Journal of Regional Research (Investigaciones Regionales)

Call for Papers Special Issue - Industry 4.0 and sustainability in firms, clusters & industrial districts and regions
 
SPONSORED by AICO 2020/123 and AEI/FEDER EU RTI2018-095739-B-100
 
Coordinator: Professor Dr. JOSE-LUIS HERVAS-OLIVER https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=8XRfZqMAAAAJ&hl=es&oi=ao

KEY WORDS

Industry 4.0; digitization of SMEs; sustainability; regions; clusters; industrial districts

RATIONALE

This Special Issue addressed Sustainability and Industry 4.0 topics. Generally, Industry 4.0 encompasses the digitization of manufacturing, constituting the manufacturing-dedicated digitization of business and industries. Industry 4.0 is also known as the Industrial Internet of Things and refers to a new paradigm of digital-based manufacturing and industrial inter-firm connected value (e.g., Kagermann et al., 2013). The concept includes different digital enabling technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Additive Manufacturing, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Augmented and Virtual Reality, and Blockchain, among others. Industry 4.0 in clusters and regions is nascent. How does Industry 4.0 shape industrial clusters and districts? What are the fundamental policy initiatives developed to fit Industry 4.0 to clusters, regional development and firm competitiveness?
In addition, sustainability constitute a critical topic in regions, clusters, districts and innovation systems. Sustainability (e.g. circular economy, SDG, eco-design, environmental impacts, etc.) are of utmost importance for shaping regions and their innovation. Thus, a cross-disciplinary approach (from business, clusters, regions, policymakers, etc.) is required to fully understand the complexity of the challenge. We believe that scholars from different perspectives meeting at the regional space stimulate discussion for cross-fertilizing.
 
This Special Issue attempts to provide a cross-fertilization of different literatures and perspectives, integrating firm innovation, competitiveness and clusters/regional literature.

POTENTIAL TOPICS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE MAY INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO

·       How   does  Industry   4.0   shape  firms   in   industrial  clusters’  and   regions’ competitiveness?
·       Industry 4.0 in cluster firms: individual and collective strategies
·       How does Industry 4.0 promote collective actions for cluster firms transition into digitization?
·       How are policymakers and policy initiatives responding to this challenge? What are the innovation policies promoting Industry 4.0 and digitization in general?
·       What are potential barriers constraining clusters adaptation to Industry 4.0?
·       How does Industry 4.0 shape collaboration for innovation in clusters and regions?
·       Place-based sustainable innovation
·       Sustainability in space and policymaking
·       Green and social innovation in regions
·       Industry 4.0 and sustainability effects
·       SDG in systems and regions

Papers presented at ERSA-2021, Rethinking Clusters 2021 and the 2021 Reunión de Estudios Regionales are special candidates for a Special Issue in Journal of Regional Research. The Journal of Regional Research – Investigaciones Regionales is the flagship journal of the Spanish Regional Science Association (https://investigacionesregionales.org/en/). The Special Issue is also open to other contributors working on those topics.

SCHEDULE

-Full paper submission through the Journal’s portal : Open from October, 1st, 2021 to December, 31st, 2021. https://investigacionesregionales.org/en/envio-de-articulos/submission-of- papers-and-others-contributions/
 

THE JOURNAL

The Journal of Regional Research (Investigaciones Regionales, in Spanish) is listed in SCOPUS (Q2 in Economics, Q3 in Geography and Development) and Clarivate (Emerging Sourcing Citation Index, Q3 in Economics according to the Journal Citation Indicator of the JCR). While being specialized in regional issues, this journal is multidisciplinary and strongly devoted to European and Latin American topics. It is an academic journal, where all papers are subject to a double and blind review process. The journal is full Open Access, free for authors and readers.

SELECTED REFERENCES
Ahmed, R. O., Al-Mohannadi, D. M., & Linke, P. (2021). Multi-objective resource integration for sustainable industrial clusters. Journal of Cleaner Production, 316, 128237.
Bellandi, M., de Propris, L., Santini, E., 2019. Industry 4.0+ challenges to local productive systems and place- based integrated industrial policies, in: Transforming Industrial Policy for the Digital Age. Edward Elgar Publishing., pp. 201–218. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788976152.00016
Bellandi, M., Plechero, M., & Santini, E. (2021). Forms of place leadership in local productive systems: from endogenous rerouting to deliberate resistance to change. Regional Studies, 1-10.
Bellandi, M., Santini, E., Vecciolini, C., de Propris, L., 2020. Industry 4.0: Transforming local productive systems in the Tuscany region, in: Industry 4.0 and Regional Transformations. Routledge
Corradini, C., Santini, E., & Vecciolini, C. (2021). The geography of Industry 4.0 technologies across European regions. Regional Studies, 1-14.
De Propris, L., & Bailey, D. (2021). Pathways of regional transformation and Industry 4.0. Regional Studies.
de Propris, L., Bailey, D., 2020. Industry 4.0 and Regional Transformations, Industry 4.0 and Regional Transformations. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429057984
De Steur, H., Temmerman, H., Gellynck, X., & Canavari, M. (2020). Drivers, adoption, and evaluation of sustainability practices in Italian wine SMEs. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(2), 744-762.
Hervás-Oliver, J. L. (2021b). Industry 4.0 in industrial districts: regional innovation policy for the Toy Valley district in Spain. Regional Studies, 1-12.
Hervas-Oliver, J. L., Di Maria, E., & Bettiol, M. (2021a). Industry 4.0 in firms, clusters and regions: The new digital imperative. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 31(1), 1-11.
Hervas-Oliver, J.L., Estelles-Miguel, S., Mallol-Gasch, G., Boix-Palomero, J., 2019. A place-based policy for promoting Industry 4.0: the case of the Castellon ceramic tile district. European Planning Studies 27. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2019.1642855
Jankowska, B., Di Maria, E., & Cygler, J. (2021). Do clusters matter for foreign subsidiaries in the Era of industry 4.0? The case of the aviation valley in Poland. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 27(2), 100150.
Martinelli, A., Mina, A., & Moggi, M. (2021). The enabling technologies of industry 4.0: Examining the seeds of the fourth industrial revolution. Industrial and Corporate Change, Forthcoming.