Should I Stay or Should I Go: Predicting Advanced Producer Services Firm Expansion and Contraction

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary P. Neal ◽  
Ben Derudder ◽  
Peter J. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Degree Sequence ◽  
Location Decisions ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Firm Location ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Location Selection ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Advanced Producer Services ◽  
Advanced Producer Service

The literature on firm location selection allows us to retrospectively explain why firms did locate in particular places. However, it remains challenging to prospectively predict where they will locate. In this article, we propose a simple conceptual model of firm location decisions, then operationalize it using the ordinal stochastic degree sequence model (oSDSM). We use this model to predict whether 104 advanced producer service firms will expand, contract, or maintain their presence in each of 525 cities, and find that these predictions are accurate in more than 86 percent of cases. We conclude with suggestions for further refinement of this model.

scholarly journals Knowledge Hubs in the German Urban System: Identifying Hubs by Combining Network and Territorial Perspectives

2011 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Growe ◽  
Hans H. Blotevogel
Keyword(s):  
Urban System ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Advanced Producer Service

Abstract This paper identifies hubs of knowledge-based labour in the German urban system from two perspectives: the importance of a metropolitan region as a place and the importance of a metropolitan region as an organisational node. This combination of a network perspective with a territorial perspective enables the identification of hubs. From the functional perspective, hubs are understood as important nodes of national and global networks, established by flows of people, goods, capital and information as well as by organisational and power relations. From the territorial perspective, hubs are understood as spatial clusters of organisations (firms, public authorities, non-governmental organisations). The functional focus of the paper lies on knowledge-based services. Based on data about employment and multi-branch advanced producer service firms, four main types of metropolitan regions are identified: growing knowledge hubs, stagnating knowledge hubs, stagnating knowledge regions and catch-up knowledge regions. The results show an affinity between knowledge-based work and bigger metropolitan regions as well as an east-west divide in the German urban system.

On the global city map, but not in command? Probing Manila’s position in the world city network

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 2897-2915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Kleibert
Keyword(s):  
Global City ◽  
World City ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network ◽  
Advanced Producer Service ◽  
And Control ◽  
City Rankings

The changing geography of service employment and the relocation of back-office service tasks to developing economies present a challenge to contemporary world city network research and methodology, as cost-driven offshoring may wrongly suggest a city’s increased importance in global city rankings. In particular, financial service firms, but also management consultancies, law firms, and other advanced producer service firms have offshored tasks abroad. These firms’ offices are attributed a vital role in the world city network literature and form the basis for world city rankings using the interlocking network model. Based on empirical research on advanced producer service firms in Metro Manila, the Philippines, this paper argues that the existence of linkages and the appearance ‘on the map’ of dominant economic flows does not automatically lead to an increased command and control position of Manila. Instead, the attraction of lower-end services leads to Manila’s dependent articulation into global service production networks. The findings challenge the key assumptions about ‘command functions’ and ‘strategic role’ of global cities that underpin the global city rankings. The paper critiques current conceptualisations of command and control in global urban network theory in the light of changing intra-firm divisions of labour in advanced producer service firms, and stresses the importance of qualitative research.

Strategic Behavior and Development Sequences in Producer Service Businesses

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
W B Beyers ◽  
D P Lindahl
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Strategic Behaviors ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Service Businesses ◽  
Depth Interviews

Though it is widely recognized that the producer services are among the fastest growing industries in advanced economies, there is little research documenting development experiences of establishments within these industries. In this paper we address this topic by illustrating types of strategic behaviors exhibited by producer service firms and the effectiveness of these behaviors, developing a taxonomy of firm segments, and relating types of strategic behavior to this taxonomy. The paper is based on results from 444 in-depth interviews. Key variables addressed in the analysis are drawn from the industrial sociology and business strategy literature and include organizational structure, age, dynamics of client and geographic markets, and changes in services supplied.

The Producer Service Complex of Edmonton: The Role and Organization of Producer Services Firms in a Peripheral City

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 761-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Z Michalak ◽  
K J Fairbairn
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Main Mode ◽  
Capitalist Production ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Organizational Linkages ◽  
Mode Of Production

In this paper the authors examine the subcontracting behaviour of producer service firms in a peripheral metropolitan city. The objective of this empirical investigation is to uncover spatial and organizational linkages of producer services that have developed in response to changes in the industrial organization of a modern capitalist production system. The focus is on three types of linkages, namely subcontracting, inputs of producer services, and inputs of goods and final services. The data collected through a survey of producer services in Edmonton reveal that subcontracting rather than internalization is the main mode of production. Therefore the producer service sector can play an important role as a supplier of indigenous higher-order services and innovations, inducing better productivity rates in other industrial sectors including resource-oriented local producers.

The Current State of Knowledge in International Business in Producer Services

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1153-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Bagchi-Sen ◽  
J Sen
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Services ◽  
Entry Modes ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Definition Of

In this paper the authors review recent research on the characteristics and operations of service multinationals. To provide an understanding of the determinants of internationalization, entry modes, and strategies of product and market diversification, examples are taken from producer service firms with specific emphasis upon accounting and advertising services. The competitive advantage of service multinationals in the United States and Western Europe is at the core of most discussion; however, the competitive strategies of the Japanese advertising firms vis-à-vis their Western counterparts are discussed to highlight interorganizational differences. This paper is organized into five sections: the definition of services and the determinants of growth in producer services in the industrially advanced nations; theoretical explanations of international investments in services; empirical research on the determinants of internationalization, entry mode, and business strategies of service firms; industry-specific examples of competitiveness in accounting and advertising; and implications for future research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document