Articles and Book Chapters
Articles and Book Chapters
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"How Rapid Growth, and Secular Decline, Really Happen: A Schumpeterian-Penrosian Journey". Chapter in Uwe Cantner, Bernd Ebersberger, Patrick Llerena (eds.) Schumpeterian Legacy in Modern Times Springer 2026: 733-797.
Available at Springer
Whereas Adam Smith is the theorist of the free market and John Maynard Keynes the theorist of demand management, Joseph Schumpeter is the theorist of entrepreneurship. What distinguishes Schumpeter from Smith, Keynes, and their disciples is attention to business organization and innovation dynamics in industrial growth and decline. Without a theory of the entrepreneurial firm, the free market and demand management perspectives cannot explain economic development, growth, and decline. Joseph Schumpeter and Edith Penrose take us inside the firm to an economics in which innovation dynamics drive progress. Left to themselves, business leaders can undermine innovation and productivity dynamics as well as advance them. To know the difference we can go inside the enterprise to examine their strategies and productive structures in a comparative international context. One way is direct observation. I illustrate with personal ‘inside the firm’ experience. A second way is to examine historical experiences of the rise and fall in regional and national business competitiveness. I illustrate with President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Deng Xiaoping’s post 1980 China. While the experiences have differences as well as similarities, I interpret both in terms of policymakers undertaking a ‘Schumpeterian Turn’ to purposefully create new and transform existing enterprises through incorporating advanced principles of production and organization. I describe the US pioneering case of transformative economic policymaking as economists’ finest hour.
"Greening of Economic Development: The New Deal's Enduring Legacy". Chapter 30 in John A. Mathews and Arkebe Oqubay, (eds.) Oxford Handbook on The Greening of Economic Development, Oxford University Press, 2025: 733-797.
President Roosevelt’s New Deal is often cited as a model for the ‘green transition’. However, the policies implemented by Roosevelt that are most relevant to such a transition are those that transformed the US economy in half a decade to supply the Allies with the armaments to defeat the Axis powers. Economic mobilization was not a miracle but a product of government-led policies and agencies to create new industries and transform others informed by a supply-side economics of capability development and innovation to unleash dynamic increasing returns. It offers a pathway for greening the economy but also sets a high standard for policymakers.
Review Essay (with Jane Humphries) of Geoffrey Hodgson, The Wealth of a Nation: Institutional Foundations of English Capitalism. 2023. Contributions to Political Economy, Volume 44, Issue 1, July 2025, Pages 159–168
“World War II to Covid-19: Been here before and done better” (with John Bradley). March 27, 2020 Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET).
Available at: https://www.ineteconomics. org/perspectives/blog/world-war-ii-to-covid-19.
"Postwar American Industrial Policy: How Dixie Won the Civil War". In Oqubay, A., Cramer, C., Ha-Joon Chang, and Kozul-Wright, R. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Industrial Policy, 2020: 555-593.
Why did post-war America’s industrial heartland suffer severe deindustrialization despite its pivotal and recent contribution to the victory of the Allies in World War II? This is the question that motivates this paper. The argument is that the American manufacturing system that won the war came under threat from two existential challenges. The first was the emergence of more advanced production systems abroad, exemplified by Japan and Germany. But the second and more important challenge was a historical shift in the nation’s economic policy framework. With the 1980s triumph of neoliberalism, the industrial policy, an ecosystem of infrastructure and knowledge that had supported manufacturing, and the regulatory framework around which the nation’s industrial heartland had been built, the war won, and innovation could thrive were eroded and ultimately dismantled. Neoliberalism is a policy framework with roots in the extractive industries of the South. Plantation owners and employers who use unskilled labor in mines, lumber, and textiles are always opposed to anything that would raise wages or taxes. What was new in the 1980s was the triumph at a national level of a neoliberal economic discourse and policy framework that had hitherto been limited to the South.
"Productive Structures and Industrial Policy in the EU." In Marcuzzo, M., Palumbo, A., Villa, P. (eds.) Economic Policy, Crisis and Innovation: Beyond Austerity in Europe, Routledge 2020: 250-267.
