Economic Geography

part of a theory of the space economy of capitalism (e.g. Harvey 1982).
6. Industrial districts can be understood as one type of a cluster. The specific char-
acteristics of the (traditional, Italian) industrial district (ID) compared to Porter’s 

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Economic geography as (regional) contexts
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cluster is: (a) the dominance of SMEs in Ids; (b) the whole value chain located within
the district; and (c) the embedding of the economy within the broader society.
However, as a result of globalization processes industrial districts are becoming more
like ‘normal’ regional clusters as a result of: (a) FDIs; (b) outsourcing of parts (the
labour intensive and polluting) of the value chain to countries in Eastern Europe or
the Third World; and (c) group formations within the districts (Asheim et al. 2006).
7. Also with respect to an explicit focus on innovation Porter’s cluster approach differs
from an industrial district approach, as Porter links competitiveness and innovativeness
in making competitive advantage into a more dynamic principle requiring continual
innovation for its reproduction.
8. The STEP group (Studies in innovation, technology and economic policy) is a
Research Council funded, independent ‘think tank’, established in 1993 by Keith
Smith (now professor at University of Tasmania), which today has merged with
another research institute in Oslo under the name NIFU-STEP.
9. I am the third chair in economic geography in Lund. The first was the Estonian refugee,
Edgar Kant from University of Tartu, who had studied under Walter Christaller and
brought the knowledge of Central place theory to Sweden on arrival during the Second
World War.
10. CIRCLE is a Centre of Excellence in innovation system research funded by
VINNOVA (Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems) and Lund University, 
which I initiated. It is the largest of four such centres in Sweden, and is a cooperation
between three different faculties at Lund University with Charles Edquist as the first
director.
11. For my own part being one of the editors of Economic Geography since 2000 is one
example of this international orientation, another is being published in The Oxford
Handbook of Economic Geography (Clark et al. 2000).
12. An ongoing project founded by the European Science Foundation, which I coordi-
nate, is currently analysing the assumptions of the creative class approach by, in a
modified version, adapting to a European context. The project is called Technology,
Talent and Tolerance in European Cities and counts Denmark, Sweden, Norway,
Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and UK.