Towards Global Localizat Cl

As an up-to-date picture of attitudes and practices in two of the most dynamic industries in the world, "Towards Global Localization" is intended for all interested in industrial development and evolution. Focusing on the computing and communications industries, the expert team of authors have addressed the following questions: In an age of deregulation, is government or the market the stronger force for stimulating economic change? In seeking to understand economic change, what theory is most relevant? How important is location in the dramatic economic shifts taking place? As firms "go global", do they lose touch with their locales? Or, conversely, does more globalization also mean that companies value specific kinds of location more highly than others? Relating their account to both the international scene and a strong theoretical framework, the authors have focused on the contrasting economies of the UK and France; the one a laboratory for neo-market philosophy, the other still a centralized "dirigiste" state. They conclude that as leading industries - whether US, European or Japanese - grow more globally competitive, they become more internationally collaborative and more sensitive to the advantages of certain locations. This book, with its international authorship and European focal point, will interest all concerned with industrial evolution and development in advanced economies, whether they be economists, geographers, planners or students of business.