ABSTRACT
The advanced industrial nations are facing a major crisis of structural change brought about by a period of rapid internationalization of production coinciding with the beginnings of a major technological revolution based on microelectronics. This chapter suggests that there are significant regional variations in technological capacity or 'the regional ecology' of technological change within Britain. It reviews evidence on regional variations in the incidence of product and process innovation and the importance of one factor, research and development capacity, in accounting for these variations. Co-ordinate and give greater publicity to existing initiatives, such as technology transfer; seek out and support new initiatives and projects, such as regional databases on goods and services, tourist facilities and export opportunities. A key feature of Freeman's analysis is the emphasis it gives to the interaction between the technological, economic and institutional systems in bringing about revolutionary transformations.
