A live issue currently in eonomic development relates to the importance of city-regional business environments for the growth and competitiveness of internet-related industries. Drawing on theories of regional innovation systems, this study evaluates the importance of place-related factors in the development of internet firms in two UK city-regions. The findings highlight the importance of demand economies, external networks, key local firms and individuals, and government research expenditure. Institutional arguments about local-regional systems are not drivers for growth, but play a more complex role in shaping knowledge and technological infrastructure.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AminA.1998: An Institutionalist Perspective on Regional Economic Development. Proceedings of OECD Conference on ‘New Challenges in Regional Policies’, Boras: Sweden. 28–29 January 1998.
2.
AminA.ThriftN.(eds)1995: Globalisation, Institutions, and Regional Development in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
BreschiS.MalerbaF.1997: Sectoral Innovation Systems: Technological Regimes, Schumpeterian Dynamics, and Spatial Boundaries. InEdquistC.(ed.)Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organisations, London: Pinter.
5.
BuckleyP. J.PassC. L.PrescottK.1988: Measures of International Competitiveness: A Critical Survey. Journal of Marketing Management, Vol 4, 175–200.
6.
Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit1999: e-commerce@its.best.uk.London: UK Government.
7.
CamagniR.1991: Local ‘milieu’, uncertainty and innovation networks: towards a new dynamic theory of economic space. InCamagniR.(ed.)Innovation Networks: Spatial Perspectives, London: Pinter.
8.
CastellsM.HallP.1994: Technopoles of the World: The Making of 21st Century Industrial Complexes. London: Routledge.
9.
CookeP.1998: Global Clustering and Regional Innovation: systemic integration in Wales. InBraczykH.CookeP.HeidenreichM.(eds.)Regional Innovation System: The role of governance in a globalized world, London: UCL Press.
10.
CookeP.MorganK.1994: The regional innovation system of Baden- Wurttemberg. International Journal of Technology Management, Vol 9, 394–429.
11.
CookeP.SchienstockG.1998: Preface. InBraczykH.CookeP.HeidenreichM.(eds.)Regional Innovation System: The role of governance in a globalized world, London: UCL Press.
12.
CramptonG.EvansA.1991: The Agglomeration Economy of London. Urban Studies, Vol 24, 259–71.
13.
Digital Media Alliance1998: Recommendations for Growth: UK Digital Media. London: Digital Media Alliance.
14.
DosiG.1988: Sources, Procedures and Microeconomic Effects of Innovation. Journal of Economic Literature, Vol 36, 1126–71.
15.
DosiG.PavittK.SoeteL.1990: The Economics of Technical Change and International Trade. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
16.
DTI, Department of Trade and Industry1998a: Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy (White Paper). London: UK Government, December 1998.
17.
DTI, Department of Trade and Industry1998b: Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy (Digital Economy), London: UK Government, December 1998.
18.
Foresight Commission1998: InterAction 2: Driving the Digital Media Economy. Department of Trade and Industry, London, July 1998.
19.
FreemanC.1995: The ‘National System of Innovation’ in Historical Perspective. Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol 19, 5–24.
20.
FreemanC.PerezC1988: Structural crises of adjustment, business cycles and investment behaviour. InDosiG.FreemanC.R., N., G. S. and L. S. (eds)Technical Change an d Economic Theory, London: Pinter, 38–66.
21.
GatesB.1995: The Road Ahead. London: Viking.
22.
GelsingL.1992: Innovation and the development of industrial network. InLundvallB.(ed.)National Systems of Innovation, London: Pinter.
23.
GeorghiouL. G.MetcalfeJ. S.1993: Evaluation of the Impact of European Community Research Programmes upon Industrial Competitiveness. R&D Management, Vol 3, 161–9.
24.
HitchensD. M. W.O'FarrellP. N.ConwayC. D.1996: The competitiveness of business services in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the South East of England. Environmental and Planning A, Vol 28, 1299–1313.
25.
KrugmanP.1995: Development, Geography an d Economic Theory. London: MIT Press.
26.
MaleckiE.1997: Technology and Economic Development: The Dynamics of Local, Regional and National Competitiveness. Essex: Longman.
27.
MarshallA.1890: Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan.
28.
MorganK.1997: The Learning Region: Institutions, Innovation and Regional Renewal. Regional Studies, Vol 31, 491–503.
29.
NegroponteN.1995: Being Digital. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
30.
PorterM.1990: The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: Free Press, Macmillan.
31.
ScottA. J.1995: The geographic foundations of industrial performance. Competition and Change, Vol 1, 51–66.
32.
SternbergR.1996: Technology Policies and the Growth of Regions: Evidence from Four Countries. Small Business Economics, Vol 89, 75–86.
33.
StorperM.1995: The Resurgence of Regional Economies, Ten Years Later: The Region as a Nexus of Untraded Interdependencies. European Urban an d Regional Studies, Vol 2, 191–221.
34.
SwannP.PrevezerM.1996: A comparison of the dynamics of industrial clustering in computing and biotechnology. Research Policy, Vol 25, 1139–57.
35.
ThomasK.2000: Creating Regional Cultures of Innovation? The Regional Innovation Strategies in England and Scotland. Regional Studies, Vol 34, 190–8.
University of Texas1999: The Internet Economy Indicators. Centre for Research in Electronic Commerce, University of Texas, http://www.internetindicators.com/ , July 1999.
38.
WongC.1998: Determining Factors for Local Economic Development: The Perception of Practitioners in the North West and Eastern Regions of the UK. Regional Studies, Vol 32, 707–20.
