Abstract. The authors attempt to shed light on the emergence of spatial agglomerations and clusters in the relatively short history of the Polish post-communist automotive sector. Two main questions are addressed: (1) what types of agglomerations dominate in the Polish automotive industry? and (2) to what extent do the existing Polish geographical concentrations in the automotive industry resemble Porter's clusters? The evidence is based on the authors' database covering 955 plants involved in production for the automotive industry. Three ideal types of agglomeration present at this stage of the development of the industry are: a TNC-led satellite platform, a hub-and-spoke district and a specialised cluster. The formation of Porter's clusters is only at its initial stage, and only one agglomeration may be regarded as a 'developing cluster' using Enright's typology. In general, the Polish case confirms that Porter-type cluster formation is a long evolutionary process. At present, the competitive advantages of Polish agglomerations include factor conditions, whereas the linkages, non-production competencies and institutional environment lag behind.
PurposeThe study was designed to investigate the bidirectional causation between the real estate market characteristics (residential property prices/rents (including PTR), office rents) and the rise of coworking spaces (CSs) in the peripheral areas of Germany.Design/methodology/approachBased on the desk research, the authors constructed their own database of 1,201 CSs. The authors gathered data on the residential and office prices and rents on a district level. To identify real market differences between districts with and without CSs, the authors applied the t-test for independent samples.FindingsThe second-highest number of CSs were found to operate in the office market peripheries. This phenomenon should be explained by a search for lower office rents, which CSs seek. Most CSs in the peripheral areas of Germany were only recently established in tourist-oriented regions in the south and north of Germany. In this paper, the authors confirmed that the strength of peripheral CSs lies in the hybridity of their operations: for the majority of CSs, running a CS is a non-core business. The authors argue that the role of CSs is rather limited in attracting real estate investors and boosting the real estate market in the peripheral areas of Germany.Practical implicationsThe research shows that peripheral locations are attracting CSs to significant extent. The study shows that CSs can be part of corporate real estate or workplace strategies. As the majority of peripheral CSs are located in tourism areas, the subletting of vacant spaces could be a lucrative business model for hotels, particularly in the times of pandemics. Therefore, further research should focus on the role of tourist areas in the implementation of CSs model.Originality/valueThe focus of this study (CSs in peripheral areas) is original. Additionally, applying the real estate perspective to study the location of CSs is novel as well.
The world's meat market has had tremendous growth in the past decades. Global meat producers, particularly in developed economies, have grown bigger through expansion, mergers and acquisitions. The livestock markets in less developed countries are particularly the prime targets for investments by these producers. This article looks at foreign direct investment in a transitional economy, using Poland's pig industry as the empirical case study. It argues that such investments not only bring significant changes in the method of producing meat in the host country; they also have particular socio-political impacts and have thus been met with some level of resistance by local communities. Our study suggests that the relations of foreign firms to the local community are crucial for their long term presence; and these relations are in turn dependent on a gamut of place specific features and the firms' broader corporate philosophy and strategy. In general, foreign firms need to find ways to replicate the kinds of deep social-economic links between the livestock industry and places that existed in the socialist era. The case studies of Americanowned Agri Plus and Danish-owned Poldanor illustrate some of the difficulties involved in the foreign investment in the meat industries while demonstrating the viability and possibility of such companies becoming more accepted and welcomed in the local communities.
Notes1. The present article is drawn in part from Micek et al. (2009).
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