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Economic Geography | 2002

The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography

Gordon L. Clark; Meric S. Gertler; Maryann P. Feldman

This is the most comprehensive and significant statement about the value and potential of economic geography in thirty years. More than forty leading economists and geographers from around the world investigate the rival theories and perspectives that have sustained the recent development of economic geography, and offer stimulating insights into the emerging global economy of the twenty-first century. The editors have outstanding reputations for original research at the boundaries of economics and geography. They have taught in leading U. S. and European universities, and have contributed to significant debates about the theory of economic geography and its applications to public policy. The handbook is devoted to the frontiers of the field, eschewing nostalgia for the past in favour of contributions relevant to the emerging global economy of the twenty-first century. From general statements about the history and evolution of the field to statements about the crucial problems of economic geography, it is concerned with the rival theories and perspectives that have sustained the recent growth of economic geography. Always provocative and challenging, it will continue to define the terms of debate for the coming decade. Contributors to this volume - Gordon L Clark, Maryann Feldmann, Meric Gertler Allen Scott Paul Krugman Jamie Peck Ed Glaeser Eric Sheppard Tony Venables and Howard Shatz Michael Storpor John Gallup, Andrew Mellinger, and Jeffrey Sachs Michael Watts Risto Laulajainen Adam Tickell Michael Porter Peter Dicken Neil Wrigley Erica Schoenberger David B. Audretsch Bengt-Ake Lundvall and Peter Maskell Maryann Feldman Cristiano Antonelli Bjorn Asheim Beat Hotz-Hart Ron Martin Gordon Hanson Linda McDowelll John Kain Eric Swyngedouw Amy Glasmeier R. Kerry Turner David Angel Tetsuo Abo John Holmes Ash Amin Nigel Thrift


Urban Studies | 2004

Clusters from the Inside and Out: Local Dynamics and Global Linkages

David A. Wolfe; Meric S. Gertler

This paper surveys some of the current methodologies employed to analyse cluster development, as well as some of the key themes emerging from both the analytical and prescriptive literature noted above. It uses this survey as the context in which to present a synthesis of the initial findings of the current national study of industrial clusters in Canada, conducted by the Innovation Systems Research Network. The national study comprises 26 cases which aim to identify the presence of significant concentrations of firms in the local economy and to understand the process by which these regional-industrial concentrations of economic activity are managing the transition to more knowledge-intensive forms of production. The central questions in each case are: What role do local institutions and actors play in fostering this transition? How important is interaction with non-local actors in this process? How dependent are local firms on unique local knowledge assets and what is the relative importance of local versus non-local knowledge flows between economic actors? How did each local industrial concentration evolve over time to reach its present state and what key events and decisions shaped its path? And, finally, to what extent do these processes, relationships and local capabilities constitute a true cluster? Ultimately, what are the key relationships, linkages and processes that ground the cluster in its existing location?


Industry and Innovation | 2005

Local nodes in global networks: The geography of knowledge flows in biotechnology innovation

Meric S. Gertler; Yael M. Levitte

The literature on innovation and interactive learning has tended to emphasize the importance of local networks, inter‐firm collaboration and knowledge flows as the principal source of technological dynamism. More recently, however, this view has come to be challenged by other perspectives that argue for the importance of non‐local knowledge flows. According to this alternative approach, truly dynamic economic regions are characterized both by dense local social interaction and knowledge circulation, as well as strong inter‐regional and international connections to outside knowledge sources and partners. This paper offers an empirical examination of these issues by examining the geography of knowledge flows associated with innovation in biotechnology. We begin by reviewing the growing literature on the nature and geography of innovation in biotechnology research and the commercialization process. Then, focusing on the Canadian biotech industry, we examine the determinants of innovation (measured through patenting activity), paying particular attention to internal resources and capabilities of the firm, as well as local and global flows of knowledge and capital. Our study is based on the analysis of Statistics Canadas 1999 Survey of Biotechnology Use and Development, which covers 358 core biotechnology firms. Our findings highlight the importance of in‐house technological capability and absorptive capacity as determinants of successful innovation in biotechnology firms. Furthermore, our results document the precise ways in which knowledge circulates, in both embodied and disembodied forms, both locally and globally. We also highlight the role of formal intellectual property transactions (domestic and international) in promoting knowledge flows. Although we document the importance of global networks in our findings, our results also reveal the value of local networks and specific forms of embedding. Local relational linkages are especially important when raising capital—and the expertise that comes with it—to support innovation. Nevertheless, our empirical results raise some troubling questions about the alleged pre‐eminence of the local in fostering innovation.


Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers | 1988

The Limits of Flexibility: Comments on the Post-Fordist Vision of Production and Its Geography

Meric S. Gertler

Recently some economic geographers have drawn our attention to what are alleged to be fundamental changes in production, based on the adoption of more flexible machines and labour within firms, and more flexible relations between firms. Certain spatial implications such as reagglomeration of production are said to have resulted from these changes, or are believed to be underway. This paper critically examines these contentions by setting out the fundamental elements of these changes, considering the degree of their pervasiveness throughout western economies, and the extent to which such changes really do represent a distinct break with the past history and geography of production. In doing so, this paper seeks to uncover the true motivations underlying technological change in the workplace, exposing some common misconceptions about the new flexible production methods and their impacts.


