Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
365382,
Pnnrrd in Great Bntain
1992
0
lxJ1~718S/Y2 $5 00+0.00
192 Pergamon Press Lrd
PHILIP
COOKE,*
Cardiff,
U.K.
Introduction
of regulation
is largely a theory of control.
It suggests a solution
to the problem:
how can a
competitive
system of economic
activity remain in
place over long periods without collapsing under the
strain of its own internal,
centrifugal
forces? The
answer provided
is that the state and civil society
impose a regime of moderation
upon those fissiparous tendencies
(ACLIETTA,
1979). However, in a
period such as that experienced
by the Western
economies over the past decade, characterized
by oilThe theory
* Department
of City and Regional Planning, University of
Wales College of Cardiff, P.O. Box 906, Cardiff CF13YN,
Wales, U.K.
365
shocks, deindustrialization,
global competition,
the
formation of gigantic trading blocs, and challenges to
their dominant
mode of economic organization,
the
concept of regulation per se has come into question.
From a situation
where regulation
was seen as a
necessary
corrective
to capitalisms
cyclical and
spatially variable tendencies,
it has either been seen
as a major source of unnecessary
restraint
upon
enterprise
(e.g. in the U.K. and U.S.A.),
or as a
necessary
element
in enabling firms to compete more
effectively
(e.g. in Japan and most Western European countries).
It is in this second sense-regulation
as a form of proactive support for industry-that
this
paper is couched. There are two reasons for this.
Firstly, those countries
that have conceived
regu-
366
lation
Geoforum/Volume
in its proactive
sense
have undeniably
been
logical infrastructures.
23 Number
3/l 992
more economically
successful than those which have
perceived regulation
in its first, and negative, sense.
Secondly,
even in the U.K. and U.S.A.
there is
beginning to be a recognition
that the second sense of
regulation
is more appropriate
to dealing with the
competitive
challenges of the late twentieth century.
This is better developed in the U.S.A. than the U.K.
The remainder
interest
to regionalists
of this paper
contains
Regional Technology
Many countries have a longer tradition of implementing regional technology policies than the U.K. Even
Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
a sharp acceleration
in regional
(RTT) during the past decade.
Moreover,
took root
elapsed
3/l 992
in those countries
where new thinking
in the early 198Os, sufficient
time has
for monitoring
and review
underway.
In the present century,
a considerable
length of experience
include
367
Japan,
The objective
Germany
to be currently
the countries
in operating
with
RTI
and France.
of establishing
agencies
to support
RTT in Germany
can be divided
on collaborative
research. A change in
the 1980s involved boosting support for
nological know-how
to the furthest possible extent
and with a view, in particular,
to reaching small and
medium
enterprises
established
in Japan.
Measures
(SMEs)
is probably
longest
The Kohsetsushi centres date
eering, information
technology,
materials research,
biotechnology
and physics/chemistry.
Collaborative
funding rose in each field except biotechnology
between 1985 and 1988 and ranges from 100% in production
engineering
to 45% in biotechnology.
368
Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
30992
Vetrotex-Saint
Gobain, employing
at least 5000 researchers
in 1987. The CRITT
system is wellrepresented
in the region. There are three general
CRITT centres and seven specialized CRITI or local
transfer centres with two more projected.
a further
seven
local technological
networks
Finally,
In addition
counselling
Rhone-Alpes
SOCOTEL
(telecommunications)
and
CEMS
(meteorology)
were decentralized
to Brittany,
as
were three oceanography
centres, a military research
centre
tions).
and CCETI
(television
and telecommunicaToulouse received similar decentralizations
in
aerospace,
laboratories
have been
similarly transplanted.
Later, service provision to the
regions was improved
by the decentralization
of
ANVAR,
the French agency for the exploitation
of
research,
and CNRS the national
science research
council. In the 1980s CRITT, the regional centres for
innovation
and technology transfer, were set up to act
as a bridge between national R&D laboratories
and
local industry,
particularly
SMEs. Another
key element of French RTT is the establishment
of rechnopoles linking public and private R&D, vocational
training and advanced technology firms. Expenditure
on these so far amounts to at least FF2 billion. There
are approximately
16 such centres in existence and
the eight most developed
had 400 establishments
employing 10,000 people by 1986 (ROTHWELL
and
DODGSON,
1991).
If we look at the functioning
of French RTT at the
regional level, there is no better region to observe
than the RTI rich region of Rhone-Alpes
(which,
like Baden-Wurttemberg,
is one of the Four Motors
for Europe
with which Wales has close links).