"The Economics of Innovation behind Cluster Dynamic Processes". In Lin, J. and Owubay, A (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Industrial Hubs and Economic Development, Oxford University Press, 2020: 64-76.
Industrial districts and clusters of skill-related companies that enjoy the agglomeration benefits of co-location are present across the whole spectrum of the world’s regions and countries from the least to the most technologically advanced. Cluster dynamic processes, however, are at the core of rapid growth and transformational experiences and of the high-tech regions often described as innovation hubs. In this chapter, I review major scholarly contributions to a capabilities and innovation perspective, to an economics of industrial change and transformation. The purpose is to better understand the dynamic processes, organizers, and drivers of transformational experiences. I conclude with the claim that infrastructural agencies are mediating the institutions by which central and local governments together implement industrial policies. I begin by presenting an expositional schema of cluster dynamic processes.
“Industrial Capabilities, Innovation and Place: A Paper for UK Research and Innovation” (with John Bradley). In Innovating places: developing place-based research and innovation funding in the UK, The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, (CSTI). July 2019. Cambridge University; 17 pages.
Available at ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Research/CSTI/UKRI_Place/Best_Bradley_industrial_capabilities_and_place_vFinal.pdf
"Industrial innovation and productive structures: The creation of America’s ‘Arsenal of democracy’," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, 2019,vol. 48(C), pages 32-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2017.08.002
“Regional Capabilities and Industrial Resiliency: Specialization and Diversification Dynamics in Lowell, Massachusetts”. In Begley, J., Coffey, D, Donnelly, T., Thornley, C. (eds.) Global Economic Crisis and Local Economic Development: International Cases and Policy Responses, Routledge, 2016: 47-77.
"Greater Boston's Industrial Ecosystem: A Manufactory of Sectors", Technovation 39-40 (2015) 4-13.
Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2014.04.004
“The Obscure Firm in The Wealth of Nations”. In Dietrich, Michael and Krafft, Jackie (eds.) Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, 2012: 29-41.
“Rethinking Regional Renewal: Towards a Cross-Border Economic Development Zone” (with John Bradley). The Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland, No. 7, Spring 2012: 37-58.
Available online at: http://www.crossborder.ie/pubs/journal7.pdf
“The Capabilities Foundations of Technology Management in Rapid Growth, Latecomer Success Stories”. In Pietrobelli, C. and Rasiah, R. (eds.) Evidence-based Development Economics: Essays in Honour of Sanjaya Lall, University of Malaya Press, 2012: 319-336.
“Cluster Dynamics in Theory and Practice with Applications to Singapore/Johor and Penang Electronics”. In Sari Wahyuni, (ed.) Benchmarking Special Economic Zones in China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia: University of Indonesia, 2012: 57-87.
Review Essay. Internet Alley: High Tech in Tysons Corner, 1945-2005, Cambridge: MIT Press, by Paul Ceruzzi in Business History, Vol. 53, No. 6, October 2011, 976–980.
“Bypassed Places? The post-Belfast Agreement Border Economy” (with John Bradley). The Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland, No. 6, Spring 2011: 25-44. Available online at: http://www.crossborder.ie/publications/journal-6/
“Massachusetts High Tech: A ‘Manufactory of Species’”. In Becattini, Giacomo; Bellandi, Marco; and De Prisa, Lisa (eds.) The Handbook of Industrial Districts, Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, 2009: 648-665.
“Massachusetts Medical Devices: Leveraging the Region’s Capabilities”. In Farshchi, Mahtab; Janne, Odile; and McCann, Phil (eds.) Technological Change and Mature Industrial Regions: Firms, Knowledge and Policy, Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, 2009: 155-172.
Earlier version published as:
“Massachusetts Medical Devices: Leveraging the Region’s Capabilities”, MassBenchmarks, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2006: 14-25.
