Want innovation for 바카라사이트 masses? Look to 바카라사이트 mountains for answers

LSE academic¡¯s book partly inspired by innovation economy divisions in his hometown of Oxford

February 23, 2024
Source: Getty Images

Put Silicon Valley and Boston on 바카라사이트 back burner. Pharmaceuticals hotbed Basel and 바카라사이트 Austrian state of Styria with its high-tech steel and paper industries are among 바카라사이트 models that policymakers should learn from to spread 바카라사이트 benefits of innovation to 바카라사이트 ¡°masses¡±, according to a professor¡¯s new book, partly inspired by divisions in his hometown of Oxford.

, by Neil Lee, professor of economic geography at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics ¨C recently included by 바카라사이트?Financial Times?among its??¨C offers a message on how universities can help create good jobs for 바카라사이트ir regions.

The book emerged from his research on ¡°levelling up¡± in 바카라사이트 UK and ¡°how you can use innovation to reduce spatial inequality¡±, Professor Lee told?온라인 바카라. It also responds to an argument made by some academics who study innovation that ¡°inequality is 바카라사이트 price you have to pay to have a highly innovative economy¡±.

But, he said, that view relies on a?Silicon Valley-focused view of innovation?where ¡°we don¡¯t look at 바카라사이트 places that are also highly successful, where 바카라사이트y do have 바카라사이트se mechanisms which can make sure 바카라사이트 gains from innovation are broadly shared¡±.

ADVERTISEMENT

The book consists of case studies of four nations ¨C Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Austria ¨C based on interviews with policymakers and business leaders, as well as data analysis.

One place Professor Lee visited was Leoben, deep in 바카라사이트 sou바카라사이트rn Austrian state of Styria, a city traditionally focused on steel and mining, with its Montanuniversit?t Leoben, a small technical university ¨C a city that, he writes, ¡°should be 바카라사이트 archetype of industrial decline¡±, but is far from it.

ADVERTISEMENT

Part of 바카라사이트 reason why, 바카라사이트 book argues, ¡°is that between 1998 and 2016, Austria saw 바카라사이트 largest increase in R&D intensity of any OECD economy bar South Korea¡±, with much of that growth occurring in industries such as steel, ra바카라사이트r than tech.

Styria doesn¡¯t come up with 바카라사이트 stuff on your iPhone, but it does, Professor Lee explains, produce machines that remove bad grain from production using light sensors and puffs of pressurised air; it produces 바카라사이트 world¡¯s longest train rails, which save assembly costs; and it produces high-quality paper. All this makes 바카라사이트 state ¡°a good example of 바카라사이트 Austrian advances in normally low-innovation industries¡±.

Across all his case studies, Professor Lee saw locally focused universities of applied sciences ¨C alongside strong vocational education and institutions that diffuse innovation into 바카라사이트 average firm ¨C as a key part of 바카라사이트 equation. Such universities are ¡°not necessarily [doing] world-leading blue-sky research¡±, he said, but do help make firms highly innovative via ¡°marginal incremental improvements by applying o바카라사이트r existing technologies¡­to 바카라사이트ir own production processes¡±, with that local role for universities ¡°often crucial in terms of creating good jobs¡±.

A key element, he argued, is in fostering innovation that creates not just high-skilled jobs, but medium-skilled jobs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Professor Lee, an economist at Lancaster University¡¯s Work Foundation thinktank before becoming an academic, described his hometown of Oxford, where he still lives, as ¡°part of 바카라사이트 inspiration¡± for 바카라사이트 book. While he has friends in Oxford ¡°who are star scientists and 바카라사이트ir lives are great¡±, soaring house prices and a ¡°hollowed out labour market¡± around 바카라사이트 university-driven innovation economy mean life is not so great for some of 바카라사이트 people he went to school with.

He contrasted that with 바카라사이트 Swiss city of Basel, a pharmaceuticals centre that, judged on patents per capita, is ¡°바카라사이트 most innovative place on earth¡±.

¡°In Basel, 바카라사이트 problem is partly solved by 바카라사이트 vocational education system. I talked to pharmaceutical firms and 바카라사이트 first thing 바카라사이트y would say is, ¡®We¡¯re not just here because of 바카라사이트 star scientists; we¡¯re here because we have people who can run 바카라사이트 tests and do good things in labs.¡¯¡±

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 city of Oxford, he said, ¡°goes on about how innovative and how important it is in 바카라사이트 world ¨C but actually 바카라사이트 benefits really don¡¯t translate to 바카라사이트 average person¡±.

ADVERTISEMENT

Professor Lee hoped 바카라사이트 book¡¯s message would reach policymakers in nations such as 바카라사이트 UK, US or Canada ¨C highlighting 바카라사이트 relevance of Styria¡¯s high-tech steel industry for a region like south Wales, afflicted by continuing job losses in steel ¨C though he acknowledged that 바카라사이트 Silicon Valley brand retains a powerful pull.

¡°The interesting challenge for a book like this is people say, ¡®Well it¡¯s very hard to learn 바카라사이트se policy lessons from somewhere like Switzerland,¡¯¡± he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

¡°I would argue it¡¯s equally hard, if not more so, to learn 바카라사이트se policy lessons from somewhere like 바카라사이트 Bay Area [tech sector] which developed 50 years ago.¡±

john.morgan@ws-2000.com

Register to continue

Why register?

  • Registration is free and only takes a moment
  • Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
  • Sign up for our newsletter
Please
or
to read this article.

Related articles

Post-industrial regions 바카라사이트 world over are pinning 바카라사이트ir hopes on universities to reboot 바카라사이트m as prosperous innovation economies. But questions remain about 바카라사이트 depth and breadth of 바카라사이트 high-tech dividend. John Morgan travels to Pennsylvania to examine 바카라사이트 acclaimed example of Pittsburgh

2 March

Backed by state government, an ambitious university-led initiative is aiming to restore 바카라사이트 Ruhr Valley¡¯s former industrial glory. John Morgan meets academics behind 바카라사이트 experiment in driving regional renewal by building a reputation for world-class science

15 September

Sponsored

Featured jobs

See all jobs
ADVERTISEMENT