This unique and insightful work examines the importance of ‘quality of life’ for the city which has become a key component of urban competitiveness over the past 30 years. It argues that having a high or low ‘quality of life’ will have important consequences for the vitality and status of any city. The book’s six substantive chapters explore this issue by each examining a distinct element that comprises ‘quality of life’, including the approach of economists to quality of life, links to urban competitiveness, the economy, urban amenities and attributes.
Browse by title
The Globalization of Regional Clusters
Between Localization and Internationalization
Edited by Dirk Fornahl and Nils Grashof
Addressing the role of regional clusters in the context of ongoing globalization, this timely book investigates the two seemingly competing trends of globalization and localization from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. International case studies offer pioneering insights into the internationalization process of regional clusters and the effect of this on regional as well as firm performance.
Networks, SMEs, and the University
The Process of Collaboration and Open Innovation
Andrew Johnston and Robert Huggins
Exploring the process of university collaboration from the perspective of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this book offers an in-depth examination of the collaboration process, dispelling the myth of the disengagement of these firms. Andrew Johnston and Robert Huggins present a thorough account of how SMEs can ‘unlock the ivory tower’ and gain access to university knowledge to support their own innovation.
Productivity and the Pandemic
Challenges and Insights from Covid-19
Edited by Philip McCann and Tim Vorley
This forward-thinking book examines the potential impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on productivity. Productivity and the Pandemic features 21 chapters authored by 46 experts, examining different aspects of how the pandemic is likely to impact on the economy, society and governance in the medium- and long-term. Drawing on a range of empirical evidence, analytical arguments and new conceptual insights, the book challenges our thinking on many dimensions. With a keen focus on place, firms, production factors and institutions, the chapters highlight how the pre-existing challenges to productivity have been variously exacerbated and mitigated by the pandemic and points out ways forward for appropriate policy thinking in response to the crisis.
Innovative Capabilities and the Globalization of Chinese Firms
Becoming Leaders in Knowledge-intensive Innovation Ecosystems
Edited by Maureen McKelvey and Jun Jin
This book explains how Chinese firms are increasingly developing innovative capabilities and engaging in globalization. It focuses on knowledge-intensive and innovative entrepreneurial firms and multinationals, which already are – or are striving to become – world-leaders in their technologies and markets, and which do so by their use of advanced knowledge for innovation as well as their ability to act globally. The book advances related debates in entrepreneurship, innovation management, economic geography and international business.
Edited by Peter K. Kresl
This original book examines the experiences cities and urban areas have had with two principal concerns that confront them today: sustainability and competitiveness. Featuring a wide-ranging set of contributions from top researchers, this book discusses and analyzes the issues that different cities face, such as social cohesion, tolerance and cultural diversity, and how this will determine their developmental trajectories through the coming decade. Towards a Competitive, Sustainable Modern City will be an invaluable read for scholars and professors in urban economics and urban studies more broadly, particularly those who are focusing on the importance of sustainability in both areas
Debt and Austerity
Implications of the Financial Crisis
Edited by Jodi Gardner, Mia Gray and Katharina Moser
This book explores the complex interactions between debt and austerity, analysing the social, economic, and legal implications of governments’ responses to the 2008 financial crisis.
Diversity, Innovation and Clusters
Spatial Perspectives
Edited by Iréne Bernhard, Urban Gråsjö and Charlie Karlsson
Increased emphasis on the links between regional diversity and regional knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship highlights the need for a focus on the spatial aspects of these multifaceted, dynamic relationships in order to improve our understanding. By means of a conceptual approach, this timely book illustrates the links between innovation and economic development through the role of space. This thought-provoking book addresses the questions regarding diversity, innovation and clusters that require further investigation and analysis.
Regions and Innovation Policies in Europe
Learning from the Margins
Edited by Manuel González-López and Bjørn T. Asheim
Offering a novel contribution within the growing field of regional innovation policies, this book combines recent theoretical developments and empirical contributions, with a particular focus on non-core regions. Leading academics in the field discuss the topics of regional path transformation, place-based strategies and policy learning. Also included are sections on the role of EU institutions on the promotion of regional innovation and the analysis and comparison of the innovation policies experiences of four non-core European regions.
Edited by Philip McCann and Tim Vorley
Productivity Perspectives offers a timely and stimulating social science view on the productivity debate, drawing on the work of the ESRC funded Productivity Insights Network. The book examines the drivers and inhibitors of UK productivity growth in the light of international evidence, and the resulting dramatic slowdown and flatlining of productivity growth in the UK. The reasons for this so-called productivity puzzle are not well understood, and this book advances explanations and insights on these issues from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives. It will be of value to all those interested in, and engaging with, the challenge of slowing productivity growth.