Keywords
Citation
Harris, P. (2000), "Regional Innovation Potential: The Case of the US Machine Tool Industry", Work Study, Vol. 49 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2000.07949gae.004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited
Regional Innovation Potential: The Case of the US Machine Tool Industry
Regional Innovation Potential: The Case of the US Machine Tool Industry
Steven R. NivinAshgateISBN 0 7546 1008 X£37.50
Keywords: Innovation, USA, Machine tools
The concept of "clustering" suggests that regional development and innovation potential can be closely linked. Steven Nivin analyses this linkage by looking specifically at the contribution to economic development of technological change. He looks at the processes driving innovation and helps us understand the development of economies. Specifically, the study explores the concept of innovation potential and the factors that result in variations in innovation potential across metropolitan areas, using the US machine tool industry as a case study. To provide a comparison, the same models are also estimated for the semiconductor industry.
The findings indicate that urbanisation economies, localisation economies, human capital, universities, and invention-derived knowledge are significant factors. The study assesses the contributions of three different skill levels of human capital: college educated, graduate degree, and locally produced PhD's in mechanical and electrical engineering. Only the graduate and PhD measures are found to be significant, indicating the importance of having a highly skilled pool of labour within the region. The influences of the factors appear to be similar across industries with some slight differences.
The transfer of knowledge through patents is also studied. It is found that the transmission of this knowledge is slower between different industries, relative to the transmission within the same industry.
This is a useful reminder of the importance of regional development and is a significant contribution to developing economic geography, and public policy.
Phil Harris