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When High Tech ceases to be High Growth: The Loss of Dynamism of the Cambridgeshire Regio

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Abstract

This paper analyses mechanisms of decline and renewal in high-tech regions, illustrated with empirical evidence on the Cambridgeshire high-tech region in the UK. The paper contributes to ecological (‘carrying capacity’) and evolutionary (path dependence) theories of regional development. It provides a longitudinal, multilevel analysis of invention, firm, and industry dynamics and change in the supply and costs of resources in order to explain the decline of high-tech regions. While expansion of the Cambridgeshire high-tech region has been sustained over time, recently forces of decline have been stronger than those of renewal. Decline in employment has been most marked in the local telecommunications and biotech sectors, while the creation of variety by new firms has fallen off most strongly in the local IT software & services industry. Increasing diseconomies of agglomeration are in evidence, together with a contraction of finance that may have been a harbinger of financial stringency to come.

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  • E. Stam & R. Martin, 2012. "When High Tech ceases to be High Growth: The Loss of Dynamism of the Cambridgeshire Regio," Working Papers 12-10, Utrecht School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:use:tkiwps:1210
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Henning & Erik Stam & Rik Wenting, 2013. "Path Dependence Research in Regional Economic Development: Cacophony or Knowledge Accumulation?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(8), pages 1348-1362, September.
    2. Bos, J.W.B. & Stam, E., 2011. "Gazelles, industry growth and structural change," Research Memorandum 018, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    3. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2011. "Conceptualizing Cluster Evolution: Beyond the Life Cycle Model?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(10), pages 1299-1318, November.
    4. Jaap W. B. Bos & Erik Stam, 2014. "Gazelles and industry growth: a study of young high-growth firms in The Netherlands," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(1), pages 145-169, February.

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    high-tech regions; industrial dynamics; innovation; entrepreneurship; cluster decline;
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