Innovation, Regional Development and the Life Sciences


Book Description

The life sciences is an industrial sector that covers the development of biological products and the use of biological processes in the production of goods, services and energy. This sector is frequently presented as a major opportunity for policy-makers to upgrade and renew regional economies, leading to social and economic development through support for high-tech innovation. Innovation, Regional Development and the Life Sciences analyses where innovation happens in the life sciences, why it happens in those places, and what this means for regional development policies and strategies. Focusing on the UK and Europe, its arguments are relevant to a variety of countries and regions pursuing high-tech innovation and development policies. The book’s theoretical approach incorporates diverse geographies (e.g. global, national and regional) and political-economic forces (e.g. discourses, governance and finance) in order to understand where innovation happens in the life sciences, where and how value circulates in the life sciences, and who captures the value produced in life sciences innovation. This book will be of interest to researchers, students and policy-makers dealing with regional/local economic development.




International Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences


Book Description

'The processes of internationalization, innovation and venture-creation in high-technology new ventures are inextricably intertwined. This is particularly true in the uncertain and troubled waters of the life sciences industry where startups with very uncertain futures are required to face significant challenges in short windows of opportunity. Navigating these waters is not straightforward, either for those immediately involved in it, or for those trying to understand it. This book is a must-read for anyone who is serious about understanding entrepreneurship in the biotechnology industry.' Alberto Onetti, CrESIT (Research Center for Innovation and Life Science Management), Italy In this thought-provoking book, leading experts explore why international entrepreneurship is important to the life sciences industry. From multi-disciplinary and cross-national perspectives, they question why international entrepreneurship scholars might usefully invest interest in research focused on one specific industry context. The book addresses contemporary challenges of relevance to life science firms and draws on leading-edge debates in international entrepreneurship research. Topics include: the nature of the born-global firm; the development of international capabilities and competencies; the role of local and international partnerships and alliances; competitiveness, opportunity recognition and orientation; and the role of specialized complementary assets in internationalization. It concludes by proposing an agenda for future research across the underpinning fields of innovation, entrepreneurship and internationalization. This book will prove a stimulating read for academics, students and researchers with an interest in international business, management and entrepreneurship, as well as for practitioners in the health professions or life sciences academics who are, or may become, entrepreneurs.




Innovation Networks for Regional Development


Book Description

This book brings together original research on the role of networks in regional economic development and innovation. It presents a comprehensive framework synthesizing extant theories, a palette of real-world cases in the aerospace, automotive, life science, biotechnology and health care industries, and fundamental agent-based computer models elucidating the relation between regional development and network dynamics. The book is primarily intended for researchers in the fields of innovation economics and evolutionary economic geography, and particularly those interested in using agent-based models and empirical case studies. However, it also targets (regional) innovation policy makers who are not only interested in policy recommendations, but also want to understand the state-of-the-art agent-based modeling methods used to experimentally arrive at said recommendations.




Re-framing Regional Development


Book Description

Résumé : "Reframing regional development : complex systems integration, "emergence", and policy modularisation / Philip Cooke -- Evolutionary transition space -- A world in emergence : notes toward a resynthesis of urban-economic geography for the 21st / Century Allen J. Scott -- Regional resilience, cross-sectoral knowledge platforms and the prospects for growth in Canadian city-regions / David A. Wolfe -- Forms of emergence and the evolution of economic landscapes / Ron Martin and Peter Sunley -- Strange attractors and policy emergence : complex adaptive innovation / Philip Cooke -- Innovation and diversity -- The health technologies sector in Oxfordshire : evolution or optimism in regional development? / Helen Lawton-Smith -- Reframing regional innovation systems : evolution, complexity, and public policy / Elvira Uyarra and Kieron Flanagan -- Path dependence and new technological path creation in the economic landscape / James Simmie -- Proximity and innovation networks : an evolutionary approach / Pierre-Alexandre Balland, Ron Boschma, and Koen Frenken -- Cluster emergence and destabilisation -- Foresight and innovation : emergence and resilience of the cleantech cluster at Lahti, Finland / Helinä Melkas and Tuomo Uotila -- "Twilight of the gods" : the rise of Asia Pacific and Californian convergent media and the demise of Nordic Mobile Telephony in the ICT global innovation network / Philip Cooke -- The remarkable resilience of cities of art : the challenge of a new renaissance in Florence / Luciana Lazzeretti -- Socio-cultural dynamics in spatial policy : explaining the on-going success of cluster politics / Dieter Rehfeld and Judith Terstriep -- Evolutionary spatial policy -- Transformation of regional innovation systems : from old legacies to new development paths / Franz Tödtling and Michaela Trippl -- Path dependence and the state : the politics of novelty in old industrial regions / Kevin Morgan -- City-regions, innovation, and universities : the evolution and transition of uk urban governance institutions / Fumi Kitagawa."




The Circular Bioeconomy


Book Description

This book is an essential reading for students, researchers and non-academic experts dealing with environmental, economic and social science aspects of the circular bioeconomy and with sustainability in general.