“Cluster Dynamics in Malaysian Electronics”. In K.S. Jomo (ed.) Malaysian Industrial Policy, National University of Singapore Press, 2007, pp. 249-276.
"Regional Specialization and Technology Capabilities: Medical Devices in Massachusetts". Business and Economic History On-line, Vol. 3, 2005, pp. 1-35. Available at the BHC.
“Discovering Regional Competitive Advantage: Massachusetts High Tech” (with Albert Paquin and Hao Xie). Business and Economic History On-line, Vol. 2, 2004, pp. 1-30. Available at the BHC.
"Discovering Regional Competitive Advantage" Reprinted in modified form in High-tech Development Policy: International Experiences and Implications for Vietnam, International Symposium Proceedings sponsored by NISTPAS (National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategic Studies), UNIDO, and UNESCO, Hanoi, September 2005.
“The Geography of Systems Integration”. In Andrea Prencipe, Andrew Davies and Mike Hobday (eds.) The Business of Systems Integration, Oxford University Press, pp. 205-232, 2003.
“Lowell’s Industrial Regeneration: Dynamic Technological Capabilities" Business and Economic History On-line, Vol. 1, 2003, pp. 1-50. Lowell's Industrial Regeneration
“The Malaysian Experience in the Electronics Industry”. In Enrique Dussel Peters, Juan José Palacios Lara, and Guillermo Woo Gómez (eds.) The Electronics Industry in Mexico and Jalisco, D.R. Universidad de Guadalajara, 2003, pp. 151-200. In Spanish, “La experiencia de Malasia en la industria electrónica” in La Industria Electrónica en México: Problemática, Perspectivas y Propuestas.
“Edith Penrose: A Feminist Economist?” (with Jane Humphries), Feminist Economics, 9 (1) 2003, pp. 47-73.
“Open Systems and Regional Innovation: The Resurgence of Route 128 in Massachusetts”. In Stan Metcalfe and Alan Warde (eds.) Market Relations and the Competitive Process, Manchester University Press, 2002, pp. 158-189.
“Innovation, the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Sustainable Regional Development Process” (with Robert Forrant). In Robert Forrant, William Lazonick, Charles Levenstein, and Jean Pyle, (eds.) Approaches to Sustainable Development, University of Massachusetts Press, 2001, pp. 271-294.
“Penrose, Edith Tilton” (with Jane Humphries). In Malcolm Warner (ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Business and Management, 2nd edition, London: Thomson Learning, 2001, pp. 5188-5193.
“Silicon Valley and the Resurgence of Route 128: Systems Integration and Regional Innovation”. In John H. Dunning, (ed.) Regions, Globalization and the Knowledge-based Economy, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 459-484.
“Edith Penrose” (with Jane Humphries). In Robert Dimand, Mary Ann Dimand and Evelyn Forget (eds.) A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, Edgar Elgar, 2000, pp. 334-342.
“Regional Industrial Policies: Two Cases from Massachusetts” (with Robert Forrant), European Planning Studies, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 211-223.
“Regional Growth Dynamics: A Capabilities Perspective”, Contributions to Political Economy, 1999, Vol. 18, pp. 125-140. Reprinted in Christos Pitelis (ed.) The Growth of the Firm: The Legacy of Edith Penrose, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 179-194.
“Edith Penrose: 1914-1996” (with Elizabeth Garnsey), The Economic Journal, February 1999, Vol. 109, No. 453, pp. 187-201.
“Production Principles, Organizational Capabilities and Technology Management”. In Jonathan Michie and John Grieve Smith, (eds) Globalization, Growth, and Governance, Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 3-29.
"Community-based Careers and Economic Virtue: Arming, Disarming, and Rearming the Springfield Armory" (with Robert Forrant). In Michael Arthur and Denise Rousseau, (eds), The Boundaryless Career, Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 314-330.
"Creating Industrial Capacity: Pentagon-led versus Production-led Industrial Policies" (with Robert Forrant). In Jonathan Michie and John Grieve Smith, (eds) Restoring Full Employment, Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 225-254. translated into Greek.
