This book presents the findings of the extensive research progrannne
funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council)
and entitled 'Technological Change and Regional Development in Europe'.
The goal of this programme was to carry out research by means of
empirical surveys into the relationship between technological change and
regional development. Over a period of six years, a total of 50 research
projects have been undertaken in three phases, each lasting two years.
This research programme has succeeded in actively involving leading
German regional scientists from many universities as well as
non-university research institutions. In addition, numerous research
projects were carried out in close co-operation with internationally
renowned partners. We should like to express our gratitude for the
support provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Without their
financial backing of the research programme, it would not have been
possible to undertake such an ambitious project. Thanks also go to the
contributors of this volume for their willingness to participate in our
joint project. We wish in addition to acknowledge the contribution of
Prof. Dr. Philip Cooke whose refereeing of the chapters has enhanced the
quality of the work presented here. Finally, our thanks go to Angela
Spence for her expert editorial assistance, linguistic editing and the
preparation of the Index, and also Franco Vaio for taking care of the
technical aspects and production of the final copy. Their combined
efforts have been crucial for successfully bringing together
contributions from so many different authors in a single volume.