Bringing together a wide range of empirical studies from around the world (Sweden, Norway, Austria, Germany, France, UK, Israel, Russia, China, Taiwan, Argentina, Canada), framed in related contemporary theoretical frameworks, this book examines the question of the significance of proximate vs. more distant relationships for economic agents' performance and local economic development. While this question has been the subject of intense debates in recent years, it is obvious that proximity and distance are not explanatory factors as such. The book argues for the need to understand the aims of economic relationships, the nature of the regional environment in which they originate, and the scale at which they operate. The book suggests that the notions of diversity, innovativeness, maturity and multiple scales should be incorporated into the debates on the significance of proximity for economic performance.

Northern landscapes are both real places and representations, imagined spaces - notions which are bound to collide in landscape photography. In this book, photographers, academics, curators, and archivists from Germany, Finland, Scandinavia, the US, and the UK address urgent questions about environmental degradation, globalization, consumerism, and the role of new technologies of representation in relation to landscape. Wide-ranging case studies examine the interpretation, experience, and appropriation of landscape in northern Europe, northern England, Scotland, and the Nordic countries. The book explores tensions in landscape photography between an emphasis on proximity and the embodied experience of place and space, and an advocacy of distance and critical engagement and a questioning of the primacy of direct experience.

Firms are at the very heart of modern day life. They come in a seemingly infinite variety - from transnationals to small firm, from corporations to branch plants, to subsidiaries and joint ventures, from subcontractors to franchisees, from sole proprietorships to partnerships, from manufacturers to service providers and retailers. For the most part we view them as the creators, destroyers, and repositories of jobs - the creators and destroyers of people's livelihoods, lives, and dreams. But, deciding just what a firm is is neither a simple nor a straightforward task. Against a background of the dynamic complexity and plurality that business forms (and firms) can assume, there is a constant search within academic research for the processes that create and maintain both enterprise and enterprises in capitalist societies: a search for a theory of the firm. This book addresses some of the gaps in the current state of the theory of the firm from an economic geography perspective: issues around the boundaries of the firm; the collective agency of the firm; the political firm, financial markets, and the state; and the firm in place.

Science is increasingly defined by multidimensional collaborative networks. Despite the unprecedented growth of scientific collaboration around the globe – the collaborative turn – geography still matters for the cognitive enterprise. This book explores how geography conditions scientific collaboration and how collaboration affects the spatiality of science. This book offers a complex analysis of the spatial aspects of scientific collaboration, addressing the topic at a number of levels: individual, organizational, urban, regional, national, and international. Spatial patterns of scientific collaboration are analysed along with their determinants and consequences. By combining a vast array of approaches, concepts, and methodologies, the volume offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for the geography of scientific collaboration. The examples of scientific collaboration policy discussed in the book are taken from the European Union, the United States, and China. Through a number of case studies the authors analyse the background, development and evaluation of these policies. This book will be of interest to researchers in diverse disciplines such as regional studies, scientometrics, R&D policy, socio-economic geography and network analysis. It will also be of interest to policymakers, and to managers of research organisations.

This Handbook of Cities and Networks provides a cutting-edge overview of research on how economic, social and transportation networks affect processes both in and between cities. Exploring the ways in which cities connect and intertwine, it offers a varied set of collaborations, highlighting different theoretical, historical and methodological perspectives.

The geography of innovation is changing. Firstly, it is increasingly understood that innovative firms and organizations exhibit a wide variety of strategies, each differently attuned to diverse geographic contexts. Secondly, and concomitantly, the idea that cities, clusters and physical proximity are essential for innovation is evolving under the weight of new theorizing and empirical evidence. The aim of this handbook is to break with the many ideas and concepts that emerged during the course of the 1980s and 1990s, and to fully take into account the new reality of the internet, mobile communication technologies, personal mobility and globalization. The handbook gathers a new generation of ideas and authors to contribute to the debate, providing an empirically grounded critical appraisal of the prevailing knowledge on the geography of innovation. The 28 original chapters, written by a diverse range of scholars with widely differing views, present fresh empirical evidence and new perspectives relating to how innovation plays out across space in an age where mobility has increased, information is ubiquitous and globalisation has been realised. Overall, the dialogue between existing theory and new possibilities provides a unique and challenging appraisal of the connection between innovation, agglomeration and space. Offering cutting edge ideas in an accessible format, this will be an ideal resource for students and scholars of economic geography and innovation studies. The empirical evidence and analysis will also be of great value for policymakers and government officials. Contributors include:B.T. Asheim, H.W. Aslesen, A. Bain, P.-A. Balland, N. Bradford, A. Bramwell, C. Brennan-Horley, S. Breschi, C. Carraincazeaux, C. Chaminade, R. Comunian, C. De Fuentes, D. Doloreux, D. Eckert, A. Faggian, M. Ferru, R.D. Fitjar, K. Flanagan, C. Gibson, M. Grillitsch, M. Grossetti, G. Harirchi, F. Huber, A. Isaksen, S. Jewel, J. Karlsen, N. Komninos, J.-L. Klein, N. Lee, F. Lissoni, M. Maisonobe, J. Mattes, P. McCann, C.T. Noumedem, R. Ortega-Argilés, M. Plechero, A. Rallet, A. Rodriguez-Pose, R. Shearmur, H.L. Smith, B. Spigel, J. Tallec, E. Tranos, D.-G. Tremblay, F. Tödtling, M. Trippl, E. Uyarra, C. Yang, C. Wilkie, D.A. Wolfe

Multidisciplinary research on dynamics, problems, and potential of distributed work.

This book examines some of the evolving challenges faced by EU regional policy in light of enlargement and to assess some of the approaches and trends in terms of territorial development policy and practice that are emerging out of this process. Focusing on the experiences on Central and Eastern Europe, these chapters reflect on the diversity of approaches to spatial planning and the the politics of policy formation and multi-level governance operations – from local to trans-national agendas. Promoting increased awareness and understanding of these issues is the main purpose of the book, as well as harnessing the extensive capacity and ‘knowledge’ within these countries that can greatly enrich the discourse within an enlarged ‘epistemic community’ of European spatial planning academics, practitioners and policy-makers. The recently acquired CEE dimension provides a unique opportunity to examine the evolution of existing ‘epistemic communities’ as well as to explore the potential emergence of new ones..

This wide-ranging handbook studies and defines the paradigm of evolutionary economic geography. The distinguished contributors highlight the key conceptual, theoretical and empirical advances, and present a clear statement of their aims, objectives and methods.

The concepts of centrality and diversity are highly important in search algorithms, and play central roles in applications of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), social networks, and pattern recognition. This work examines the significance of centrality and diversity in representation, regression, ranking, clustering, optimization, and classification. The text is designed to be accessible to a broad readership. Requiring only a basic background in undergraduate-level mathematics, the work is suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers working in machine learning, data mining, social networks, and pattern recognition.