Innovation and the Growth of Cities

Innovation is the driving force of the dynamics of regions and cities.

Innovation however, is not an autonomous miracle, but is emerging out of knowledge creation and adoption.

Thus, knowledge production is at the heart of economic progress.

Zoltan Acs offers in this book an overview of the relationship between successful entrepreneurship and knowledge-intensive areas.

His ideas form a blend of elements from the new economic geography, the new growth theory and the new innovation economics theory, and provide a thorough analysis of the changing economic landscape in the USA.This book explores the relationship between industrial innovation and economic growth at the regional level, and reaches conclusions as to why some regions grow but others decline.

While the analysis draws on industrial organization, labour economics, regional science, geography and entrepreneurship, the book focuses on innovation and the growth of cities with the use of endogenous growth theory.The author argues that industrial innovation is the driving force behind long-run regional growth, and explores the issues of how technology and entrepreneurship can foster and promote growth at the regional level.