Rhone-Alpes
has 10% of the French industrial
and
research base, but receives 18% of the regionalized
(excluding
Paris) civil R&D budget.
Rhone-Alpes
has the following
national
R&D centres:
CNRS
(National
Centre
for Scientific
Research),
INRA
(agronomy),
INSERM
(medical),
CENG (nuclear,
linked with CEA) and CERN (nuclear,
local facilities). There are nine universities
and polytechnic
institutes
supported
by 21 technical
high schools
employing
5000 academic
researchers.
In total,
public research in Rhone-Alpes
is represented
by 240
laboratories
employing 20,000 people. There are also
important
private research centres of companies like
Merlin-Gerin,
and
Rhone-Poulenc.
Pechiney,
SPRINT)
and private
firms.
The
regional
govern-
ment of Rhone-Alpes
only has a small part to play in
funding this activity. It devoted FF70 million to research and FF30 million to innovation
in 1989. The
regional arm of ANVAR spent FF170 million in the
same year. The budget for education
of the RhoneAlpes government
was FF1398 million or 49.6% of
the total; a portion of this supports research in technical high schools (COLLETIS,
1991; NEUMANN,
1991).
Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
369
30992
competences
applications,
of the
analysis,
ties of direct
relevance
diversified
customers,
defined primarily
by the nature of the
local economy.
The exception
to this might be a
specialist university research centre engaged in technology transfer. But even there, such a centre might
find itself being drawn into servicing a broader range
of firms at a lower level of technological
sophistication than its expertise might warrant. The Japanese
Kohsetsushi
system leans towards this grassroots
model even though it is, by now, subject to administrative guidance and some funding from MIT1 which
considerably
mitigates the uncoordinated
tendencies
implicit in the model.
Model 2: the network
approach.
The network
approach to RIT will consist of some elements of the
grassroots model, but the system will be more subject
to initiative taking, policy-formation
and to funding
originating
at the regional or nation-state
level of
government.
Networking requires at least a minimum
of strategic guidance,
animation
and direction from
above if it is to work efficiently.
However,
such
guidance needs to be handled with a light touch and
with sufficient sensitivity not to transgress the technological purview of the actors in the system. One key
way of giving broad direction to a variety of different
types of technology transfer centre is by linking funding for centres to a strategic research and technology
development
policy. Equally, though, there will be
scope in a network model for funding to be responsive
to initiatives from below. The competences
present in
a networked
RTT system may vary from the capacity
to undertake
basic research to the ability to offer
near-market,
relatively low-level information
and advice to firms. Networking
implies some degree of
coordination
by definition.
RTI centres at lower
levels of competence
learn of what is available from
those higher up the chain, as well as from govern-
expertise
provided
removed,
principle,
oped network
whole
cations,
example,
model
to meet
analysis
SMEs)
the capacity
a wide
range
of the system
of day-to-day
as a
appli-
(from, for
This model
approximates
to the German approach to RTT, particularly
as represented
in its successful
BadenWurttemberg
version.
Model 3: the dirigiste approach.
The dirigiste
model is essentially
the opposite of the grassroots
approach
and operates to implant an RTT system
where there is little initiative from below, or where
the initiative from below is weak or considered inadequate. Hence, the primary source of the RTT initiative will reside at central state, or possibly regional
government
level.
Because
advanced
industrial
economies have government
research laboratories
it
is natural that an RTT system should be built around
their decentralization,
because government
is both
controller
and principal
funder
of such centres.
Whether or not the main emphasis in RIT development rests on decentralization
of R&D laboratories
or on the design of a new system, the resources in a
dirigiste system will be overwhelmingly
public, at
least in the first instance, and largely governmental
in
origin. There is a high probability that, because of the
fundamental
nature of much governmental
research
laboratory activity, the competences
of the personnel
transferred
in a decentralized
system or employed in
a newly-established
system will tend towards basic
rather than applied, and large-firm facing rather than
SMEs. Due to the high degree of central administration and funding involved,
the level of coordination between centres in a regionalized
system may
be expected to be high. However, where local technology transfer centres coexist, there is no necessary
or obvious basis for linkage, indeed the opposite may
be the case. Equally the requirements
of local firms
may not be addressed in such a system. Finally, the
dirigiste nature of this model suggests the likelihood
of strong specialization
of centres with the aspiration
Geoforum/Volume
370
that these
innovation
France
and,
should stimulate
downstream
into the local economy.
dynamism
elsewhere.
it has contributed
chains
of
of the dirigiste
model
substantially
to the
of RhGne-Alpes,
it has been less successful
Moreover it has not obviated the need for
new intermediary
RTT centres
to interact
with firms
in the region.
