathering and rockfall supply models implicitly follow the proposed conceptual models and can be accommodated into the uniform model. Suggestions are made for how best to incorporate non-linearities, phase transitions, path dependencies and different timescales into rockfall response functions. [source] Policy dependency and reform: economic gains versus political painsAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2-3 2004David R. Harvey Abstract Economic analysis condemns market intervention in favour of farmers as inefficient and ineffective, and therefore worthy of radical reform. Practical experience, however, indicates that such lessons are hard to learn and implement. Economic analysis tends to ignore the path dependencies generated by the policy evolution process. Without reform strategies that take full account of these dependencies, policy reform will continue to be reluctant, slow and frequently counter-productive. This paper reconsiders the evolution of farm policies and the economic assessment of their costs and benefits. In so doing, it re-phrases conventional economic arguments in terms which seem to accord better with sensible intuition, which may prove more accessible and credible to policymakers and advisors. The difficulties of reconciling economic efficiency with political acceptability are identified. The paper concludes with a substantial challenge to the agricultural economics profession. [source] REVISITING ALTERNATIVE THEORETICAL PARADIGMS IN MANUFACTURING STRATEGYPRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2000M. Hsafizadeh Testing and cross-validation of theories and paradigms are necessary to advance the field of manufacturing strategy. When the findings of one study are also obtained in other studies, using entirely different databases, we become more confident in the results. Replication alleviates concerns about spurious results and is one motivation for this study. We examine aspects of the tradeoffs concept, production competence paradigm, and a manufacturing strategy taxonomy framework. In regard to the tradeoffs concept, we found evidence of tradeoffs between some, but certainly not all, manufacturing capabilities of quality, cost, delivery, and customization. The relationships get sharper when controlling for process choice. For example, the tradeoff between cost and customization is particularly strong between plants that have different process choices. We find that such tradeoffs can change, or even disappear, however, once the process choice is in place. With respect to the production competence paradigm, our analysis shows a statistically significant correlation between production competence and operations performance in batch shops, but not in plants with other process choices. Finally, using variables similar to those of Miller and Roth, our data produced three similar clusters even though their unit of analysis was much more macro than ours. Controlling for process choice is consistent with the current manufacturing strategy literature that emphasizes dynamic development of capabilities within the context of path dependencies. A major argument of this strand of research is that operations decisions not only affect current capabilities, but also set the framework for development of capabilities in the future. That being the case, controlling for process choice (or other factors such as industry or markets) should contribute to the understanding of capability-development paths adopted by different manufacturing plants. In short, we found at least partial support for each of the theories examined here, even though the theories seem on the surface to be contradictory and mutually exclusive. Controlling for process choice or other measures of dependency goes a long way in uncovering consistency across different theories and empirical studies in operations management. [source] Fluctuating Rounds of Inward Investment in Peripheral Regions: Semiconductors in the North East of EnglandECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2007Stuart Dawley Abstract: This article extends economic geography research on foreign direct investment episodes by developing a historically grounded understanding of the socio-institutional relations that shape and constrain different rounds of (dis)investment by multinational enterprises (MNEs) within a host region. Sensitive to the roles of contextuality, path dependency, and contingency, it argues that the temporal and spatial dynamics of volatile MNE (dis)investment are best tackled using a conceptual framework that accords a full and active role to the agency of the firm and its interrelations with the geographically variable socioinstitutional contexts that produce, regulate, and mediate investment decisions. The framework is used to interpret the brief but fluctuating history of the semiconductor fabrication industry in North Tyneside in the old industrial region of North East England. Within each investment episode, the empirical findings reveal the pivotal power and agency of the corporation in shaping and connecting processes across a variety of scales, places, and times. Contrasting corporate strategies illustrate the dynamic and contingent ways in which home and host national institutional contexts matter in mediating and regulating MNE investment decisions. [source] Evolution, Path Dependence and Economic GeographyGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2008Danny MacKinnon This article provides a review of research on evolution and path dependence in economic geography. While economic geographers have long been interested in regional economic change, the period since the early 1990s has witnessed a more explicit concern with questions of evolution and adaptation. Indeed, the notion that the economic landscape is ,path-dependent' has been described as one of the most exciting ideas in economic geography. Evolutionary economic geography (EEG) can be seen as comprised of two main strands of literature, focusing on: path dependency, institutions and lock-in; and evolution, routines and complexity. Rather than viewing EEG as a separate enterprise, I suggest that there is a need to link evolution to institutional and political economy approaches within a theoretically plural economic geography. After outlining the contribution of evolutionary economics and the two key strands of EEG, the article discusses some key issues for evolutionary research in economic geography. [source] Non-linear version of stabilized conforming nodal integration for Galerkin mesh-free methodsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2002Jiun-Shyan Chen Abstract A stabilized conforming (SC) nodal integration, which meets the integration constraint in the Galerkin mesh-free approximation, is generalized for non-linear problems. Using a Lagrangian discretization, the integration constraints for SC nodal integration are imposed in the undeformed configuration. This is accomplished by introducing a Lagrangian strain smoothing to the deformation gradient, and by performing a nodal integration in the undeformed configuration. The proposed method is independent to the path dependency of the materials. An assumed strain method is employed to formulate the discrete equilibrium equations, and the smoothed deformation gradient serves as the stabilization mechanism in the nodally integrated variational equation. Eigenvalue analysis demonstrated that the proposed strain smoothing provides a stabilization to the nodally integrated discrete equations. By employing Lagrangian shape functions, the computation of smoothed gradient matrix for deformation gradient is only necessary in the initial stage, and it can be stored and reused in the subsequent load steps. A significant gain in computational efficiency is achieved, as well as enhanced accuracy, in comparison with the mesh-free solution using Gauss integration. The performance of the proposed method is shown to be quite robust in dealing with non-uniform discretization. