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This book provides the first interdisciplinary review of the triad of knowledge, space, economy on entering the twenty-first century. Drawing on a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, the first part of the book comprises statements drawn from leading academics on the role of knowledge in capitalism. The remaining two parts explore the landscape of knowledge capitalism through a series of analyses of knowledge in action within a range of economic, political and cultural contexts

In this paper we analyse regional variations in the characteristics, performance, and growth of small and medium-sized manufacturing and business service enterprises in Britain, with particular reference to their impact on the 'North—South divide' in British regional economic development. Using a unique national survey of nearly 2000 smaller businesses, we identify regional differences in enterprise growth rates, market specialisation, innovation rates and research and development intensity, occupational structures, and labour-market problems. We also reveal differences in the frequency of use of government advisory agencies, and in the rating by firms in different regions of key competitive advantages and constraints on growth. These differences do not however conform to simple traditional stereotypes suggested by images of a declining North and a growing South. The implications of these findings both for understanding recent regional economic development in Britain and for policies such as those of local Training and Enterprise Councils are considered.

Service activities of all kinds are now acknowledged as key players in economic development, societal change, and policy-making worldwide. This exciting new Handbook helps to clarify ongoing conceptual debates about the nature of service-led economies and push back the frontiers of current critical thinking and research agendas on the role and impact of service activities at a variety of scales. The Handbook features original and stimulating essays by international scholars from a range of disciplines. They actively raise awareness of and provoke debates on the opportunities and challenges pos

The operation both of private and of public sector organisations consists of a complex interplay between in-house and external expertise and knowledge. The authors use a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in England to explore their use of external expertise and the location of external advisers. They also draw upon surveys both of private sector consultants and of personal business advisers (PBAs) employed by Business Link companies. Network analysis is used to identify the ways in which weak and strong ties either enable or constrain opportunities for SMEs to access the knowledge and expertise available both from private sector business-service companies and from state agencies. SME owner-managers have too many strong ties with their local business community. The paucity of weak tics with individuals located elsewhere in the United Kingdom restricts the ability of SMEs to search for business-service expertise outside their local area. An analysis of the Business Link initiative is undertaken which suggests that the spatial monopoly held by each Business Link company does not encourage them to participate in the development of a national knowledge-and-enterprise network. The analysis suggests that a dual information economy may be developing in the United Kingdom in which large firms arc able to access specialist external expertise irrespective of location, whereas SMEs are tied into local providers of more generalist expertise.

The growth of business services in the United Kingdom during the 1980s is reviewed, and especially the role of small firms. Reports the results of an intensive questionnaire survey, undertaken in 1991, of a sample of small management consultancy and market research companies in three areas; inner London, the outer south east, and north west England. In interpreting the demand and supply characteristics of these firms, emphasis is placed on their interactions with the internal labour market strategies of predominantly large client organisations. Generally, the sample firms offer consultancy and marketing expertise which such clients do not provide from their own skill resources. Their founders were also often originally employees of such organisations, especially outside London. Regional economic and social characteristics mould the activities of these firms, even though many engage in a significant degree of interregional trade. The markets served, types of specialisation, the originating process, and the ages of founders show marked differences between the two sectors and the three areas.

Future scenarios provide challenging, plausible and relevant stories about how the future could unfold. Urban Futures (UF) research has identified a substantial set (>450) of seemingly disparate scenarios published over the period 1997–2011 and within this research, a sub-set of >160 scenarios has been identified (and categorized) based on their narratives according to the structure first proposed by the Global Scenario Group (GSG) in 1997; three world types (Business as Usual, Barbarization, and Great Transitions) and six scenarios, two for each world type (Policy Reform—PR, Market Forces—MF, Breakdown—B, Fortress World—FW, Eco-Communalism—EC and New Sustainability Paradigm—NSP). It is suggested that four of these scenario archetypes (MF, PR, NSP and FW) are sufficiently distinct to facilitate active stakeholder engagement in futures thinking. Moreover they are accompanied by a well-established, internally consistent set of narratives that provide a deeper understanding of the key fundamental drivers (e.g., STEEP—Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental and Political) that could bring about realistic world changes through a push or a pull effect. This is testament to the original concept of the GSG scenarios and their development and refinement over a 16 year period."