Regional economic development has experienced considerable dynamism over recent years. Perhaps the most notable cases were the rise of China and India to emergent country status by the turn of the millennium.

Agglomeration, Industrial Districts and Industry Clusters: Trends of the 21st Century Literature reviews the early work of 21st Century scholarship on agglomerations, industrial districts and industry clusters and explores the context to the prominent themes that emerged between 2000 and 2015. A specific objective of this monograph is to highlight the role of entrepreneurs in the literature. After an introduction, this monograph examines the potential of and for industry concentration. One of the factors identified in these articles as important for driving industry concentration is the entrepreneurship that operates in the region. Therefore, Section 3 offers a review of the literature that focuses on entrepreneurship and industry concentration. Section 4 examines the concentration of firms, buyers and suppliers within a region, which has offered opportunity for scholars to examine networks, relationships and industry concentration. Next, the author presents the research around why firms agglomerate and the noted benefit to firms that operate in networks, knowledge and industry concentration that was another theme that emerged in the 21st century literature. Whereas much of the industry focus of empirical studies published in the 20th century focused on manufacturing firms or those in the fashion industry, the 21st century noted a shift in industry focus with considerable discussion on creative and knowledge based industries; Section 6 focuses on the topics around creative and high technology industries and industry concentration. Each section concludes with thoughts on the scholarship that is needed to continue advancing the important topics on industry concentration. A summary of these thoughts is provided in Section 7.

This impressive new book uniquely focuses on the phenomenon of media clusters and is designed to inform policymakers, scholars, and media practitioners about the underlying challenges of media firm agglomerations, their potential, and their effects. Including an array of distinguished contributors, this book explores the rationale and purpose of media clusters, how they compare with clusters in other industries, and the significant differences in characteristics, development processes and drivers among various media clusters worldwide. It incorporates perspectives from economic geography and economics, public development and industrial policy, organizational studies, entrepreneurship, as well as cultural and media studies, to provide a comprehensive view that provides critical insight into these clusters.

The economics of regional clusters, where business formation, technological innovation, and the emergence of a highly-skilled labor force converge, has become a popular topic. This fascinating book applies a variety of tools and models to analyze, in depth, the formation and growth of high-tech clusters. It does this first by exploring the institutional forces that promote the failure or success of such agglomerations, and then by focusing on the dynamics of the labor force.

When firms and people are located near each other in cities and in industrial clusters, they benefit in various ways, including by reducing the costs of exchanging goods and ideas. One might assume that these benefits would become less important as transportation and communication costs fall. Paradoxically, however, cities have become increasingly important, and even within cities industrial clusters remain vital. Agglomeration Economics brings together a group of essays that examine the reasons why economic activity continues to cluster together despite the falling costs of moving goods and transmitting information. The studies cover a wide range of topics and approach the economics of agglomeration from different angles. Together they advance our understanding of agglomeration and its implications for a globalized world.

'This volume is an important step in furthering the discussion about how cluster strategies work and the implications for theory and policy.' – Jennifer Clark, Review of Regional Studies The role of innovations and clusters has increasingly dominated local and regional development policies in recent decades. This authoritative and accessible Handbook considers important aspects of high-tech clusters, analyses insightful cluster case studies, and provides a number of recommendations for cluster policies. The chapters in this Handbook are written by international experts in the field and present evidence of the scope, effects, and potential of clusters as concentrations of innovative activities. The authors emphasize that cluster development is not the only option for local and regional development and argue that for cluster policies to be worthwhile, supporting policies in fields such as education, R&D, transportation, and communication infrastructure must accompany most cluster policies. Furthermore, several contributions stress that clusters often develop along a life cycle that may end with decline and even the disappearance of clusters. Consequently, this Handbook provides the basis for improving both research on innovation and clusters and the formulation and implementation of cluster policies. Furnishing the reader with rich, comprehensive discussion of innovations and clusters, this Handbook will be an essential source for researchers and academics in the field, as well as policymakers, planners and specialists, development experts and agencies, and consultants.

Entrepreneurship and Regional Development aims to make a theoretical and practical contribution meeting the need for studies on the impact of clusters on entrepreneurship and societal outcomes. This book aims to answer the following research question: Do clusters matter to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship outcomes at the societal level?