Business-to-consumer (b2c) e-commerce can be regarded as a disruptive process innovation that can make existing business models obsolete. B2c e-commerce provides retailers the possibility of a new service concept, new client interface and even delivery system. The history of retailing is replete...

With industrialisation and rationalisation of the Western economy, the scale of production became larger, production costs declined and competitiveness rose (Kloosterman and van der Leun 2004). It was thought that Economies of scale would weed out small-business. This seems plausible: As a...

With industrialisation and rationalisation of the Western economy, the scale of production became larger, production costs declined and competitiveness rose (Kloosterman and van der Leun 2004). It was thought that Economies of scale would weed out small-business. This seems plausible: As a...

With industrialisation and rationalisation of the Western economy, the scale of production became larger, production costs declined and competitiveness rose (Kloosterman and van der Leun 2004). It was thought that Economies of scale would weed out small-business. This seems plausible: As a...

In 2000, the world wide, rapid employment growth in the ICT-sector came to an end. Knowledge-intensive ICT-firms and -sectors in the Netherlands confirmed to this negative development trend as well. The life-cycle of the ICT-sector appears to reach a new phase of development, dominated by...

This paper deals with the policy implications of a research project based on a non-traditional approach to innovation measurement in a Dutch region. This region is characterized by an 'innovation paradox', as it lodges large numbers of 'creative' people while it also underperforms in traditional...

Urban economic growth and industrial clustering is traditionally explained by Marshallian agglomeration economies benefiting co-located firms. The focus on firms rather than people has been challenged by Florida arguing that urban amenities and a tolerant climate attract creative people, and the...

Over the past decades, economic and innovation policy across Europe moved in the direction of creating regional clusters of related firms and institutions. Creating clusters through public policy is risky, complex and costly, however. Moreover, it is not necessary to rely on clusters to...