HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF CHEMISTRY AND EARTH SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY GROUP GERMANY’S SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPING INDUSTRY FOR ELECTRIC POWER ASSISTED CYCLES A MULTI-THEORETICAL CASE STUDY HANNA WILBRAND MASTER’S THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF SCIENCE GEOGRAPHY – SPECIALIZATION: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY – SUPERVISOR: PROF. DR. JOHANNES GLÜCKLER DR. MICHAEL HANDKE AACHEN, 30. DECEMBER 2016 HANNA WILBRAND – FRIEDENSSTRAßE 45, 69121 HEIDELBERG – [email protected] BORN 18.07.1990 IN BERGISCH GLADBACH – MATRICULATION NUMBER: 2896962 COVER PAGE Urban-Style Electric Power Assisted Cycle (picture provided by Freygeist 2016) No other invention mixes business and pleasure as intimately as the bicycle. (Adam Opel 1837-1895) i AFFIDAVIT I hereby declare that this master thesis on “Germany’s Successfully Developing Industry for Electric Power Assisted Cycles: A Multi-Theoretical Case Study” is solely my original work. I have used only the sources and materials indicated and have not received any unauthorized assistance from others. All quotations from other works as well as paraphrases or summaries of other works have been identified as such and properly acknowledged in the thesis. This thesis or parts thereof have not been submitted to an educational institution in Germany or abroad as part of an examination or degree qualification. I hereby certify that the information provided in this declaration is true and correct. I fully understand the meaning of this affidavit as well as the criminal penalties for submitting a false or incomplete statement. _____________________________________ Aachen, 30. December 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To begin, I would like to thank my senior examiner and supervisor, Prof. Dr. Johannes Glückler, for his insight and encouragement throughout my entire time within the Economic Geography Group (EGG) as well as for all the lessons learned. Many thanks also to Dr. Michael Handke for acting as second examiner of this thesis. Additionally, I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laura James (Aalborg University) for her feedback and support. Of course, this research project could not have been completed without the help and encouragement of all interview respondents who took the time to speak with me and who provided me with confidential information. I extend a big thank you to my family – especially my Mom, Dad and Sara – for their constant support. I thank Andreas Kalström and Julia Lekander for feedback, and Jessica Hill for the final proofreading. While I acknowledge the important contributions of the above-named people, any errors and omissions are entirely my own. Finally, I would of course like to thank Mr. Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn (1785-1851) for inventing the prototype of today’s bicycle. ii ABSTRACT This thesis analyzes the development and influencing ‘success-factors’ of the German industry for electric power assisted cycles (EPACs). Earlier theoretical and case study research on industry development in economic geography highlight the importance of considering industrial peculiarities regarding structure, innovation, regulation, and institutions for empirical analysis. Against this background, this multi-theoretical case study is fruitfully guided by the empirical application of three theoretical frameworks: Michael Porter’s approach of the diamond, emphasizing industrial interrelations; Benkt-Åke Lundvall’s approach of National Systems of Innovation, focusing on learning, innovation, and R&D; and J. Roger Hollingsworth’s and Robert Boyer’s approach of Social Systems of Production, considering national idiosyncratic regulation and social constitutions. Through qualitative and quantitative verbal descriptions, the subsequent application of these frameworks, retraces the successful industry development and reflects upon the framework’s suitability for industrial analysis. Each theoretical framework points to the existence of a particular set of different influencing ‘success-factors’ that have shaped the successful development. Regardless of the ‘success-factors’ coupled to a theoretical framework, all factors were closely intertwined and influenced the industrial formation during different development stages. These include: distinct national structure of related and supporting industries, sophisticated customers, ‘green’ mobility anchored in daily life, SME-structure and industry’s size, trust in established enterprises, professionalization dynamics, informal horizontal and vertical knowledge accumulation, imitation and recombination practices, ‘low’ product complexity, (in-house) R&D in traditional industries, social values, industry associations, community and low hierarchy, product’s quality and market dynamics. These ‘success-factors’ appear to work on different spatial and organizational scales and can be aggregated to societal and functional types. Each ‘success- factor’ structures the industrial formation and has enabling, guiding, or facilitating functions. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................................................... III LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ IV LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. V LIST OF ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................... VI GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................. VIII 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW: RESEARCH ON NATIONAL INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT AND EPACS.......................... 5 3 THEORY: ANALYTICAL FRAME OF COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES ................................................... 13 3.1 DIAMOND: ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURAL INTERRELATION ...................................................................13 3.2 NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INNOVATION: INSTITUTION, INNOVATION, LEARNING ...........................................18 3.3 SOCIAL SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION: INSTITUTION, REGULATION, COORDINATION ......................................24 3.4 INTERIM CONCLUSION: REFLECTIONS ON THE FRAMEWORKS’ COMPLEMENTARITY.....................................28 4 METHOD: TOWARD IMPLEMENTING THE ANALYTICAL FRAME ........................................................... 32 4.1 DATA OPERATIONALIZATION .......................................................................................................................32 4.2 DATA COLLECTION AND PREPARATION ........................................................................................................35 4.3 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................40 4.4 INTERIM CONCLUSION: INTERPLAY OF THE METHODICAL AND ANALYTICAL FRAMES...................................41 5 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: HOW THE GERMAN EPAC INDUSTRY DEVELOPED ................................... 43 5.1 BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL LAUNCH: BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EPAC’S DEVELOPMENT ......................................43 5.2 THE GERMAN EPAC INDUSTRY’S DIAMOND ...............................................................................................47 5.2.1 EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF PORTER'S DIAMOND FRAMEWORK ..................................................47 5.2.2 EXPLORING INFLUENTIAL ‘SUCCESS-FACTORS’ DERIVED FROM THE DIAMOND’S APPLICATION ...56 5.2.3 INTERIM CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION: PORTER’S LIMITATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS .............61 5.3 GERMANY’S INNOVATION SYSTEM AND THE EPAC INDUSTRY’S SPECIFICS ................................................63 5.3.1 EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF LUNDVALL’S NSI FRAMEWORK........................................................63 5.3.2 EXPLORING INFLUENTIAL ‘SUCCESS-FACTORS’ DERIVED FROM THE NSI’S APPLICATION .............72 5.3.3 INTERIM CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION: LUNDVALL’S LIMITATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS.........76 5.4 GERMANY’S SOCIAL SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION AND THE EPAC INDUSTRY’S SPECIFICS .............................79 5.4.1 EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF HOLLINGSWORTH’S AND BOYER’S SSP FRAMEWORK ....................79 5.4.2 EXPLORING INFLUENTIAL ‘SUCCESS-FACTORS’ DERIVED FROM THE SSP’S APPLICATION .............88 5.4.3 INTERIM CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION: HOLLINGSWORTH’S AND BOYER’S LIMITATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS ..........................................................................................................................92 5.5 INTERIM CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND THE COMPLEMENTARY FRAMEWORKS’ ANALYTICAL VALUE .......................................................................................................................................94 6 BRIEF META-LEVEL INTERPRETATION: STRUCTURING UNDERSTANDING OF THE EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ...... 97 7 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 102 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 105 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................