The Economic Geography of Innovation

About this book

This critical addition to the growing literature on innovation contains extensive analyses of the institutional and spatial aspects of innovation. Written by leading scholars in the fields of economic geography, innovation studies, planning, and technology policy, the fourteen chapters cover conceptual and measurement issues in innovation and relevant technology policies. The contributors examine how different institutional factors facilitate or hamper the flows of information and knowledge within and across firms, regions, and nations. In particular, they provide insights into the roles of important institutions such as gender and culture which are often neglected in the innovation literature, and demonstrate the key role which geography plays in the innovation process. Institutions and policy measures which support entrepreneurship and cluster development are also discussed. The result is a comparative picture of the institutional factors underlying innovation systems across the globe.

Contents

List of figures; List of tables; Abbreviations; Acknowledgments; Abstracts: Notes on contributors; Part I. Concepts and Measurements in Innovation: 1. Introduction Karen R. Polenske; 2. Measurement of the clustering and dispersion of innovation Anne P. Carter; 3. Measuring geography of innovation: a literature review Apiwat Ratanawaraha and Karen R. Polenske; 4. Employment growth and clusters dynamics of creative industries in Great Britain Bernard Fingleton, Danilo C. Igliori, Barry Moore and Raakhi Odedra; Part II. Institutional and Spatial Aspects of Information and Knowledge Flows: 5. Tacit knowledge in production systems: how important is geography? Meric S. Gertler; 6. The self-conscious firm: information needs, acquisition strategies, and utilization prospects Amy Glasmeier; 7. Theorising the gendered institutional bases of innovative regional economies Mia Gray and Al James; 8. Multinationals and transnational social space for learning: knowledge creation and transfer through global R&D networks Alice Lam; 9. Brain circulation and regional innovation: the Silicon Valley-Hsinchu-Shanghai Triangle AnnaLee Saxenian; Part III. Institutions and Innovation Systems: 10. National systems of production, innovation, and competence building Bengt-Ake Lundvall, Bjorn Johnson, Esben S. Andersen and Bent Dalum; 11. Perspectives on entrepreneurship and cluster formation: biotechnology in the US Capitol region Maryann P. Feldman; 12. Facilitating enterprising places: the role of intermediaries in the United States and United Kingdom Christie Baxter and Peter Tyler; 13. Innovation, integration, and technology upgrading in contemporary Chinese industry Edward S. Steinfeld; 14. Society, community, and development: a tale of two regions Michael Storper, Lena Lavinas, and Alejandro Mercado-Celis; Index.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Karen R. Polenske is Professor of Regional Political Economy and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.