This introductory
section
has sought
to achieve
two
of RTT
from elements
abstracted
countries,
mostly with a
than the U.K., have capi-
talized
in the innovation
this be?
The information
to be discussed in this paper points
strongly to one key reason. The U, K. lacks the inno-
agement
theless,
pointless
better
the corpse
to design a life-support
Far
system.
from the
3/1992
Meanwhile
competitor
poorer invention
record
innovative
strength or weakness: culture,
cial system, university-industry
relations
23 Number
Gap
The European
Commission
has been influential
in
encouraging
innovation
through its Framework
and
Structural programmes.
Statistics from the Commissions own Statistical
Office indicate
that regional
income is strongly associated
with expenditure
on
R&D (see Maps 1 and 2). E.C. initiatives
such as
ESPRIT,
BRITEIEURAM,
RACE, BRIDGE
and
so on support innovation
through encouraging
the
formation
of collaborative
R&D networks.
Many
other
progr~~mmes
such as SPRINT,
STRIDE,
STAR (and its follow-up T616matique).
LEADER,
INTERREG,
and RECITE
have an explicitly regional focus in their encouragement
of the formation
and exploitation
of innovation
networks.
Added to
these must be those programmes
to support innovative training
opportunities
such as ERASMUS,
COMETT,
EUROFORM,
NOW and HORIZON,
some aspects of which also have a regional dimension.
It is probably not exaggerating
to say that what some
authors called the new competition
(HATCH.
1989;
BEST, 1990) involves specifically regional efforts to
assist the innovation
potential of their populations,
technology
transfer
Model
Characteristics
Grassroots
Network
Dirigiste
Initiation
Funding
Research-competence
Coordination
Specialization
Local
Diffused
Applications
Low
Multi-level
Guided
Mixed
Potentially
Central
Determined
Basic
High
Weak
Flexible
high
Strong
GeoforumWolume
23 Number
3/1992
371
EUR 12 = 1M.O
s = 78.8
Map 1.
Business
expenditure
on research
Source: HIGGINS
Map 2. Regional
and development
rt ul. (1987).
1988.
Geoforum/Volume
whether
of people
23 Number
373
3/1992
on partnerships
is
with academia
sector R&D),
facturing
One-third
firms spend
(McKINSEY
(i.e. 0.02%
of the U.K.s
nothing
of private
on R&D
with HEIs
1991).
to Britains trade balance only marginthat of a single, large firm such as British
Aerospace.
Exploring
Regional
Case of Wales
Innovation
Potential:
the
to further
In addition,
Wales has a sizeable
(and growing)
engineering
industry which employed 72,000 people
in 1985, but which had increased to 87,000 by 1990.
Within those totals, the proportion
employed in the
higher qualified categories
of managers,
scientists,
technologists
and engineers rose from 11.9% in 1985
to 14.0% in 1990. Nevertheless,
the proportion
of
operator-grade
workers also rose marginally
from
53% to 55% during the same period. So, although
Welsh
engineering
employment
became
more
demanding
of skilled people at the top of the occupational range, the demand for less skilled personnel
Table 2. Manufacturing
indicators,
Manufacturing
Wales (%)
Central
Statistical
28
127
102
19
Office.
1991
U.K.
23
113
100
17
374
Geoforum/Volume
remained
buoyant in the 1985-1990 period
eering Industry Training Board statistics).
(Engin-
Place of
Graduates
training
University
Wales
U.K.
- Source:
U.K.
employment
3/1992
employers
can draw.
Table 3. Destination
23 Number
technicians,
SPC
statisticians,
toolmakers
and
engineering
shop floor workers (WDA E.C. Skills
Shortages Report).
This suggests that Welsh HEIs
may not have reacted quickly enough to the rapidly
changing,
increasingly
innovative
skills demands
being made of the Welsh workforce.
Innovation
support programmes
This suggestion
is not counteracted
by information
from different sources. As noted earlier, there are
various European Community
and U.K. government
(DTI) initiatives in support of innovation
in industry.
As Table 4 shows, Wales languishes near the bottom
of the take-up league on European
programmes
in
the area of new technologies.
For understandable
reasons (having to do with the extremely
rapid restructuring
of the Welsh economy away from heavy
industry
and towards more electronics-based
production), the focus has been placed on accessing the
Structural
Funds (ERDF and ESF being the most
important)
rather than the Framework
Funds (such
as ESPRlT,
RACE,
BRITE
etc.).
