The Associational Economy : Firms, Regions, and Innovation

The Associational Economy focuses on the ways firms are rediscovering the importance of regions in their quest to improve competitiveness through innovation. Evidence from firm and governance practices in four European regions supports more general arguments of the emergence of an `associational' economy based on partnership, networking, and collective learning.

Philip Cooke and Kevin Morgan explore important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Their special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a key factor in corporate and regional economic performance and the authors show how interactive innovation based on collective learning and associative practices are becoming increasingly significant. In-depth studies of inter-firm and firm-agency interactions are presented for four European regions: Baden-Württemberg and Emilia-Romagna as accomplished regional economies; Wales and the Basque Country as learning regions. The book is theoretically informed by an evolutionary economics perspective and draws policy conclusions which emphasise the importance of decentralized industrial policy in support of both corporate and regional economic development ambitions. It concludes that the associational economy may be the `third way'' between state and market co-ordination of modern economies.