Savvopoulou, Elisavet (2023) Does history matter? The case-study of the spatial evolution of computer programming in the Netherlands. Master thesis.
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Abstract
The existing literature gives insights about the emergence of innovation and new entrepreneurial activity, that is concentrated in specific urban locations. Both incidents seem to re-inforce themselves in the same regions, creating a vicious circle of entrepreneurship and regional development. But what is happening with the computer programming industry? Despite the fact that coding combines both innovativeness and entrepreneurship, it presents special characteristics that could counteract the traditional theories about the emergence and spatial evolution of high-tech industries. As such, the theoretical framework analyses the contextual factors that affect the emergence of entrepreneurial activity in the region. Subsequently, an empirical investigation is conducted to explore the spatial evolution of the sector and the underlying mechanisms responsible for the observed patterns. Special attention is given to the role of economic history in contributing to the growth and persistence of the sector in certain regions. Notably, tacit knowledge, which remains challenging to transfer over distances, emerges as a theoretical key driver for future development. A quantitative approach through cartographic and econometric analysis presents the spatial evolution and the main regional causes of the firms and employment growth in the Netherlands from 2000 to 2020. The results show a core-periphery pattern both in terms of firms and of employment, that changes over time. The growth of firms presents an expansive character, where universities, related companies and the short-term changes in the sector matter. On the other hand, jobs remain highly spatially specialized in specific employment centers of large companies and programming hubs, which are shifted in the southern part of the country after 2010. The spatial evolution of a high-tech sector like the computer programming also reveals the spatial inequalities in the country, where the northern part remains underrepresented.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Degree programme: | Economic Geography: Regional Competitiveness and Trade (track) |
| Supervisor: | Koster, S. |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Sep 2023 09:40 |
| Last Modified: | 07 Sep 2023 09:44 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4347 |
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