U.K. industry
with
East
1988-1989
U.K. engineering
jobs
U.K.
finance jobs
Other jobs
14 (5%)
67.3 (12%)
273
3806
of
494
9662
Universities
Statistical
2SY
5472
Record
221
4586
207 (80%)
4183 (7w%)
~eoforum/Volume
23 Number
375
311992
Table 4. E.C. Framework Fund take-up, 1991*
ESPRIT
(%)
Region
London
East Anglia
South East
West Midlands
East Midlands
Yorkshire/Humberside
North West
North East
Scotland
WALES
Northern Ireland
BRITE/
EURAM
(%)
38
14
12
4
4
4
8
5
10
1
0
29
4
8
15
9
7
12
6
6
4
0
RACE
(%)
BRIDGE
(%)
40
29
4
6
6
1
6
0.5
5
2
0.5
35
17
8
8
7
4
8
4
7
1
1
Region
ERDF (%)
EAGGF (%)
ESF (%)
North
YorkshireiHumberside
East Midlands
East Anglia
South East
South West
West Midlands
North West
WALES
Scotland
Northern Ireland
14.1
6.9
0.6
0.0
0.0
6.3
14.9
8.3
12.5
26.0
8.9
2.5
3.4
14.2
14.9
10.1
1.7
1.2
4.0
1.1
20.0
26.7
9.9
9.3
2.7
0.2
8.3
1.1
9.7
15.0
8.6
14.0
20.9
U.K.-wide allocation
f443.S million
f15.3 million
E211.1 million
2433.6 million
U.K. total
Sources: Department
of Employment,
and CSO.
376
Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
311992
U.K. total, from SMART, the merit award for innovation scheme. For the newer SPUR (Support for
Projects Under Research) over 70 Welsh firms have
registered as candidates
for support. Between them
SMART and SPUR offer a total of &2 million per year
Wtirttemberg,
one of the most highly sophisticated
of
European network systems of innovation
(COOKE
and MORGAN,
1990a, b, 1991a; HATCH,
1989;
to further
innovation
in Wales. However,
against this
or population
(5%).
SABEL
1989).
through
Learning by
Geoforum/VoIume
panies.
23 Number
377
311992
involve
product
tech-
develop-
SME
population
that
can
meet
the
requirements
of larger indigenous and foreign-owned
customers.
The first of these initiatives
has been
economy
a highly
to the
dynamic
re-
gional development
system of institutions
and policies. Already well-versed in the arts of intra-regional
institutional
networking
between the Welsh Office,
Welsh Development
Agency, Training
and Enterprise Councils, Wales Trade Union Congress, local
governments,
Chambers
of Commerce,
HEIs,
and
on
information
technoIogy products. Others are likely to
follow in the food, clothing, biomedical
and aero-
space industries.
These initiatives
the establishment
of an industry
after, the animation
of training
centred
on automotive
components,
the second
involve primarily
forum and, thereand skills-related
as
committees
involving local authority education authorities, further and higher education
institutes,
the
Training and Enterprise
Councils and local economic
development
experts, facilitated by the WDA. This is
little short of an attempt to try to implant a networking culture into a region whose old networks were
Iargely destroyed by the restructuring
of the 1980s.
The involvement
of industry,
Training
and Enterprise Councils educators and local economic development staff with those of the WDA shows a recognition that, as with the rest of the U.K., there are
serious skills-deficiencies,
a consequence
of the older
industrial tradition,
that require special effort if new
demands by firms are to be met. Thus far, the regional
and local training systems have shown that they are
capable of rapidly meeting the high speci~cati~~n of a
German inward investor such as Robert Bosch. However, it remains to be seen just how many indigenous
SMEs will be able to match the expressed requirements of overseas firms such as Bosch, Sony and Ford
for more locai suppliers.
The quality, performance
and cost criteria now being demanded
create a very
large gap between what local SMEs have been used to
and what they must aspire to. if they are to become
fully networked locally.
300 -
is85
1986
1387
1988
1989
19% 991 Q2
WDA.
378
Geoforum/Volume
Europartenariat
Exposition
which
hundreds
of European
SMEs for
trading,
marketing
tangible
Welsh governmental
organizations
towards European
integration.
The Eurolink
programme
businesses
the opportunity,
powerful
Four Motors
These
are all
of the intentions
and
of
agencies
regions,
of creating
commer-
Welsh firm
Osprey
Since
1
1
Ferranti
Welsh Development
a further
24 similar
from
Catalonia,
Rhone-
AESF
IIT
Control Techniques
Penny & Giles
* Source:
were made,
proposals
involving
firms
Alpes and Lombardy.
Wallace Evans
Pilkington
offers
Wiirttemberg.
