Innovation, Regional Integration, and Development in Africa

Innovation, Regional Integration, and Development in Africa

Author: Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-07-26

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 3319921800

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This edited volume discusses the role of innovation and regional integration in economic development in Africa. Over the past five decades, post-colonial African countries have struggled to break loose from the trap of poverty and underdevelopment through the adoption of various development strategies at regional, national, and continental levels. However, the results of both national and regional efforts at advancing development on the continent have been mixed. Although the importance of agglomeration and fusion of institutions have long been recognized as possible path to achieving economic development in Africa, the approach to regionalism has been unduly focused on market integration, while neglecting other dimensions such as social policy, mobility of labor, educational policy, biotechnology, regional legislation, manufacturing, innovation, and science and technology. This volume investigates the link between innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa, arguing that the immediate and long term development of Africa lies not just in the structural transformation of its economies but in the advancement of scientific and innovation capacities. The book is divided into four parts. Part I addresses the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of innovation and regional integration in Africa. Part II presents case studies which examine how regional economic institutions are fostering innovation in Africa. Part III of the book deals with sectoral issues on innovation and integrated development in Africa. Part IV sets the future research on innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa. Combining theoretical analysis and a comparative, interdisciplinary approach, this volume is appropriate for researchers and students interested in economic development, political economy, African studies, international relations, agricultural science, and geography, as well as policymakers in regional economic communities and the African Union.


Science and Technology Parks and Regional Economic Development

Science and Technology Parks and Regional Economic Development

Author: Sara Amoroso

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-12-11

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 3030309630

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This book is the first collection of scholarly writings on science and technology parks (STPs) that has an international perspective. It explores concrete ways to systematically collect information on public and private organizations related to their support of and activities in STPs, including incubation to start-up and scale-up, and collaborations with centers of knowledge creation. Rather than perpetuate the qualitative assessment of successful practices, the focus of this book is to present quantitative and qualitative evidence of the impact of STPs on regional development and to raise awareness on the importance of systematic data collection and analysis. Only through a systematic collection of data on fiscal identification numbers of companies, universities, and university spin-offs will it be possible to conduct current and especially future analyses on the impact of STPs on entrepreneurship, effectiveness of technology transfer, and regional economic development. To this extent, the synergistic views of academics, representatives from STPs, and policy experts are crucial.


Regional Innovation Systems and Sustainable Development: Emerging Technologies

Regional Innovation Systems and Sustainable Development: Emerging Technologies

Author: Ord¢¤ez de Pablos, Patricia

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2010-08-31

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1616928484

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The regional development of society and economy are closely related with innovative capacities. As the benefits of Regional information systems in establishing innovative regional planning are more widely recognized, there is a greater demand for a definitive text on the nascent subject. Regional Innovation Systems and Sustainable Development: Emerging Technologies promotes scientific discussion on standards and practices of regional development, while also covering emerging research topics in regional innovation systems and sustained development. A leading source of information from experts in the field, this text demonstrates the capacity of regional innovation systems, information technology, management and sustainable development for the mutual understanding, prosperity and well being of all the citizens in the world.


Handbook of Regional Innovation and Growth

Handbook of Regional Innovation and Growth

Author: Philip Cooke

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 649

ISBN-13: 0857931504

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Today, economic growth is widely understood to be conditioned by productivity increases which are, in turn, profoundly affected by innovation. This volume explores these key relationships between innovation and growth, bringing together experts from both fields to compile a unique Handbook. The Handbook considers innovation from fresh perspectives, encompassing topics such as services innovation, inward investment and innovation, creative industry innovation and green innovation. It is divided into seven sections, dealing with regional innovation and growth theory, dynamics, evolution, agglomeration, innovation 'worlds', innovation system institutions, and innovation governance and policy. This definitive compendium on regional innovation and growth will undoubtedly appeal to teachers, students, researchers and practitioners of innovation and growth dynamics worldwide.


The Fountain of Knowledge

The Fountain of Knowledge

Author: Shiri M. Breznitz

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2014-07-30

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 0804791929

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Today, universities around the world find themselves going beyond the traditional roles of research and teaching to drive the development of local economies through collaborations with industry. At a time when regions with universities are seeking best practices among their peers, Shiri M. Breznitz argues against the notion that one university's successful technology transfer model can be easily transported to another. Rather, the impact that a university can have on its local economy must be understood in terms of its idiosyncratic internal mechanisms, as well as the state and regional markets within which it operates. To illustrate her argument, Breznitz undertakes a comparative analysis of two universities, Yale and Cambridge, and the different outcomes of their attempts at technology commercialization in biotech. By contrasting these two universities—their unique policies, organizational structure, institutional culture, and location within distinct national polities—she makes a powerful case for the idea that technology transfer is dependent on highly variable historical and environmental factors. Breznitz highlights key features to weigh and engage in developing future university and economic development policies that are tailor-made for their contexts.


Local and Regional Systems of Innovation

Local and Regional Systems of Innovation

Author: John de la Mothe

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1461555515

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In an era of intense globalization, the critical role of the region as a center for economic development has sometimes been overlooked. Moreover, innovation is increasingly being recognized as being a critical driver of economic growth and development. However, innovation is no longer being seen as a function of research and development; nor is R&D being seen as being sufficient for the creation of technology-intensive industries and the valuable economic spillovers that result in high value-added jobs and exports. Indeed, much more than ever before, it is the combination of factors that contributes to innovation - ranging over skills, finance, production, user-producer linkages, the capacity of organizations to learn, and multilayered government policies - that make local regions the favorites of fortune. Using an evolutionary economic perspective, and drawing on a range of disciplines and accomplished scholars, Local and Regional Systems of Innovation explores important issues at a conceptual, methodological and comparative level concerning how successful locations actually construct their comparative advantage.


Innovation and Regional Development in China

Innovation and Regional Development in China

Author: Ingo Liefner

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-24

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1136259368

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Although China is now the ‘factory of the world’, there is no reason to expect that it will always be content with manufacturing labor-intensive goods for foreign corporations. Scholars must now ask: What is the current level of innovation in China? And how can we face this challenge and renovate industrial production and innovation capacities in developed countries? This edited volume investigates the unique characteristics of Chinese innovation and regional development, China’s policy framework, and the role that transnational corporations play in China’s increasing innovation activities. This book contributes to the heated debate regarding pathways for technology progress and regional development in developing countries, and identifies the ways in which local production networks respond to different configurations of external linkages. Linking patterns of global and local production networks with the trajectories of technology development and regional development allows the authors to theorize and test whether, and how, particular configurations of production networks generate divergent long-term local productivity growth and technological development outcomes. Innovation and Regional Development in China will be of interest to geographers, economists, China specialists, development specialists, and scholars working on innovation and regional development in developing areas and transition countries.