title: Industry in Lanzhou
creator: Chang, Genying
subject: 550
subject: 550 Earth sciences
description: In theories related to positivism, structuralism and functionalism, regional economic development and spatial distribution of economic activity were understood as determined by aspects of the macro-structural power, such as location factors, spatial divisions of labour, and class struggle. In contrast, many theories such as evolutionary economics, regulation theory, post-Fordist thought of flexible specialization regarded the regional economic development as evolutionary. The importance of the context of region in regional economic development has been emphasized. Economic practices in so-called industrial districts showed a deep position of the context of region in a successful regional development. In line with a deep position of the context of region in regional economic development, Bathelt and Glückler suggested a transition of economic geography from the spatial school and regional science to a relational economic geography. In a relational economic geography, rather than aspects of the macro-structural power, decisions and relations of enterprises should lie at the centre of a regional research. Discussions on the relational economic geography were based on economic practices of developed countries. Politically, economically, and culturally, China is greatly different from developed countries. In this dissertation �Industry in Lanzhou�, attention was paid to both aspects of the macro-structural power and organisation, evolution, interaction and innovation of the enterprises in Lanzhou to show which role of aspects of the macro-structural power played in industrial development of Lanzhou and to what degree decisions and relations of enterprises can explain the local industrial development. In correspondence, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this research. Qualitative methods include interviews with entrepreneurs and governmental officials, analyses of governmental documents and those of enterprises. Quantitative methods are mainly questionnaires and analyses of official statistical data. The research shows that the industrial development in Lanzhou in the past 50 years can be basically explained by aspects of the macro structural power, such as the changing economic system, the ongoing reforms of SOEs and reorganisation of state assets among SOEs, the changing national regional economic policies, location factors, and competitions between local enterprises and enterprises in other regions of China. Although long-term transactions are dominant in product sales and especially input acquisition of local enterprises and personal relations play a very important role thereby, long-term transactions have nothing to do with interactive innovations. No evidence was found that there exists so-called �associational assets� in Lanzhou. Aspects of the macro-structural power should not be neglected by undergoing researches on regional industrial development. But even in China, enough attention should also be paid to decisions and relations of enterprises, since more and more SOEs own autonomous performance rights on the one side; and on the other, enterprises with other types of ownership play a more and more important role in the national economy of China.
date: 2004
type: Dissertation
type: info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis
type: NonPeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
identifier: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserverhttps://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/5175/1/dissertation.pdf
identifier: DOI:10.11588/heidok.00005175
identifier: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-opus-51755
identifier:   Chang, Genying  (2004) Industry in Lanzhou.  [Dissertation]     
relation: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/5175/
rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights: http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/help/license_urhg.html
language: eng