Finally,
a further 30 Eurolink
proposals are planned for early 1992. Among the 30 are
these
collaborations
CBL
EPI
30992
By September
1991, 21 offers of partnership
with
Baden-Wiirttemberg
firms had been made to Welsh
firms. Of these, 13 have been taken up, as Table 6
shows.
Number of
partnership
offers
Metals
23 Number
Agency.
taken by Eurolink
firms
Partners in
Baden-Wiirttemberg
Mahle
Langlet
Kolbenschmidt
Kerafol
Fraunhofer
Gesellschaft
Bosch
AEG
Seutter & Ziilow
Bayer
BASF
Ikoss
Comsoft
Innit
Sydat
Plasma Ionic
Bosch (ESPRIT)
German sister company
Schmidt Feintechnik
Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
379
30992
about
appropriate
improved. However,
out the Four Motors
would
have been
partner
candidates
is much
the key conclusion is that, withagreements,
none of these firms
assisted
to develop
research
laboratories,
10 CRITT
and local
nology transfer centres,
and six technopoles.
their competi-
so quickly
vators.
or,
However,
strong regions.
Now
Gross expenditure
on R&D,
(%I
Welsh firm
U.K.
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
U.S.A.
2.2
2.3
2.9
1.4
2.9
2.8
Baden-Wiirttemberg
Rh6ne-Alpes
Basque Country
Wales
3.6
2.4
1.4
1.1
Sources:
OECD
and various.
like Wales
techThe
1988
that
Welsh
development
organizations
have
380
Geoforum/Volume
of
its
under
250,
and
further
research
suggests
the
of an ED1 Awareness
Centre in Wales. In a
field, an administration
in northeast Wales
is seeking
funding
for a TtlCmatique
Awareness
Centre to raise consciousness
of business
opportunities in telecommunications.
(iv)
Finally,
agreement
Imperial
College,
Park,
part-funded
has been
reached
with
London
to establish
a Science
by the Welsh
Development
The Garment
Industry
23 Number
3/1992
initiative
A good
thinking
example
of the application
of European
in innovation
is the WDAs
Garment
Industry
initiative.
European
Influenced
conception
to some extent
of regional
technology
by the
and
business
services centres,
the WDA proposes
to
establish, in early 1992, a Garment Design Centre in
the heart of the South Wales garment industry. There
are, in Wales, some 240 garment firms, mostly SMEs
with the largest company
employing
around
500
workers. Over 180 of these firms are independent
Welsh companies.
The industry
as a whole employs
Sector
Information technology
Financial services
1
3
3
3
3
3
R&D
Garments
Furniture
Craft
Packaging
Chemicals
a Source:
WDA.
Category
Sector
Automotive
2
2
Acrospacc
Medical/health
4
4
3
Environment
Energy
Media
Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
381
30992
the fields of R&D, vocational
mation
and
technology
training,
transfer.
The
business
problem
inforfor
U.S. competitive
Examples
have
been
excellence.
provided
of successful
Euro-
pean partnership
regions involved, for example in the
Four Motors experience.
The cases of Japanese and
other regional innovation
support or proactive microregulatory
systems were also shown. Furthermore,
the case of Wales as an institutionally
dynamic
partner seeking to improve its economic strength by
learning through interacting
with the Four Motors
was also examined.
The positive conclusion
is that
such interactive
learning
can produce evidence
of
very rapid institurional
reactions.
Perhaps the less
positive conclusion
is that the time-lag in bringing
economic performance
of businesses up towards an
equivalent level of dynamism is substantially
greater.
Map 3. Location
[3
GARMENT ESTABLISHMENT
Ia
DlSTRlCTCONClL
cl
La
COUNTY CclNClL
BONDARY
BOUNDARY
of garment industry
Wales.
DESlGN CENTRE
establishments
in
Conclusions
352
References
AGLIETTA,
M. (1979) A Theory of Capitalist Regulation.
New Left Books, London.
ALTVATER,
E. (1978) Some problems of state interventionism, In: State and Capital, pp. 40-42, J. Holloway
and S. Picciotto (Eds). Edward Arnold, London.
BEST, M. (1990) The Nets Competition:
Institutions of
~~dlistr~a~ Restructi~rin~. Polity, Cambridge.
CGLLETIS,
G. (1991) Analysis of Rhone-Alpes
technological potential and the instruments
of its development (mimeo). University of Grenoble.
COMMISSION
OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITY
(1991) DG XII Research Contracts: Statistics for Wales.
Brussels, CEC.
COOKE,
P. and MORGAN,
K. (19~a~
Learning
Through Networking:
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Geoforum/Volume
23 Number
3/1992