Regina Lenz

Heidelberg University · Institute of Geography

Family firms represent the backbone of regional economies in Europe. Yet, due to demographic and societal changes, family firm succession increasingly poses a challenge to both firm continuity and regional stability, which is why policymakers look for appropriate ways to support family firms in their succession processes. In pursuit of policies tha...

This paper develops a research agenda toward the systematic inclusion of institutions into the analysis of regional policy effectiveness. Departing from the commonly shared observation that formal rules of regulation and policies not always lead to the intended outcomes, we argue that institutions are crucial mediators of the workings of regulation...

The relationship between geography and the creation, use, and reproduction of knowledge has been at the core of this book series. The previous twelve volumes have focused, among other topics, on the role that creativity, culture, power, networks, science and universities have in cultivating an understanding of how the social process of knowing unfo...

Finding a successor has become a severe challenge for family firms in Germany. As family firms are disproportionately concentrated in rural economies, succession has also become a considerable threat for peripheral regions and their labor markets. It therefore lies in the interest of regional stakeholders to help support family business continuity....

This chapter explores the dynamic nature of institutions in response to changes in regulations and the institutional context. Seeking to refine the understanding of how and to which extent institutions change or sustain, the authors dismantle two institutions by analyzing the dynamics of their form and function separately. They propose a simple tax...

Family firms have multiple nodes that connect them with the regions in which they are located, for example providing jobs and professional training, paying taxes, and engaging in regional philanthropy. The regional anchoring of family firms thus plays an important role in regional economies and, especially, in rural ones. In this sense, family firm...

This book can be downloaded free-of-charge using the following link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-75328-7 This open access book bridges the disciplinary boundaries within the social sciences to explore the role of social institutions in shaping geographical contexts, and in creating new knowledge. It includes theorizations as...

This paper focuses on the concept of the Nucleus Approach and its – unsuccessful – implementation in the project “Re-Tie Bangladesh”. This project, funded by the European Union from 2009 to 2012, aimed at an increase of exportability of Bangladeshi leather products through the use of more environmentfriendly production methods. The Nucleus Approach...