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Call
for papers
Fifth
Proximity Congress
Organized by:
GRES and
Proximity Dynamics Group
Université
Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV
35 place Pey Berland, Bordeaux, France
June 28 - 30, 2006
The GRES
GRES
(Groupement de Recherches Economiques et Sociales - Economic
and Social Research Unit) brings together two laboratories
: The Federative Institute of research on economic dynamics
(IFReDE -GRES) of the University of Bordeaux 4 and the laboratory
of Studies and research on economics, policies and social
systems (Lereps-GRES) of the University of social sciences
of Toulouse 1.
Conference Presentation
Proximity economics, at the intersection of spatial and industrial
analysis, constitute an attempt to study the role that the
different forms of proximity play in the coordination of economic
activities. Organised every two years, the Proximity Congress
is a high water mark for confronting studies by researchers
interested in this topic. It is addressed to economists, geographers,
sociologists, national and regional development planners,
and more generally to social science specialists, linking
their research fields to that of space.
Call for papers
Proximity economics, at the intersection of spatial and industrial
analysis, constitute an attempt to study the role that the
different forms of proximity play in the coordination of activities.
Organised every two years, the Proximity Congress is a high
water mark for confronting studies by researchers interested
in this topic. It is addressed to economists, geographers,
sociologists, national and regional development planners,
and more generally to social science specialists, linking
their research fields to that of space.
Open to any and all reflections on the role that proximity
plays in the interactions linking agents, organisations or
institutions, this fifth edition will be specifically geared
towards three main axes reflecting recent lines of questioning
that could help to shed new light on proximity’s underlying
dynamics.
Models and measurements of proximity
Proximity can be apprehended as the expression of agents’
potential for interacting. Agents’ rationality can be
situated within this framework since it depends on the interaction’s
context. Location can be deduced from the coordination interplay
that is associated with the mobilisation of various forms
of proximity. Thus, geographic proximity only constitutes
a particular form of coordination, one that may be complementary
with other organised forms of proximity. Beyond the necessary
clarification of concepts, and even as recent empirical and
conceptual advances have turned into veritable gold mines
of new knowledge, there remains a need for new ways towards
deeper understanding. The empirical requirement has to be
accompanied first of all by the need for more systematic statistical
analyses. This raises a number of questions concerning the
different types of indicators, tools and methods that can
be used in the field of proximity analysis. To complement
this, we find research into the modelling of forms of proximity,
specifically involving the characterisation of network structures
and forms of coordination. Spatial analysis of networks of
actors and communities has become omnipresent in innovation
and growth process studies. In the same way, actors’s
mobility and ICT-based mediations are giving reason to reflect
upon the new forms of proximity, and specifically on its temporary
forms.
Institutional diversity and variety of forms de proximity
An interactionist approach to coordination wants to avoid
the stumbling stones that are the under-socialisation of methodological
individualism and the over-socialisation of holism. Although
analysis centres on individuals, their actions are socially
embedded and cannot be analysed independently of this context.
This articulation of different levels of analysis between
interactions and institutions dynamics is a question that
remains largely up for debate. Proximity, as the product or
the support mechanism for an institutional context, can be
mobilised in a variety of ways, depending on the spaces in
question. We should therefore be trying to apprehend which
are the coherent modes of articulation connecting forms of
proximity mobilisation and institutional configurations (territorial,
sectoral,…).
Scales of proximity
Along these same lines, scale of analysis questions are raised
whenever the interplay between interactions and institutions
is directly apprehended at a spatial level. Much research
has been done on the topic of clusters, studies that situate
regional policies at the forefront of a European integration
context. Complementing this, we have witnessed a return to
critical analyses of certain approaches’ « localist
» nature. The interconnection between activities’
local and global dynamics and their governance continues to
be a topic for debate within the scientific community and
invite us to revisit the substitutable or complementary nature
of the local and global relations that reside at the heart
of a proximity dynamics-based approach.
Proposed topics
Theoretical considerations on proximity dynamics
• Definitions and categorization of proximities
• Modeling proximity and interactions
• Institutional embeddedness and proximity
• Territorial lock-in and negative aspects of proximities
Proximity, innovation and clusters
• Proximity and knowledge
• Modeling behavioral and structural dynamics of clusters
• Sectoral analysis of proximity relations
• Critical assessments on clusters
Measures of proximity
• Theoretical considerations on proximity measures
• Econometric analysis of knowledge spillovers
• Measuring the relational and organizational dimensions
of proximities
• Measuring the role of institutions in regional systems
of innovation and production
Territorial dynamics and public action
• Proximity, education and local labor relations
• Institutions and multi-level governance in regional
performance
• Proximity and environment
• Proximity in rural areas
• Proximity, innovation and cities
Other topics
• Proximity in various disciplines (economics, sociology,
geography, psychology, regional planning, management, mathematics…)
• Proximity, social capital and social networks
• Mobility, ICT and temporary proximity
• Proximity and globalization of space and firms
Specials sessions opened to institutions and firms
• Proximity and the French Policies on “competitiveness
poles”
•Proximity in firms' creation and spin-offs
Deadline
Abstract Deadline: January 15, 2006
Paper Deadline: May 15, 2006
Paper submission
Please fill the conference's form to submit an abstract:
http://beagle.u-bordeaux4.fr/conf2006/submission.php
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