Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Spatial Dynamics of Internet Development in China

博士论文研究：中国互联网发展的空间动态

• 批准号: 0302425
• 负责人: Eric Sheppard
• 金额: $ 0.97万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-06-01 至 2004-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0302425&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Spatial; Dynamics

This Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement project will investigate the geographical organization of the Internet industry and unravel the driving forces underlying such patterns, within different regions and at different scales. The rapid diffusion of Internet and related digital technology is restructuring the landscape of economic activities and redefining the meaning of distance, location and scale, thus posing great challenges to theories of traditional economic geography. The purpose of this research is: (1) to determine the spatial distribution of China's Internet industry; (2) to examine how China's major Internet clusters were produced and are sustained, at the interface of contemporary globalization and localization processes; and (3) to demonstrate in what ways the business operations of China's Internet firms are shaped by China's transitional economic and institutional environment. The research utilizes a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, in a three stage research design: aggregate analysis and mapping of the spatial patterns of China's Internet industries; a survey of Internet firms to examine location choices, business networks and inter-organizational linkages; and in-depth interviews with business managers and state officials to reveal qualitative aspects of geographical decision-making and the role of the state. The research findings will be significant in a number of ways. First, this project will make important contributions to our understanding of the emergence and growth of a rapidly growing economic sector in one of the most important global economies, China. Second, the research addresses theoretical questions of scale, geographically-based networks, local and non-local linkages, socio-institutional contexts, and the role of the state, contributing to economic geographical conceptualizations of uneven spatial development in the new information economy and its broader impacts on urban and regional development. Third, this research will create a large database of locational and attribute information for China's Internet firms, of use for future research and teaching. Finally, the empirical material generated from this research through a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches will be of interest not only to the academic geography community, but also to economists, government agencies and NGOs who are charting China's economic transformation and development of an information economy. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

本次博士论文研究改进项目将在不同区域和不同尺度下，对互联网产业的地理组织进行研究，并揭示其背后的驱动力。互联网及其相关数字技术的迅速扩散正在重构经济活动的格局，重新定义距离、位置和规模的含义，从而对传统经济地理学理论提出了巨大的挑战。本研究的目的是：(1)确定中国互联网产业的空间分布；(2)在当代全球化和本地化进程的界面上，研究中国主要互联网集群是如何产生和维持的；(3)论证中国转型经济和制度环境如何塑造中国互联网公司的商业运作。本研究采用定量与定性相结合的研究方法，分三个阶段进行研究设计：中国互联网产业空间格局的汇总分析与映射；对互联网公司进行调查，以检验地点选择、业务网络和组织间联系；并与企业经理和州政府官员进行深入访谈，揭示地理决策的定性方面和国家的作用。研究结果将在许多方面具有重要意义。首先，这个项目将为我们理解中国这个全球最重要的经济体之一快速增长的经济部门的出现和增长做出重要贡献。其次，该研究解决了规模、基于地理的网络、本地和非本地联系、社会制度背景和国家角色等理论问题，有助于新信息经济中空间发展不平衡的经济地理学概念及其对城市和区域发展的更广泛影响。第三，本研究将为中国互联网企业建立一个大型的区位和属性信息数据库，供未来的研究和教学使用。最后，本研究通过定性和定量相结合的方法所产生的经验材料将不仅对学术地理学界，而且对正在绘制中国经济转型和信息经济发展图表的经济学家、政府机构和非政府组织感兴趣。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。