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The prosperity of the capital city and surrounding area has been used as one fundamental argument for localisation of large foreign companies. But recent research on regional systems of innovation has emphasised, not just the structure of the system, like strong educational institutions, better transportation systems and access to political actors, but also the local knowledge base as determinants. Today, the structural factors are less important in part because of ICT, but also because policy initiatives have become embedded in the local political system, whereas the local knowledge base and access to highly specialised personnel like engineers (Dalum et al., 1999) are strongly emphasised. The success factors of a region has been narrowed down to eight (Isaksen (1998) and Voyer (1998)): specialisation within one or more industries; the role of local networks; availability of R&D and educational institutions; access to a qualified work force; access to competent financial institutions; cooperation between firms and other institutions; contacts to knowledgeable milieus elsewhere and a high degree of innovativeness (differences are seen between Isaksen and Voyer, these eight are based on Isaksen (op. cit. page 15-21). The aim of this paper is to explore some of the above mentioned success characteristics for the 14 counties ('aemter') in Denmark to discuss whether the main economic region in Denmark is also the competence region, and to what extent it is successful. The paper tries to assess to what extent the financial strengths or weaknesses reflect the innovation capacity of the region and how the relationship evolves over time. Furthermore, the paper attempts to identify the main drivers of growth within the regional system of innovation. Hence, does the capital region (Copenhagen and surroundings) of Denmark encompass better conditions in terms of the local knowledge base, the scientific and technical potential and the availability of trained personnel than the Western part of Denmark (incl. Funen and Jutland) for the development of knowledge intensive clusters. A discussion of the terms economic and competence region is given in the paper and indicators are applied. The local knowledge base is in particular thought of as the technological and scientific knowledge, which are proxied by patents, bibliometrics and educational data. The dual nature of knowledge production is stressed in the discussion of the regions. On the one hand, the firm localises in areas of complementary knowledge assets within the same industry, but benefits can accrue to a region from the activities of firms in that region (Voyer 1998: 81) as well. Furthermore, the role of universities and research institutes is important in two respects, first as sources of significant innovation-generating knowledge (Acs et al. 1998: 112), and second as educators of future employees of the firms in the region (for empirical tests see Almeida (1999)). To address these issues, the paper presents indicators of the science potential, the availability of personnel as well as the density of scientific and technical personnel. Finally, the role of local policy makers is discussed in two short case studies in the final part of the paper. From the descriptive parts the paper moves on to test whether the above variables are determinants of value added (economic growth), technological specialisation (strong local knowledge base) and international .?

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the specific practices of management in the dispatching unit and to identify mechanisms for supporting transfer of shop floor knowledge embedded in operating manufacturing equipment.Design/methodology/approach– The paper applies an inductive and a case study approach for exploring three empirical cases that represent different manufacturing facility relocation processes and differences in the applied managerial practices.Findings– The paper identifies two important gaps in international production literature when firms relocate equipment to other sites; a time gap (from dismantling to re-assembly of production facilities) and a space gap (from the current to the new site abroad). These gaps are important for understanding why relocation processes are difficult and what management can do to facilitate such processes.Practical implications– The paper identifies four issues that management faces in the dispatching context when relocating manufacturing facilities.Originality/value– The paper gives new insights to a limited literature of shop floor knowledge transfer when relocating manufacturing facilities.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how organisational activities that formally provide employees with work autonomy explain the performance of open innovation (OI).Design/methodology/approachThe study reports the results of mediation analyses conducted on the basis of survey data from 307 firms.FindingsThe economic benefits of both inbound and outbound OI are fully captured only if firms provide employees with time, freedom and independence. The results show that employee autonomy fully mediates the relationship between openness and innovation sales, while the adoption of inbound OI is positively associated with the introduction of new products.Practical implicationsThe opening of innovation induces managers to provide employees with discretion, as OI requires high levels of flexibility and experimentation.Originality/valueThe paper addresses theoretically and empirically the role of job design in the implementation of OI, while also distinguishing between the effects of inbound and outbound practices on innovation performance.

In November 2018, the Greenlandic Parliament decided to extend the runways at two cities, Nuuk and Ilulissat, making them the main airports for international air traffic and to build a third regional airport. The decision is the result of 40 years' discussion, which is outlined in the paper. The paper places the final decision in a theoretical framework of Greenland as a peripheral and very remote country for which air travel is the only way of mobility. Literature from the latest ten years shows that improvement in air travel can contribute to economic development. On the other hand, the investment in the new airports is economically risky considered the small size of the economy. The paper therefore uses cost benefit analyses (CBA) to assess if the decision is cost-effective even without the induced and wider economic effects of the new airports, which are difficult to forecast. Based on several CBA developed over the years, the decision on the airport package seems to be cost-effective in case some of the induced effects are taken into account. For the capital Nuuk, the decision is clearly cost-effective without including induced effects. For Ilulissat, the effect depends on to what extent an airline is willing to follow up and establish a new direct connection from Europe or the American east coast. Therefore, airport authorities are also recommended to 'sell' the new airports to airlines. During the 40-year long process of discussion, the authors' institute was 15 years ago asked to develop an optimization model for air traffic in Greenland. This model (the TGB model) is described in the paper and it is concluded that it would be possible to improve the network and save annual subsidies to the internal service traffic (PSO). Unfortunately, the model was never implemented. The authors recommend to update and improve the model that is currently outdated and to use it to optimize the network when the new airports are finished.

Nature interpretation in the Nordic countries is a book about communication between nature interpreters and their participants in our landscapes. It´s about first hand experiences of nature and the importance of to paying attention to what is inspiring and fascinating, especially valuable or threatened. And about possibilities to reflect over the relation between human and nature. Educators, researchers and interpreters contribute with articles about nature interpretation it theory and practice. The book is written for everyone who is interested in how interpretation can contribute to a sustainable future, nature conservation and areas in society like public health, democracy and the right for all citizens to visit and experience nature. The purpose is to inspire nature interpreters to offer more and even better experiences and learning in the Nordic nature and cultural landscapes.