The Geography of Innovation

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction

   • Maryann P. Feldman

   Pages 1-11

3. Why Location Matters for Innovative Activity

   • Maryann P. Feldman

   Pages 13-28

4. Spatial Patterns of Innovation

   • Maryann P. Feldman

   Pages 29-49

5. Technological Infrastructure

   • Maryann P. Feldman

   Pages 51-75

6. Regional Innovative Capacity

   • Maryann P. Feldman

   Pages 77-91

7. Innovation Policy

   • Maryann P. Feldman

   Pages 93-111

8. Back Matter

   Pages 113-155

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This book offers a geographic dimension to the study of innovation and product commercialization. Building on the literature in economics and geography, this book demonstrates that product innovation clusters spatially in regions which provide concentrations of the knowledge needed for the commercialization process. The book develops a conceptual model which links the location of new product innovations to the sources of these knowledge inputs. The geographic concentration of this knowledge fonns a technological infrastructure which promotes infonnation transfers, and lowers the risks and the costs of engaging in innovative activity. Empirical estimation confinns that the location of product innovation is related to the underlying technological infrastructure, and that the location of the knowledge inputs are mutually­ reinforcing in defining a region's competitive advantage. The book concludes by considering the policy implications of these fmdings for both private finns and state governments. This work is intended for academics, policy practitioners and students in the fields of innovation and technological change, geography and regional science, and economic development. This work is part of a larger research effort to understand why the location of innovative activity varies spatially, specifically the externalities and increasing returns which accrue to location. xi Acknowledgements This work has benefitted greatly from discussions with friends and colleagues. I wish to specifically note the contribution of Mark Kamlet, Wes Cohen, Richard Florida, Zoltan Acs and David Audretsch. I would like to thank Gail Cohen Shaivitz for her dedication in editing the final manuscript.

• development
• innovation
• knowledge
• research

• Department of Economics, Goucher College, Baltimore, USA

  Maryann P. Feldman

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