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2023-07-04

SPECIAL ISSUE. Building sustainable competitiveness futures through transformative research

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The BULLETIN OF ECONOMIC STUDIES (BE) Journal: Presentation

 BULLETIN OF ECONOMIC STUDIES (BE) is a peer-reviewed and Open Access journal (https://bee.revistas.deusto.es/) that publishes since 1942, in Spanish and English, original manuscripts that primarily aim at disseminating knowledge and promoting the transference of research outputs in economics and business management.

Specifically, this journal seeks a deepening into the practical contributions and implications that are relevant, not only to the academia, but also -and especially- to an international professional audience in the economics and management arena. Indeed, BEE pursues submissions that convey the transference of cutting-edge from authors that have recently developed research works (publications in top-ranked academic journals -preferably, Q1&Q2 Scopus/WoS- or competitive research projects), in a style and language oriented to the community of managers or practitioners from different areas of management and economics. As stated in the BEE's editorial policy and author guide, contributions must be between 2,500 and 5,000 words (excluding references, tables or graphs), emphasizing implications and practical lessons learned.

The Bulletin of Economic Studies is edited by Deusto Business Alumni (DBA) (https://www.alumnidba.es/), the community where Deusto Business School Alumni gather. This community is made up of 7,000 people who work in more than 2,700 different companies, covering the whole range of positions and areas. In 2022 Deusto Business Alumni celebrated 100 years of life. The Association was born with the purpose of fostering the spirit of collaboration among its members and after all these years, it continues to be its primary value.

SPECIAL ISSUE: Building sustainable competitiveness futures through transformative research

Introduction

The analysis of territorial competitiveness has been influential since the 1990s, when frameworks emerged emphasising relationships between company performance and a range of factors in national or regional environments (OECD, 1992; Porter, 1990). A Porterian approach to analysing the ‘microeconomics of competitiveness’ underscores the competitiveness indices that are commonly used to benchmark countries and regions as a guide for economic development policy, and indeed provides a meeting ground for a range of other theories, including economic growth and development theories, institutional theories, and behavioural theories of regional development (Huggins and Thompson, 2017).

While such competitiveness frameworks are good at recognising the importance of territorial context and facilitating a nuanced understanding of the key characteristics of those contexts that impact on economic development, there is a pressing need to imbue analysis with directionality that goes beyond productivity and economic growth and reflects desirable end results of competitiveness (Aiginger and Firgo, 2017; Orkestra, 2021; Wilson, 2008). This need has become increasingly acute during recent years as focus has sharpened on the urgent need for economic development to be environmentally and socially sustainable. European industrial policy is now oriented firmly towards the green transition of industry (European Commission, 2019, 2021), and rising inequalities alongside the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine are highlighting the scale of many social challenges that need to be addressed.

As businesses, governments and societies in general grapple with inter-twined processes of technological, social and green transition, it is widely acknowledged that universities, research institutes and individual academics have key roles to play in helping the territories where they are based navigate emerging challenges as part of their ‘third mission’ (Aranguren et al., 2021; Benneworth and Fitjar, 2019; Goddard and Puuka, 2008; Goddard et al, 2013; Laredo, 2007), supporting the construction of sustainable competitiveness futures. But what should those competitiveness futures look like? And what is needed to effectively develop research that is transformative and has real impact on those futures?

This special issue invites contributions that seek to respond to elements of two key questions related to the overall theme of building sustainable competitiveness futures through transformative research:

  • What for? What is territorial competitiveness? What will shape the competitiveness of territories in the future? How is territorial competitiveness related to sustainability? How is territorial competitiveness related to wellbeing?
  • How? How can we contribute as researchers to the sustainable competitiveness of our territories? Which strategies, methodologies, institutions and capabilities are needed to do transformative research related to territorial competitiveness in practice?

References

Aiginger, K. and Firgo, M. (2017). Regional competitiveness: Connecting an old concept with new goals, in R. Huggins and P. Thompson (Eds.), Handbook of regions and competitiveness, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.

Aranguren, M-J., Canto-Farachala, P. and Wilson, J. R. (2021). Transformative academic institutions: An experimental framework for understanding regional impacts of research, Research Evaluation, 30(2): 191-200.

Benneworth, P., & Fitjar, R. D. (2019). ‘Contextualizing the role of universities to regional development: introduction to the special issue’, Regional Studies, Regional Science, 6/1:331-338.

European Commission (2019). The European Green Deal, COM (2019)640, Brussels, Belgium: European Commission.

European Commission (2021). Updating the 2020 New Industrial Strategy: Building a Stronger Single Market for Europe’s Recovery, COM (2021)350/2, Brussels, Belgium: European Commission.

Goddard, J., Kempton, L., & Vallance, P. (2013). ‘Universities and Smart Specialisation: Challenges, tensions and opportunities for the innovation strategies of european regions’, Ekonomiaz, 83: 82–101.

Goddard, J., & Puukka, J. (2008). ‘The Engagement of Higher Education Institutions in Regional Development: an overview of the opportunities and challenges’, Higher Education Management and Policy, 20/2: 11–41.

Huggins, R. and Thompson, P. (2017). Introducing regional competitiveness and development: Contemporary theories and perspectives, in R. Huggins and P. Thompson (Eds.), Handbook of regions and competitiveness, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.

 Laredo, P. (2007). ‘Revisiting the third mission of universities: toward a renewed categorization of university activities?’, Higher education policy, 20/4: 441–56.

OECD (1992). Technology and the economy: The key relationships, Paris, France: OECD.

Orkestra (2021). Constructing competitiveness for wellbeing, 2021 Basque Country Competitiveness Report, Bilbao: Deusto Publications.

Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations, London, UK and New York, NY, USA: Macmillan and Free Press.

Guest editors

Mari Jose Aranguren (mjarang@orkestra.deusto.es)
General Director, Orkestra (Basque Institute of Competitiveness) and Professor at Deusto Business School (University of Deusto)

Patricia Canto (pcanto@orkestra.deusto.es)
Researcher, Orkestra (Basque Institute of Competitiveness)

James Wilson (jwilson@orkestra.deusto.es)
Research Director, Orkestra (Basque Institute of Competitiveness) and Faculty member at Deusto Business School (University of Deusto)

Submission

Contributions to this Special Issue should be submitted through the BEE platform https://bee.revistas.deusto.es/about/submissions  following the directions below:

Publication on the Special Issue

In addition to the open digital edition of the special issue that will be published openly at https://bee.revistas.deusto.es, the accepted papers will be printed on paper before finishing the first quarter of 2025 and 6,000 printed copies will be sent to the DBA community.

A selection of the contributions not published in this special issue may be published in Deusto Business Open Alumni (https://www.alumnidba.es/), an open digital platform for the dissemination and exchange of knowledge, experiences and research in economics and management of Deusto Business Alumni.