What makes the US different from other advanced economies is the opportunity for newcomers acting as entrepreneurs to start new companies, a few of which will then change the world. This book develops three points. First, the New Economy is real: part micro, part macro, and all digital. Second, its emergence around networked PCs propelled the US resurgence in the world economy during the 1990s. Third, rather than subsiding, the current US lead in information technology (IT) could well increase over the next decade. The reason lies in the clustered linking of venture capital and entrepreneurs in a system that can be stylized as 'the invention of the method of innovation'. The central theme of the book is the vital role played by newcomers, acting as entrepreneurs, to overthrow the old order and blast through the deep tendencies toward stagnation that afflict advanced, affluent economies. Related strands are (1) an update and reappraisal of Joseph Schumpeter's vision of capitalist development, (2) a regional focus on the rebirth of US computing, and (3) a detailed inquiry into the geography of innovation in strategic clusters of venture capital firms and IT knowledge workers. The author provides a sharply etched portrayal of the geography of the new economy. He lists specific case studies of the failure of established managerial corporations to capitalize on inventions, a failure remedied by newcomers. The book recounts traditional and new theories of the entrepreneur and of creative destruction. Primers on venture capital, IPOs, and internet business models are included, as are comparisons of theory and data on the emergence of new 'strategic cities'. Lastly, it offers a brief, readable, detailed, and company-specific history of the PC revolution and the coming of the internet. Economists, geographers, and regional scientists, students and readers interested in the digital economy, the internet, the history of economic thought, and the New Economy and investors will all find this book revealing and enlightening.

How have America's largest cities managed to adapt to the economic and demographic changes of the late Twentieth Century? To shed light on the transition, this latest volume presents standout papers spanning the life of Research in Urban Economics. The work includes excerpts from a 1980 federal report and two current papers that update the coverage. These selections provide a sparkling cross-section of the scholarship on urban economics and policy over the past generation.

In the wake of the dot-com shakeout of 2000, the time is ripe for a reappraisal of how information technology (IT) has created new environments for businesses and workers in the US and Europe. This book draws on the experiences of the 1990s to discern successful strategies for competing and winning in the New Economy. The lessons are most sharply defined in specific regional clusters of innovation. Accordingly, contributors are mainly on-the-scene observers and practitioners from Silicon Valley, New England and Europe. The common theme is the attempt to find innovative ways (in part through non-traditional business models) to create and build increasingly networked, flexible, participatory companies. Drawing on the notion of entrepreneurial behavior as "the pursuit of goals that are beyond the means currently available," the collection examines management, leadership, and innovation issues in start-up and established companies alike. While recognizing the hard realities of the new competition, the book highlights emerging win-win scenarios. Enabled in part by the new IT systems, these new approaches help companies succeed by seeking and rewarding decision-making, initiative and creativity on the part of all employees.

What makes the US different from other advanced economies is the opportunity for newcomers acting as entrepreneurs to start new companies, a few of which will then change the world. This book develops three points. First, the New Economy is real: part micro, part macro, and all digital. Second, its emergence around networked PCs propelled the US resurgence in the world economy during the 1990s. Third, rather than subsiding, the current US lead in information technology (IT) could well increase over the next decade. The reason lies in the clustered linking of venture capital and entrepreneurs in a system that can be stylized as 'the invention of the method of innovation'. The central theme of the book is the vital role played by newcomers, acting as entrepreneurs, to overthrow the old order and blast through the deep tendencies toward stagnation that afflict advanced, affluent economies. Related strands are (1) an update and reappraisal of Joseph Schumpeter's vision of capitalist development, (2) a regional focus on the rebirth of US computing, and (3) a detailed inquiry into the geography of innovation in strategic clusters of venture capital firms and IT knowledge workers. The author provides a sharply etched portrayal of the geography of the new economy. He lists specific case studies of the failure of established managerial corporations to capitalize on inventions, a failure remedied by newcomers. The book recounts traditional and new theories of the entrepreneur and of creative destruction. Primers on venture capital, IPOs, and internet business models are included, as are comparisons of theory and data on the emergence of new 'strategic cities'. Lastly, it offers a brief, readable, detailed, and company-specific history of the PC revolution and the coming of the internet. Economists, geographers, and regional scientists, students and readers interested in the digital economy, the internet, the history of economic thought, and the New Economy and investors will all find this book revealing and enlightening.

"Agricultural Development Policy: Concepts and Experiences," prepared under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), presents a fresh and comprehensive look at agricultural development policy. It provides a clear, systematic review of important classes of policy issues in developing countries and discusses the emerging international consensus on viable approaches to those issues. The text is unique in its coverage and depth, and it Cites policy experiences and applied studies in eighty countries. Develops the conceptual foundations for policies. Illustrates policies that have worked and those that have not, with explanations of why. Summarises hundreds of references from the literature on agricultural development policies. Provides guidance for policy makers and policy analysts through both real-world examples and conceptual frameworks.

Topics covered include agriculture's role in economic development, objectives and instruments of agricultural policy, linkages between macroeconomic and agricultural policies, sectoral policies related to agricultural prices, the role of government in the sector, gender issues in agriculture, land tenure policies, water management, agricultural financial policies, agricultural technology development and dissemination, and agricultural development strategies and rural development issues.

The book is suitable for use in university courses in agricultural and economic development, international development, natural resource management, and specialised topics in agriculture, and it serves as a valuable reference tool for policy makers and other professionals and researchers in the field of internationalagricultural development.