] E C O N O G E O [

Mobility of Firms

The Impact of Intra-Industrial Services on the Spatial Pattern of Users and Producers

Remaining research questions relate to previous empirical examinations conducted in the field of economic geography: In which markets does new knowledge arise, where is it offered and where is its demand? Previous studies empirically analyzed technological and organizational externalities taking into account the tertiary sector and the external suppliers of business services, but they took only little notice of the growing value of the services within the manufacturing sphere. Until now regional convergence as a result of the spatial mobility of users and producers of factory automation (non-)affiliates remained mostly unnoticed.

The producers provide the intra-industrial services to the users mainly on a personal level. This successful face-to-face communication intensifies the networking between customers and suppliers. Moreover, business services based on digital information systems prepare the ground for factory automation’s necessary global integration. Parallel to these developments further functionality is achieved through the constantly increasing use of microelectronic parts in the process of factory automation. The gradual improvement of machinery and its parts has become more significant then revolutionary product innovation. This means that technical interventions lead to specialization but focus less on mechanical aspects and more on continuous software modifications. In accordance with individual customer requests the producers and users need to constantly redefine their coordination principles. This cooperative coherence leads to a limited autonomy of nominally independent enterprises. The following convergence hypotheses will be verified by discussing the emergence of new technological and organizational network externalities: Due to the rising amount of intra-industrial services, the users and producers of factory automation goods require further spatial proximity. The resultant increased regional convergence strengthens and ameliorates their cooperative coherence.