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Edith Penrose's legacy to the resource-based viewMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2005Andy Lockett In this paper I argue that Edith Penrose's work anticipated the modern approach to strategy in general, and the RBV in particular. Building on the central tenets of Penrose's arguments,that firms are heterogeneous, which is the result of their path dependency,the paper demonstrates how her writings can be used to explain the latest developments of the RBV. Furthermore, the paper argues that many of the insights scholars require to take the RBV forward are still available to those willing to re-visit her writings. Simply stated: Her legacy endures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] ARE LONG-RUN PRICE STABILITY AND SHORT-RUN OUTPUT STABILIZATION ALL THAT MONETARY POLICY CAN AIM FOR?METROECONOMICA, Issue 2 2007Giuseppe Fontana ABSTRACT A central tenet of the so-called new consensus view in macroeconomics is that there is no long-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. The main policy implication of this principle is that all monetary policy can aim for is (modest) short-run output stabilization and long-run price stability, i.e. monetary policy is neutral with respect to output and employment in the long run. However, research on the different sources of path dependency in the economy suggests that persistent but nevertheless transitory changes in aggregate demand may have a permanent effect on output and employment. If this is the case, then, the way monetary policy is run does have long-run effects on real variables. This paper provides an overview of this research and explores conceptually how monetary policy should be implemented once these long-run effects are acknowledged. [source] Lernen von anderen Ländern: Zum internationalen Vergleich und Transfer von ArbeitsmarktinstitutionenPERSPEKTIVEN DER WIRTSCHAFTSPOLITIK, Issue 2 2004Wolfgang Ochel The paper deals with the question of the best way to proceed in making such comparisons. At the same time the question of the possibilities and limits to institutional transfer is addressed. On the one hand, competition between systems may oblige governments to adopt institutions of other countries. On the other hand, inflexibilities resulting from path dependency, political constraints on decision-making processes and/or powerful domestic interest groups can impede the transfer of institutions. [source] Challenging Neo-Malthusian Deforestation Analyses in West Africa's Dynamic Forest LandscapesPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 1 2000Melissa Leach Many influential analyses of West Africa take it for granted that ,original' forest cover has progressively been converted and savannized during the twentieth century by growing populations. By testing these assumptions against historical evidence, exemplified for Ghana and Ivory Coast, this article shows that these neo-Malthusian deforestation narratives badly misrepresent people,forest relationships. They obscure important nonlinear dynamics, as well as widespread anthropogenic forest expansion and landscape enrichment. These processes are better captured, in broad terms, by a neo-Boserupian perspective on population,forest dynamics. However, comprehending variations in locale-specific trajectories of change requires fuller appreciation of social differences in environmental and resource values, of how diverse institutions shape resource access and control, and of ecological variability and path dependency in how landscapes respond to use. The second half of the article présents and illustrates such a "landscape structuretion" perspective through case studies from the forest,savanna transition zones of Ghana and Guinea. [source] Path Dependency and the Reform of English Local GovernmentPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2005Francesca Gains This paper uses the concept of path dependency to examine the changes to the political management structures of English local government. We note how the possible experience of decreasing returns among some local authority actors combined with the powerful intervention of politicians within New Labour at the national level led to a significant break from past policy and the imposition of measures to establish a separate executive that was claimed as a radical step forward for local democracy. Using survey data from the Evaluating Local Governance research team (http://www.elgnce.org.uk), we explore the establishment of a separate political executive in all major local authorities and map out the style of decision-making that is emerging. We find that some established institutional patterns reasserted themselves in the process of implementation, but that increasing returns are not as great as some theorists of path dependency would suggest and they may be a force for system change as well as for stability. [source] The Empirics of International Currencies: Network Externalities, History and Persistence,THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 537 2009Marc Flandreau Using a new database for the late nineteenth century, when the pound sterling was the world's leading international currency, this article provides evidence on the empirical determinants of international currency status. We report evidence in favour of the search-theoretic models to international currencies. Using a microeconomic model of currency choice, we provide empirical support to strategic externalities. We find strong confirmation of the existence of persistence, but reject the view that the international monetary system was subject to pure path dependency and lock-in effects, suggesting that, even in the absence of WWI, the USD was bound to overtake sterling. [source] Pathways to the Enabling State: Changing Modes of Social Provision in Western Australian Community ServicesAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2000Wendy Earles This investigation of reform of Western Australian community services problematises assumptions about the enabling state. The investigation is distinctive by virtue of its attention to the departure points as well as the destinations in pathways of policy change and its unpacking of three modes of public provision into their three constituent policy elements (funder-provider mix; the nature of agreements between policy actors; and the type of funding relationships). We find first that government had long adopted some aspects of the model of governance associated with the enabling state. Second, we find some path dependency in policy change towards marketisation. Third, we find highly nuanced policy outcomes combining government exploitation of its authority, market innovations and the maintenance of basic network features of the programs. [source] Path Dependency and Comparative Industrial Relations: The Case of Conflict Resolution Systems in Ireland and SwedenBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2009Paul Teague This article uses the theory of path dependency to explain the evolution of employment conflict resolution systems in Ireland and Sweden. It argues that the traditional ,voluntarist' conflict management path followed in Ireland has fragmented as a result of a series of internal developments that have reduced trade union density, increased the importance of employment law in the settlement of workplace disputes and established social partnership as the main wage-setting mechanism. By contrast, the Swedish system has experienced reform within the boundaries of the established conflict management path, which is largely attributable to the still powerful role played by trade unions within the country. Thus, while the operating rules of the system have changed, its core underlying principles , collectivism and self-regulation , remain intact. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||