This paper addresses a central problem for economic analysis and public policy in Europe. Should Europe focus on so-called high-technology or science-based industries in attempting to solve growth and employment problems? Or should it look to the growth prospects within the industries on which...

This paper addresses some of the questions raised in a debate between (Deaton and Paxson, 1998) and (Deaton and Paxson, 2003) and Gan and Vernon (2003) in the Journal of Political Economy. At issue is what, on the basis of theory, the behaviour of households should be in relation to expenditure...

This paper considers the idea that technical information exchange in the context of time-based-competition encourages buyer-supplier proximity and local production linkages. The relevance of this idea was tested in a study of 11 subsidiaries of multinational microcomputer assemblers operating in...

In this survey, we examine the operations of innovation processes within industrial districts by exploring the ways in which differentiation, specialization, and integration affect the generation, diffusion, and use of new knowledge in such districts. We begin with an analysis of the importance...

In this conceptual article, we extend earlier work on Open Innovation and Absorptive Capacity. We suggest that the literature on Absorptive Capacity does not place sufficient emphasis on distributed knowledge and learning or on the application of innovative knowledge. To accomplish physical...

The same potentially stressful event may have different meanings to different individuals. Such variation may be explained by reference to different models of stress. Two such models, one based on the concept of person-environment 'transactions' and the other on that of a 'psychosocial...

This paper introduces the findings of a European research project on the innovativeness of industrial 'low-tech' sectors. This research was carried out in the context of the ongoing discussion about the emerging knowledge society. We argue that innovation depends not only on industries with...

This important book is about the origins and diffusion of innovation, in theory and in practice. The practice draws on a variety of industries, from electronics to eyewear, from furniture to mechatronics, in a range of economies including Europe, the USA and China.

It is a general understanding that the advanced economies are currently undergoing a fundamental transformation into knowledge-based societies. There is a firm belief that this is based on the development of high-tech industries. Correspondingly, in this scenario low-tech sectors appear to be...