The Economic Geography of Innovation

Global perspective on how institutional factors facilitate or hamper the flows of information and knowledge.

Karen R. Polenske (Edited by)

9780521689533, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 April 2007

384 pages, 37 tables
23 x 15.3 x 2.4 cm, 0.613 kg

"This volume is a window into state-of-the-art innovation studies, and I recommend it to new as well as old scholars of innovation."
Edward J. Malecki, The Ohio State University

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.

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, Björn 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.

Subject Areas: Economic geography [RGCM], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM]