The pressures of global competition are affecting regions throughout the world and making it increasingly necessary to understand the complex underlying mechanisms and the potential for innovation offered by new technology. Success in economic restructuring depends not only on the technology itself, but the professional and entrepreneurial skills available and the support of provided by institutions and information networks. The very local nature these phenomena, which are critical to the innovative propensity of firms operating within the region, introduces an inevitable spatial dimension. The time therefore seems ripe to bring together contributions from scholars working in different, but related disciplines, with the aim of investigating the triangular relationship between technological change, economic development and space. The present volume offers a compact review of current theoretical developments and valuable insights deriving from recent empirical studies carried out both within Europe and elsewhere. All those contributing to this volume are actively involved in research in the field. Without their intellectual contribution and willingness to participate in this joint project, the book would not have been possible. We should like, in addition, to thank Angela Spence for her capable assistance in coordinating the various stages of preparation of the book, as well as her translation work and careful linguistic editing. Thanks also go to Paola Stasi for her meticulous copy editing and help in preparing the indices. Their work has been invaluable in moulding together in a single volume contributions from so many different sources.

Inhalt

1. Technological Change, Economic Development and Space: An Introduction.- 1.1 The Context.- 1.2 The Structure of the Book.- References.- A: Diffusion of Knowledge, Network Externalities and Economic Development.- 2. Creation, Innovation and Diffusion of Knowledge: General and Specific Economic Impacts.- 2.1 Fast and Slow Processes of Development.- 2.2 Creativity, Innovation and Diffusion.- 2.3 The Creative Process.- 2.4 Small Scale Creative Cooperation.- 2.5 Productivity versus Creativity: ASocial Conflict.- 2.6 Research and Development, Innovations and Patenting.- 2.7 Dynamics of Merger in Knowledge Intensive Markets.- 2.8 Slow Processes of Knowledge and Networks and the Size and Structure of Dominant Regions.- 2.9 Some Historical Evidence.- 2.10 The Emerging C-Society and C-Regions of the Future.- 2.11 Small Plants and Large Corporations.- 2.12 New Macro C-corridors in Europe, the US and Japan.- 2.13 Summary and Conclusions.- References.- 3. A Territorial Socio-ecological Approach to Innovation Diffusion, Schumpeterian Competition and Dynamic Choice.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Characterization of the Territorial Environment: Territorial Decentralized Systems, the Superposition Principle and the Phenomenon of Unilinear Evolution.- 3.3 From the Concept of 'Homo Economicus' to the Concept of 'Homo Socialist' Innovation Diffusion as a Collective Socio- ecological Dynamic Choice Process.- 3.4 Diffusion of One Innovation within a Territorial Unit: A Reinterpretation of Verhulst and Pearl-Reed Logistic Differential Equations.- 3.5 A Mathematical Model of the Diffusion of a Cluster of Competitive Innovations within an Active Territorial Environment: The Creation of Innovation Adoption Niches.- 3.6 Qualitative Analysis of Results of the Dynamic Competition Hypergame for Diffusion of Clusters of Competitive Innovations: Schumpeter Competition Cycles.- 3.7 Variational Principle for Dynamic Competition Hypergames: Law of Collective Meso-level Choice Behaviour.- 3.8 Conclusions: Competition and Environment in the Innovation Diffusion Process.- References.- 4. Innovation, Communication Networks and Urban Milieus: A Sociological Approach.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Phases of the Innovation Process and Resources.- 4.3 Innovation as the Output of Communication Networks.- 4.4 A Typology of Innovative Contexts.- 4.5 Conclusions.- References.- 5. Transportation, Communications and Patterns of Location.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Present Trends and Emerging Problems.- 5.3 A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of Location - Transport Systems.- 5.4 The Spatial Implications of Technological Innovation in Communication Networks.- 5.5 Fields of Application.- 5.6 Conclusions.- References.- 6. The Interacting Choice Processes of Innovation, Location and Mobility: A Compartmental Approach.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 The Conceptual and Methodological Background.- 6.3 The Choice Processes Involved in Innovation Adoption.- 6.4 The Location Choice Process.- 6.5 The Modal Choice between Transport and NIT.- 6.6 The Pattern of Flows.- 6.7 The Structure of the Telemaco Model.- 6.8 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- B: Innovation Behaviour of Individual Firms.- 7. Technological Change and Innovation Behaviour.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 A Conceptual Model of the Technological Innovation Process.- 7.3 Factors Influencing Innovation Behaviour.- 7.4 Summary and Conclusions.- References.- 8. Company Classification and Technological Change: A New Perspective on Regional Innovation.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Company Classification.- 8.3 Technological Profiles of Establishment Types.- 8.4 Implications for Regional Analysis.- 8.5 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 9. Innovation Adoption, Innovation Networks and Agglomeration Economies.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Networks and Innovation Adoption.- 9.3 Agglomeration Economies, Innovation Networks and Innovation Adoption.- 9.4 Innovation Networks and the Adoption and Diffusion of Information Technology: Some Empirical Evidence from Earlier Studies.- 9.5 The Data and the Estimation Procedures.- 9.6 Empirical Results.- 9.7 Conclusions.- References.- 10. Network Externalities: Towards a Taxonomy of the Concept and a Theory of Their Effects on the Performance of Firms and Regions.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 The Concept of Network Externality.- 10.3 A Taxonomy of Network Externalities.- 10.4 Private, Club and Public Goods: The Role of Network Externalities.- 10.5 Effects of Network Externalities on the Performance of Firms and Regions.- 10.6 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 11. Industrial Dynamics and Rational Expectations in a Spatial Setting.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Spatial Investment Behaviour of Firms.- 11.3 The Data Base.- 11.4 Specification of a Probit Model.- 11.5 Regional Investment Dynamics and Expectation of Enterprises.- 11.6 Concluding Remarks.- References.- C: Local/Global Networks: What Policy, What Future?.- 12. The Region as an Evolutive System.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 Is the Region a Recognizable Geographical Entity?.- 12.3 The Networks and Their Nodes.- 12.4 The Region as the Space of a Node's Internal Connectivity.- 12.5 The Region as the Space of a Final Goods Market.- 12.6 The Economic Base as a Propulsor of Regional Dynamics.- 12.7 The Local Subsystems of Basic Production.- 12.8 Some Useful Elements for Defining a Regional Typology.- 12.9 Conclusion.- References.- 13. The New Flexible Economy: Shaping Regional and Local Institutions for Global Competition.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 Flexibility: The New Context for Policy.- 13.3 Bottom-up Strategies.- 13.4 Globalization and the Limits of Networks.- References.- 14. High-tech Centres and Regional Innovation: Some Case Studies in the UK, Germany, Japan and Korea.- 14.1 Introduction.- 14.2 The High-tech Centre Concept.- 14.3 The Aims of High-tech Centre Policy.- 14.4 Some Case Studies: The UK, Germany, Japan and Korea.- 14.5 Evaluation.- References.- 15. Concluding Comments and Future Outlook.- References.- Author Index.- List of Contributors.