This article investigates the extent to which merger and acquisition (M&A) activity contributed to the spatial clustering of the Dutch banking industry in Amsterdam. This analysis is based on a unique database of all banks in the Netherlands that existed in the period 1850–1993. We found that...

By illuminating the philosophical roots of the various notions of knowledge employed by economists, this Handbook helps to disentangle conceptual and typological issues surrounding the debate on knowledge amongst economists. Wide-ranging in scope, it explores fundamental aspects of the...

In Amartya Sen's capability approach, policy makers can focus on different levels to influence the well-being of a society. A dimension that is usually neglected is improving individuals’ “conversion efficiency”, i.e. the efficiency with which individual resources are converted into...

B<sc>uerger</sc> M., B<sc>roekel</sc> T. and C<sc>oad</sc> A. Regional dynamics of innovation: investigating the co-evolution of patents, research and development (R&D), and employment, <italic>Regional Studies</italic>. This paper investigates the lead--lag relationships between the growth rates of patents, research and development...

Happiness measures, reflecting individuals’ well-being, have received increasing attention by policy makers. Policies could target absolute happiness levels when aiming at increasing a society’s well-being. But given upper bounds of happiness measures, as well as the possibilities of...

The importance of network structures for the transmission of knowledge and the diffusion of technological change has been recently emphasized in economic geography. Since network structures drive the innovative and economic performance of actors in regional contexts, it is crucial to explain how...

Innovations are inherently connected to knowledge transfers. The need of face-to-face contacts to transfer tacit knowledge is commonly argued to cause a regional dimension of innovative activities. The paper presents an alternative explanation based on a model of boundedly rational actors who...

In the literature on Sen's capability approach, studies focusing on the empirical measurement of conversion factors are comparatively rare. We add to this field by adopting a measure of 'conversion efficiency' that captures the efficiency with which individuals convert their resources into...