Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Easy Expensive Way Doesn't Work. Why Not Try The Difficult Cheap Way?, Karl A. Koehler

Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) Policy Briefs

Smokestack chasing and related ad hoc efforts to create techno/commercial clusters are examples of failed economic development activities, because they are generally poorly integrated into the networks of interactions that support a local, state, or national economy. This is a general problem because it is difficult to characterize and understand such complex webs of interactions. Thus, it is the dynamic complexity of combined state innovation systems, related policy systems, and the broader economy that stands between state governors and legislators, their piecemeal enactment of ‘economic development initiatives’, and the economic growth they desire. This brief describes the social, governmental, and …