The New Players in Life Science Innovation


Book Description

The global center of gravity in life sciences innovation is rapidly shifting to emerging economies. In The New Players in Life Science Innovation, Tomasz Mroczkowski explains how China and other new economic powers are rapidly gaining leadership positions, and thoroughly assesses the implications. Mroczkowski discusses the sophisticated innovation strategies and reforms these nations have implemented: approaches that don't rely on market forces alone, and are achieving remarkable success. Next, he previews the emerging global "bio-economy," in which life science discoveries will be applied pervasively in markets ranging from health to fuels. As R&D in the West becomes increasingly costly, Mroczkowski introduces new options for partnering with new players in the field. He thoroughly covers the globalization of clinical trials, showing how it offers opportunities that go far beyond cost reduction, and assessing the unique challenges it presents. Offering examples from China to Dubai to India, he carefully assesses the business models driving today's newest centers of innovation. Readers will find up-to-date coverage of bioparks, technology zones, and emerging clusters, and realistic assessments of global R&D collaboration strategies such as those of Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis, and IBM. With innovation-driven industries increasingly dominating the global economy, this book's insights are indispensable for every R&D decision-maker and investor.




Knowledge Externalities, Innovation Clusters and Regional Development


Book Description

This book begins with a theoretical examination of regional innovation systems, agglomeration economics and knowledge spillovers, before going on to examine the same concepts within an empirical framework. Special emphasis is given to the importance of proximity in the formation of regional innovation systems. It concludes by considering innovation and human capital as determinants of regional economic growth. The concept of knowledge spillovers is used within the book to explain a number of major economic phenomena, including the geographical clustering of inventions; the social returns to R&D that significantly exceed private returns; and the sizeable disproportions that exist between firms in terms of their R&D inputs and outputs. The contributors identify that small firms are responsible for far more product innovations than large firms relative to their measurable knowledge resources. The book also stresses the importance of a catch-up mechanism that sees technological improvement as the combination of two distinct types of activity: innovation and imitation. In this way, the impact of human capital and other types of knowledge acquisition on economic growth is measured. The conclusions of the contributors are invaluably oriented to policy implications. This book will appeal to researchers and postgraduate students of regional science and innovation and knowledge, as well as policymakers.




Rethinking Clusters


Book Description

This volume discusses how different geographical spaces can enhance or hinder the capacity of a variety of organizational settings to achieve economic value creation in the pursuit of sustainable regional development. In order to provide the most comprehensive picture of new sources of value creation for sustainable transitions, the book collects contributions that tackle this issue from a variety of perspectives, and adopts a systemic approach where macro, meso and micro-levels of analysis are intertwined in three sections. This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach comes from scholars operating in the fields of planning, economic geography, social entrepreneurship and organizational management. The first section of the book adopts a macro-level approach linking sustainability to the regional development theme, and addresses how organizations work between different social interests to produce outcomes not previously realized. The second section of the book focuses on the spatial dimensions of sustainable development, with particular clusters, industrial districts and regions considered as relevant units of analysis (meso-level analysis). The third section of the book is dedicated to a micro-level approach, illustrating how to drive social entrepreneurship activities, which are based upon sustainable business models centered in the creation of a shared value. The book is geared towards scholars working on sustainable development issues intersecting the disciplines of regional studies, economic geography and management, and will appeal to geographers and researchers in economic development, business innovation, and sustainability transitions.




Handbook of Regional Innovation and Growth


Book Description

Today, economic growth is widely understood to be conditioned by productivity increases which are, in turn, profoundly affected by innovation. This volume explores these key relationships between innovation and growth, bringing together experts from both fields to compile a unique Handbook. The Handbook considers innovation from fresh perspectives, encompassing topics such as services innovation, inward investment and innovation, creative industry innovation and green innovation. It is divided into seven sections, dealing with regional innovation and growth theory, dynamics, evolution, agglomeration, innovation 'worlds', innovation system institutions, and innovation governance and policy. This definitive compendium on regional innovation and growth will undoubtedly appeal to teachers, students, researchers and practitioners of innovation and growth dynamics worldwide.




The Capacity to Innovate


Book Description

In The Capacity to Innovate, Sarah Giest provides insight into the collaborative and absorptive capacities needed to provide public support to local innovation through cluster organizations. The book offers a detailed view of the vertical, multi-level, and horizontal dynamics in clusters and cluster policy and addresses how they are managed and supported. Using the biotechnology field as an example, Giest highlights challenges in the collaborative efforts of public bodies, private companies, and research institutes to establish a successful ecosystem of innovation in this sector. The book argues that cluster policy in collaboration with cluster organizations should focus on absorptive and collaborative capacity elements missing in the cluster context in order to improve performance. Currently, governments operate at different levels – from the local to the supranational – in order to support clusters, and cluster policies are often pursued alongside other programs, leading to uncoordinated efforts and ineffective cluster strategies. The Capacity to Innovate advocates for a coordinated effort by government and cluster organizations to support capacity elements lacking within the specific cluster context.