The Cheshire cat's grin: innovation, regional development and the Cambridge case

Abstract

The prevailing approach to high-tech regions locates the determinants of growth in attributes of the regional environment. The case of Cambridge, England is used to illustrate the weaknesses of this approach and to highlight the importance of the broader political and economic context. In Britain, the institutional legacies of a century of industrial decline and a pattern of clientelistic relations between the state and the big electronics firms constrain the growth of innovative enterprises and the development of regions such as Cambridge. Future research should consider how political relationships at both national and the local levels affect innovation and regional development.

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