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Specialized Markets and the Behavior of Firms: Evidence from the United Kingdom’s Regional Economies

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  • Suma S. Athreye

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, s.s.athreye@open.ac.uk)

  • David Keeble

    (Centre for Business Research and Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, dek1@cus.cam.ac.uk)

Abstract

A key feature of the South East regional economy in recent decades has been the development of several intermediate markets in specialized business services. This article investigates whether the greater development of specialized markets in the South East is associated with different competitive and technological behaviors of innovative firms in this region when compared with firms in the Industrial Heartland regions of the West Midlands, North West England, and York-shire and Humberside. We find greater buying and selling of technology by firms and the presence of technological externalities in the South East, even when the services-intensive nature of the region’s production is accounted for. Industrial Heartland firms, in contrast, more frequently collaborate with domestic suppliers who are also an important source of technology. They also have greater collaboration with higher education institutes.

Suggested Citation

  • Suma S. Athreye & David Keeble, 2002. "Specialized Markets and the Behavior of Firms: Evidence from the United Kingdom’s Regional Economies," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 25(1), pages 38-62, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:25:y:2002:i:1:p:38-62
    DOI: 10.1177/016001702762039376
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Young, Allyn A., 1928. "Increasing Returns and Economic Progress," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 38, pages 527-542.
    2. Alan Hughes & Eric Wood, 1999. "Rerthinking Innovation Comparisons between Manufacturing and Services: The Experience of the CBR SME Surveys in the UK," Working Papers wp140, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. George J. Stigler, 1951. "The Division of Labor is Limited by the Extent of the Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(3), pages 185-185.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shouhong Xie & Hanbing Li, 2022. "Research on the Spatial Agglomeration of Commodity Trading Markets and Its Influencing Factors in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Xuliang Zhang & Xiaohui Hu & Wei Xu, 2020. "Spatio‐temporal dynamics of technical efficiency in China’s specialized markets: A stochastic frontier analysis approach," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1182-1202, September.

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