Review of International Political Economy | 2000

No place like home? The embeddedness of innovation in a regional economy

Meric S. Gertler; David A. Wolfe; David Garkut

Two views have come to dominate the debate on the globalization of innovation in the emerging knowledge-based economy. The first contends that globalization reduces the significance of the home base as the primary site for innovation, as firms increasingly source and apply their innovations on a global basis. The second view as articulated in the innovation systems approach contends that the institutionally embedded nature of the innovation process, which is a central feature of the new economy, demands a continued, and even accentuated, role for the local context. In this article, we seek to contribute to the debate by evaluating the extent to which the institutional context and local setting play an important role in determining the innovative behaviour of manufacturing firms in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, we compare the practices of 242 indigenous and multinational establishments with respect to in-house technological capabilities, innovative processes, external sources of innovative ideas, and the nature and the extent of innovative inter-firm practices. Our findings indicate that indigenous firms are more likely to perform innovative activities locally and are more embedded in the Ontario economy than their multinational counterparts, as they exhibit higher R&D intensity, have a larger proportion of scientific, technical and managerial employees, adopt innovative inter-firm practices more extensively, and are more likely to source innovative ideas from local customers. The multinational establishments, in contrast, tend to exhibit lower R&D intensity, are more reliant on their inhouse marketing units, and continue to rely on their parent companies as a primary source for innovative ideas. These results suggest that local context still exerts a significant influence on the nature and extent of innovative activities in the knowledge-based economy.


Futures | 2004

Local social knowledge management: Community actors, institutions and multilevel governance in regional foresight exercises

Meric S. Gertler; David A. Wolfe

Abstract A key question for policymakers at the regional and local level is how to provide the right conditions for generating the growth of more knowledge-intensive forms of economic activity within the context of dynamic innovation systems or learning regions. Regional foresight exercises may provide a useful instrument in helping chart their economic strategies. Successful regions must be able to engage in regional foresight exercises that identify and cultivate their assets, undertake collaborative processes to plan and implement change, and encourage a regional mindset that fosters growth. Communities and regions, like companies, need to innovate and adapt to remain competitive. As a result, successful regions must be able to engage in regional foresight exercises that identify and cultivate their assets, undertake collaborative processes to plan and implement change, and encourage a regional mindset that fosters growth. This paper provides an overview of these issues by reviewing the most important ideas in the recent literature on innovation systems, technological dynamism and local economic development. We regard regional foresight processes to be, at their most fundamental level, socially organized learning processes involving learning by individuals, by firms, and by institutions. One of our central concerns is to show how the actions of individuals to shape collective local visioning exercises interact with larger institutional structures to produce local outcomes.


Regional Studies | 1993

Implementing Advanced Manufacturing Technologies in Mature Industrial Regions: Towards a Social Model of Technology Production

Meric S. Gertler

GERTLER M. S. (1993) Implementing advanced manufacturing technologies in mature industrial regions: towards a social model of technology production, Reg. Studies 27, 665–680. Industrial surveys reveal that manufacturers in mature industrial regions of Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom have been adopting advanced process technologies at reasonable rates during the 1980s. However, the expected improvements in productivity growth have failed to materialize, and case-study evidence suggests that such manufacturers are indeed encountering considerable difficulty in utilizing such technologies effectively. Increasingly, such regions share a common characteristic: that they are geographically removed from the now-dominant sources of production of advanced industrial machinery. Based on a critical review of recent theoretical contributions from geography, regional development, economic history, management studies and the economics of technological change, this paper explores the implications of spa...


Economic Geography | 2009

The German Variety of Capitalism: Forces and Dynamics of Evolutionary Change

Harald Bathelt; Meric S. Gertler

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Bathelt, H., & Gertler, M. S. (2005). The German variety of capitalism: Forces and dynamics of evolutionary change. Economic Geography, 81(1), 1-9.], which has been published in final form at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2005.tb00252.x/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.


Archive | 2002

Innovation and Social Learning

Meric S. Gertler; David A. Wolfe

In this age of modern era, the use of internet must be maximized. Yeah, internet will help us very much not only for important thing but also for daily activities. Many people now, from any level can use internet. The sources of internet connection can also be enjoyed in many places. As one of the benefits is to get the on-line innovation and social learning book, as the world window, as many people suggest.


European Planning Studies | 2009

Life Sciences and Regional Innovation: One Path or Many?

Meric S. Gertler; Tara Vinodrai

Despite the widespread interest of national, regional and local governments in promoting their own biotechnology industry, it is now well known that this sector exhibits characteristically high levels of geographical clustering in a relatively small number of locations. However, what is less well understood is how these regions have emerged and evolved through time. While there is a tendency to conceive of the necessary and sufficient conditions in fairly universal and formulaic terms—strong research universities with leading medical schools, a well-developed local venture capital industry, and a deep labour market in highly skilled scientific occupations are factors that are most commonly emphasized—we contend that the evolutionary pathways followed by individual regions with successful life science sectors are far from identical. Differences in local historical, geographical and institutional conditions are likely to shape and constrain the subsequent actual evolution of life science industries in particular places in distinctive ways. In this paper, we examine this issue through the lens of a national, 5 years, collaborative research initiative analyzing cluster development and evolution in Canada. We present findings from the study of life science industries in Canadas three largest city regions (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver), as well as in three smaller city regions (Ottawa, Saskatoon and Halifax). Despite the conventional wisdom that public and private research institutions determine the trajectory of life sciences cluster development, our research suggests that a multiplicity of institutional and non-institutional actors, alongside background regional conditions and chance events, provide the impetus for cluster emergence and growth. We find that regional-scale policy interventions within an overarching national institutional framework have both intended and unintended consequences in helping determine the shape and nature of each regions life science clusters. Finally, we find that both local and non-local sources of knowledge are important to sustaining growth, innovation and dynamism within life science clusters.

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Gordon L. Clark

Carnegie Mellon University

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Maryann P. Feldman

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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