ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a private sector approach to regional economic development within the context of heightened international competition. It focuses upon the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland – all of whom except Norway are members of the European Union (EU). The essence of this chapter discusses the increasing importance of technical change and innovation for firms who are active in a highly competitive European, and indeed global, market. The issues of competitiveness, innovation and technical change are the key concepts which are continually uttered and espoused by the European Commission with regard to regional development, and they provided the cornerstone for the Commission’s Fifth Periodic Report (1994) entitled Competitiveness and Cohesion: Trends in the Regions (see Chapter 1).
