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RSA 2019 —SMEs and Family Firms in Urban and Peripheral Areas

  • 1.  RSA 2019 —SMEs and Family Firms in Urban and Peripheral Areas

    Posted 01-18-2019 06:16
    Dear All, with apologies for cross-posting, please contact us if you are
    interested.

    for further information:
    https://www.researchgate.net/project/Family-firms-and-the-Regional-Economy

    Best wishes,

    Rodrigo & Lech

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    RSA—Annual Conference: Pushing Regions beyond Their Borders
    June 5, 2019 – June 7, 2019, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela,
    Spain

    Open Special Session—SMEs and Family Firms in Urban and Peripheral Areas

    Lech Suwala (Technische Universität Berlin)
    Rodrigo Basco (American University of Sharjah)

    Despite big business, big data, and big transitions, there are still
    small and medium enterprises (SMEs), many of which are family firms or
    so-called hidden champions that serve as the economic backbones of and
    provide continuity in developed and emerging economies. SMEs and family
    firms comprise diverse types of businesses, from traditional century-old
    Japanese dynasties, American family farms, and German Mittelstand to
    novel Shanghai and Silicon Valley elites. Simultaneously, they are
    geographically uneven phenomena in terms of their distribution as well
    as their impact on and interplay with the local, regional, and national
    levels and beyond, thus requiring more academic attention in the field
    of regional studies. Against this background, this session aims to open
    up a profound debate on this often-neglected topic by collecting diverse
    work on SMEs and/or family businesses in urban and peripheral contexts.
    We invite scholars from manifold disciplines, such as regional
    economics, economic geography, family business, management, organization
    studies, and international business, as well as practitioners from
    diverse backgrounds to share their interests and to submit their
    research on the spatiality of SMEs and family firms, particularly in
    urban and peripheral areas.

    Our rationale is to initiate a debate—independent of methodological
    approach (qualitative or quantitative)—on SMEs and/or family businesses
    played out in agglomerations and peripheries. Conceptual, empirical, and
    methodological papers might address, but are not limited to, the
    following:
    • Conceptual and theoretical debates about the nature of SMEs/family
    firms and space (i.e. regional familiness, family relatedness in cities
    and peripheries).
    • Contributions and impacts of SMEs/family firms in agglomerations and
    peripheries.
    • Specificities in the evolution and trajectories of SMEs/family firms
    in urban and peripheral areas.
    • Issues related to the place leadership or corporate urban/regional
    responsibilities of SMEs/ family firms.
    • SME-/family firm–specific issues (succession, governance, reputation,
    professionalization, etc.) from a spatial perspective.
    • Role of SMEs/family firms in digitalization and platform-based
    economies and the impact of spaces.

    If you are interested in presenting a paper in this session, please
    submit your abstract of no more than 300 words via the RSA platform by
    28 February 2019. Feel free to contact us anytime: Lech Suwala
    (l.suwala@isr.tu-berlin.de) and/or Rodrigo Basco (rbasco@aus.edu), shall
    questions arise.

    For more information and registration visit:
    https://www.regionalstudies.org/sessions/sdc-special-sessions/#625
    https://members.regionalstudies.org/lounge/Meetings/Meeting?ID=209



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    --
    Prof. Dr. Lech Suwala
    Professor in Urban and Regional Economics
    Technische Universität Berlin
    Institut für Stadt-und Regionalplanung
    Hardenbergstr.40A / Sekr. B4 / Raum 208
    10623 Berlin
    Tel. +49 30 314 28088
    Tel. Sekr. +49 30 314 28089
    Fax. +49 30 314 28150

    l.suwala@isr.tu-berlin.de
    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lech_Suwala