David V. Gibson

Regional technology-based economic development and the recruitment and retention of talent is a top priority of city-regions in the United States and in countries around the world. However, policy recommendations from government officials, industry leaders and academics are often ambiguous or are in conflict. To address these issues, this book deals with the complex intersection of institutional theory and national and regional policy initiatives.It provides an overview of United States and Japanese technology policy development at the national level with case analyses of Austin, Texas and Tsuruoka, Japan to identify key regional strategies and processes that have resulted in successful endogenous technology-based business development and job creation. It offers an innovative analytical perspective to improve our understanding of how successful tech-based regional economic development works in theory and practice. The book’s discussion is grounded on important technology paradigm shifts in the US and Japan from 1970 to 1980 leading to current realities. To address the complex “Puzzle of Space” conundrum, the authors describe similarities and differences in regional development processes in Austin and Tsuruoka. They present a generalizable model indicating necessary and sufficient conditions linked to the building of new “Small i” institutions at normative and cognitive levels of analysis in consort with regulative policy and innovations at macro level “Capital I” institutions. The book clearly explains the relations between institutions and economic growth, an important issue in contemporary economics.The book’s conclusions clarify critical success factors for endogenous regional development growth theory and lead to recommendations for policymakers who are searching for ways to achieve success.

Despite the unprecedented development and growth of knowledge during the 20th century, the evolution of a peaceful 21st century will depend on our ability to address the challenges of prosperity, sustainability, and security. From these challenges, this collection seeks to devise a research agenda to help us to understand better the knowledge-based economy.Science and technology have acquired increasing importance in the development of contemporary societies. Governments, firms, universities, and research laboratories all take part in the process of building what has been conceptualized as national and/or regional science and technology systems. The actions of these key players and the interactions between them determine the impact of science and technology activities and, more generally, of innovation strategies on the well-being of nations. One of the most important challenges in maximizing this impact is to understand and manage the complex processes that underlie world-class science and technology research, commercialization, and management. In addition, knowledge integration in key subjects is required to enhance economic wealth, shared prosperity, and social and cultural enhancement. In this context, this volume also addresses such important topics as policy and strategies for global sustainable development.

IC2 is a research institute which is active in developing programs in a variety of areas, from possible pricing strategies on the Internet to approaches to aid insurance regulators. This book examines the strategies and applications developed to forward these programs.What can research contribute in the way of innovative approaches to deal constructively with the burgeoning problems related to juvenile delinquency? How can the Internet and the World Wide Web be used to advance health care? How should the services of the Internet be priced when the US government ceases its support? These are some of the questions addressed in this volume illustrating the impact of IC2.The book is divided into three sections: the first examines new programs being developed by IC2; the second looks at new methodologies; and the third reviews new science. The research topics covered point to potential ways of bringing research into practical use. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers interested in the improvement of management and social policy issues.