Learning for Innovation in the Global Knowledge Economy

Dimitrios Konstadakopulos is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Studies in the University of the West of England, Bristol.

• List of Tables viiList of Figures xiList of Abbreviations xiiiIntroduction 1The origins of the research 1The main research questions 3The structure of the book 4Part I: The Embeddedness of Innovation in Regional Agglomerations 7Chapter 1:Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship 71.1 Innovative Environments and the Importance of Proximity 71.2 The Concept of the 'Innovative Milieu' 81.3 The Evolutionary Theory of Technological Change 111.4 The Importance of Agglomeration or Cluster Economies 131.5 Re-conceptualising the Role of Learning in Regional Development 151.6 The Exploitation of Collective Learning: An Easy and InexpensiveWay to Innovate 171.7 The Importance of Networking for SMEs 18Chapter 2:Technological Innovation Policies in the EU and ASEAN Economies 232.1 The Emerging Global Knowledge Economy 232.2 The Evolutionary Development of Technological Policy in Europe 252.2.1 Policy Patterns in European Regional Agglomerations 272.2.2 The Industrial District of the West of England 312.3 The Evolving Nature of Technological Policy in ASEAN 342.3.1 Singapore: Building a Capacity for Learning 362.3.2 Malaysia's Technological Development 382.3.3 The State of Johar: the Southern Gateway to Malaysia 412.3.4 The Singapore-Johar Cross-Border Agglomeration and theLogic of Spillover 422.4 EU-ASEAN Technological Co-operation 46Part II:The Empirical Comparative Analysis 53Chapter 3:Innovation in the West of England 533.1 The Profile of Innovative Regional Firms 533.2 Regional Innovators and their Sources of Innovation 553.3 Regional Collaboration in Product and Process Development 583.4 Inter-firm Linkages, Networks and Collaboration 593.5 The Effect of Regional Specific Advantages on Firms' Development 623.6 The Collective Learning Experience and Regional Channels ofKnowledge Acquisition 63Chapter 4:Innovation in the Singapore-Johor Agglomeration 694.1 The Profile of Innovative Regional Firms 694.2 Regional Innovators and their Sources of Innovation 714.3 Regional Collaboration in Product and Process Development 734.4 Inter-firm Linkages, Networks and Collaboration 744.5 The Effect of Regional Specific Advantages on Firms' Development 804.6 The Collective Learning Experience and Regional Channels ofKnowledge Acquisition 63Chapter 5:A Comparative Analysis of Patterns of Learning Behaviour andCo-operation in the West of England and Singapore-Johor 875.1 A Statistical Analysis of the West of England Sample Survey 885.2 A Statistical Analysis of the Singapore-Johor Sample Survey 915.3 Industrial Districts, Innovative Milieux, Growth Triangles orGlobal Knowledge Economies? 95Part III:Policy Lessons and Implications 101Chapter 6:The Relevance of the Economic, Political and SocialEnvironments of Europe and South-East Asia 1016.1 Market Cultures in the Economies of Europe and South-East Asia 1026.1.1 Competing Models of Development 1066.1.2 Implications for Policy 1106.2 Recommendations: Facilitating the Development ofKnowledge-intensive Enterprises 113Bibliography 117Appendix 135Index 139