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Regional Innovation Systems: Implications for Nonmetropolitan Areas and Workers in the South
Author(s) -
BARKLEY DAVID L.,
HENRY ARK S.,
NAIR SANTOSH
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
growth and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.657
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1468-2257
pISSN - 0017-4815
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2257.2006.00318.x
Subject(s) - metropolitan area , economic geography , population , earnings , population growth , demographic economics , regional development , regional science , economic growth , cluster (spacecraft) , geography , business , economics , demography , sociology , finance , archaeology , computer science , programming language
A public policy response to global competition is the creation of a geographic concentration of innovative activity (regional innovation systems [RIS]) that will enhance metropolitan economic development through knowledge spillovers, product development, and new firm spin‐offs. This article identifies three types of RIS in the thirteen southern states based on a cluster analysis of twenty indicators of innovative and entrepreneurial activity. Next, regression analysis is used to determine if the 1990–2000 growth rates of nonmetro county population, employment, and earnings were related to proximity to an RIS after controlling for other county characteristics associated with local economic development. The research findings indicate that nonmetro counties near an RIS experienced more rapid population and employment growth; however, changes in nonmetro growth rates varied by type of regional innovation system. In addition, proximity to an RIS had a stronger impact on nonmetro population change than on nonmetro job growth.