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Distributed economies - A new engine for innovation

Johansson, Allan LU ; Kisch, Peter LU and Mirata, Murat LU (2005) In Journal of Cleaner Production 13(10-11). p.971-979
Abstract
This article introduces' the concept of distributed economies (DE) as a fresh strategy to guide industrial development towards becoming more sustainable. The concept calls for a transformation in the industrial system towards DE departing from the socio-economically and environmentally unsustainable dynamics associated with large-scale, centralised production units that are favoured by neoclassical economic drivers. With DE, a selective share of production is distributed to regions where a diverse range of activities are organised in the form of small-scale, flexible units that are synergistically connected With each other and prioritise quality in their, production. However, rather than the total abolishment of large-scale production, our... (More)
This article introduces' the concept of distributed economies (DE) as a fresh strategy to guide industrial development towards becoming more sustainable. The concept calls for a transformation in the industrial system towards DE departing from the socio-economically and environmentally unsustainable dynamics associated with large-scale, centralised production units that are favoured by neoclassical economic drivers. With DE, a selective share of production is distributed to regions where a diverse range of activities are organised in the form of small-scale, flexible units that are synergistically connected With each other and prioritise quality in their, production. However, rather than the total abolishment of large-scale production, our argument concentrates on finding a renewed balance between large- and small-scale-and between resource flows that take place within and across regional boundaries. Other desirable characteristics of production units compatible with DE are elaborated. The paper concludes by calling for the, deployment of the. vast amount of globally and regionally available knowledge for the formation of regionally adapted strategies to create dynamically "self-organizing" business environments. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
small-scale production units, sustainability, regional, distributed economies, sustainable development, economic diversity, decentralisation
in
Journal of Cleaner Production
volume
13
issue
10-11
pages
971 - 979
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000228788100002
  • scopus:14844351895
ISSN
0959-6526
DOI
10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.12.015
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e08c6705-d267-4327-a672-ea4726d9cf0b (old id 244371)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:36:09
date last changed
2022-03-30 17:00:40
@article{e08c6705-d267-4327-a672-ea4726d9cf0b,
  abstract     = {{This article introduces' the concept of distributed economies (DE) as a fresh strategy to guide industrial development towards becoming more sustainable. The concept calls for a transformation in the industrial system towards DE departing from the socio-economically and environmentally unsustainable dynamics associated with large-scale, centralised production units that are favoured by neoclassical economic drivers. With DE, a selective share of production is distributed to regions where a diverse range of activities are organised in the form of small-scale, flexible units that are synergistically connected With each other and prioritise quality in their, production. However, rather than the total abolishment of large-scale production, our argument concentrates on finding a renewed balance between large- and small-scale-and between resource flows that take place within and across regional boundaries. Other desirable characteristics of production units compatible with DE are elaborated. The paper concludes by calling for the, deployment of the. vast amount of globally and regionally available knowledge for the formation of regionally adapted strategies to create dynamically "self-organizing" business environments.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Allan and Kisch, Peter and Mirata, Murat}},
  issn         = {{0959-6526}},
  keywords     = {{small-scale production units; sustainability; regional; distributed economies; sustainable development; economic diversity; decentralisation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10-11}},
  pages        = {{971--979}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cleaner Production}},
  title        = {{Distributed economies - A new engine for innovation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.12.015}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.12.015}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2005}},
}