The interlocking world city network model and other office location approaches (OLAs) have become the most widely used empirical models of the world city network (WCN). Despite numerous methodological improvements, they continue to rely on a legacy of using data on office locations of firms to indirectly estimate intercity business flows. To advance the dialogue about how to improve on existing empirical models of the WCN, we examine the content, construct and structural validity of OLAs. We analyze the link between the theoretical construct of intercity business flows and network projections obtained from office location data and uncover evidence that calls into question the validity of OLAs as empirical models of the WCN. In the spirit of no deconstruction without reconstruction, we then develop an alternative empirical model of the WCN, based on directly observable relational ties among APS firms, which are formed through co-production of complex services. We call this the inter-organizational project approach (IOPA). We argue for IOPA's construct validity as an empirical model of the WCN and offer empirical evidence for its structural validity. We demonstrate it using a global sample of 161,114 investment bank syndicates in the 2000–2015 period.

中文翻译：

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批判世界城市网络研究中的构建有效性：在城市间业务流程建模中，从办公地点网络转向组织间项目

相互联系的世界城市网络模型和其他办公地点方法（OLA）已成为世界城市网络（WCN）使用最广泛的经验模型。尽管在方法上进行了许多改进，但他们继续依靠使用公司办公地点数据来间接估计城际业务流量的传统。为了推进有关如何改进WCN的现有经验模型的对话，我们研究了OLA的内容，构造和结构有效性。我们分析了城际业务流的理论构造与从办公地点数据获得的网络预测之间的联系，并发现了质疑OLA作为WCN经验模型的有效性的证据。本着没有重建就不会破坏的精神，我们然后开发了WCN的另一种经验模型，基于APS公司之间可直接观察到的关系，这些关系是通过共同生产复杂服务而形成的。我们称其为组织间项目方法（IOPA）。我们认为IOPA的构造效度是WCN的经验模型，并为其结构效度提供了经验证据。我们使用2000-2015年期间161,114个投资银行集团的全球样本进行了演示。