In the global information society, innovation is a highly pervasive process that influences all facets of human life: cultural, economic, political, and institutional. A desire to comprehend the impacts of innovative change on so many areas of urban life prompted the research project that has resulted in the publication of this volume.
Our research confirms that we are presently in the midst of an era of rapid and explosive change. The primary engine driving this latest transformation of the post-industrial society is generally thought to be technological. But such an explanation is too...

During the seventies and eighties, the industries associated with the transportation of goods and people have been exposed to some profound changes. The quickening pace of technological change - with its growing emphasis on telecommunications, knowledge-handling capacity, and air transportation - is increasing the discrete character of the world economy. Thus the network structure of global development patterns is becoming more important, with metropolitan centres as key nodes and rapid transportation routes as key links. In this evolutionary situation, changes in the preferred mix of...

Today, telecommunication systems are expanding and evolving at a remarkable rate, with the aid of fiber optics, satellites and comput erized switchboard systems. Airline systems are providing faster and more efficient networks for world-wide human transportation. Com puters are now generally accessible to virtually all industries and many households. But perhaps the most important factor is that education systems are expanding the knowledge base for city populations, thus resulting in increased efficiency in the use of computers, telecommuni cations and rapid transportation systems. The...

The book examines the complex relationships between infrastructure and the rest of the economy. In particular, it focuses on the contentious issue of whether infrastructure investments stimulate productivity growth, issues of pricing and ownership, and also development problems such as environmental damage. Methods range from traditional production function models and compensating variation approaches to nonlinear methods of dynamic analysis. There is a unique emphasis on the ability of these different methods to allow for the complex interdependencies involved. Six of the fifteen papers deal...

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at an international symposium on research and development, industrial change and economic policy organized and hosted by the University of Karlstad, Viinnland, Sweden. Situated about halfway between Stockholm and Oslo, Karlstad stands on the River Klara, which reaches north into the mountains of Norway. Founded by King Charles IX of Sweden, whose statue stands in the city centre beside the river, the city celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1984. For many decades the wealth of Karlstad has been based on traditional industries such as iron,...

In the global information society, innovation is a highly pervasive process that influences all facets of human life: cultural, economic, political, and institutional. A desire to comprehend the impacts of innovative change on so many areas of urban life prompted the research project that has resulted in the publication of this volume.
Our research confirms that we are presently in the midst of an era of rapid and explosive change. The primary engine driving this latest transformation of the post-industrial society is generally thought to be technological. But such an explanation is too...