Competitive Dynamics and Industrial Modernization Programmes: Lessons from Japan and America, Annual Sir Charles Carter Lecture, Northern Ireland Economic Council, September 1995, 52 pages.
“Production in Jamaica: Transforming Industrial Enterprises". In Patsy Lewis (ed), Preparing for the Twenty-First Century: Jamaica 30th Anniversary Symposium (Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 1994) (with Robert Forrant) pp. 53 - 97.
"A Production Oriented Industrial Policy: The Case of Jamaica". In Keith Cowling and Roger Sugden (eds), Current Issues in Industrial Economic Strategy (Manchester, Manchester University Press) 1992 pp. 73-89.
"The Firm and the Market: The Dynamic Perspectives of Schumpeter and Penrose", Social Concept, Vol. 6, No. 2, June 1992, pp. 3-23.
"Enterprise Culture: Two Visions". In Jonathan Michie (ed), The Economic Legacy (Academic Press, London, 1992) pp. 312-314.
"The New Competition and Comparative Industrial Performance", Cambridge Econometrics, May 1991, pp. 11-20 (with Rich Parkin).
"Sector Strategies and Industrial Policy: The Furniture Industry and the Greater London Enterprise Board". In Paul Hirst and Jonathan Zeitlin (eds), Reversing Economic Decline (Oxford, Berg Press, 1989) pp. 191-222.
"Financing the Debt and Shaping the City: The State and Financial Market Segmentation" (with Jane Humphries). In Bruno Jossa and Carlo Panico, The Political Economy of Central Bank Intervention (Naples, Liquori Editore, 1988) pp. 202-224.
"Rapporto sulla Crisi del Mobile nella Greater London", L'Industria del Legno e del Mobile 15, May/June 1987, pp. 49-54.
"The 'City' and Industrial Decline" (with Jane Humphries). In Bernard Elbaum and William Lazonick (eds), The Decline of the British Economy (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1986) pp. 223-239.
"Strategic Planning and Industrial Policy in Local Enterprise Boards", Local Economy, Spring 1986, pp. 65-77.
"Strategic Planning, the New Competition and Industrial Policy". In Peter Nolan and Suzanne Paine, (eds), Rethinking Socialist Economics (Cambridge, UK, Polity Press, 1986) pp. 182-197.
"Capitalism Divided?" (with Jane Humphries). A review essay of Geoffrey Ingham, Capitalism Divided: The City and Industry in British Social Development. In Contributions to Political Economy, Vol. 5, March 1986, pp. 103-110.
"The Political Economy of Socially Irrational Products", The Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 6, No. 1, March 1982, pp. 53- 64.
"Thatcherism", Democracy, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 1981, pp. 37-51 (with Jane Humphries).
"The Decline of Economic Virtue", Democracy, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1981, pp. 104-115 (with William E. Connolly).
"Politics and Subjects: The Limits of Structural Marxism", Socialist Review, Vol. 9, No. 6, November-December 1979, pp. 75-99 (with William E. Connolly).
"Nature and Its Largest Parasite". In Richard Edwards, Michael Reich and Thomas Weisskopf (eds), The Capitalist System, second edition, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1978, pp. 418-425 (with William E. Connolly).
"Income Distribution in Dependent Market Economies", American Economic Review, Vol. LXVI, No. 2, May 1976, pp. 105-109.
"Political Power and Tax Revenues in Central America", Journal of Development Economics, Vol. III, No. 1, Spring 1976, pp. 49-82.
"Market Images and Corporate Power: Beyond the Economics of Environmental Management". In Kenneth Dolbeare (ed), Public Policy Evaluation, Vol. II of The Yearbook in Politics and Public Policy, 1975, pp. 41-74 (with William E. Connolly).
"Galbraith on the Transition to Corporate Capitalism", in Maxwell Review, Vol. XI, No. 1, Winter 1974-5, pp. 58-69.
"Notes on Inflation", The Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. IV, No. 4, August 1972, pp. 85-112. Reprinted by Warner Modular Publication.
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