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Laura Wolf-Powers

Biotechnology

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Understanding Biopharmaceutical Employment Growth In North Carolina: A "Working Regions" Approach, Laura Wolf-Powers Dec 2013

Understanding Biopharmaceutical Employment Growth In North Carolina: A "Working Regions" Approach, Laura Wolf-Powers

Laura Wolf-Powers

Scholars of the life sciences industry argue that spatial linkages between research and production have been critical to the growth of the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical sectors. (Feldman and Ronzio, 2001, 2006; Pisano, 1997). More recently, work by Jennifer Clark has suggested that firms in innovation-intensive industries gain competitive advantage from localized supply chains and close control over the manufacturing process. Clark contends that the co-location of design and production makes for regional economies that are innovative and resilient as well as more socially equitable (2013).

Because it has been difficult to understand spatial relationships between manufacturing and R&D using establishment …

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Human-Capital-Centred Regionalism In Economic Development: A Case Of Analytics Outpacing Institutions?, Laura Wolf-Powers Mar 2012

Human-Capital-Centred Regionalism In Economic Development: A Case Of Analytics Outpacing Institutions?, Laura Wolf-Powers

Laura Wolf-Powers

Drawing on the case of the Delaware Valley Innovation Network, a regional consortium funded under the US Department of Labor, the paper argues that sophisticated analytical tools developed to facilitate workforce- and occupation-led economic development are running ahead of the institution-building required to put new approaches into practice. There are two main reasons for this. First, tensions persist around the role of the public-sector workforce system in regional development initiatives. Secondly, regional stakeholders disagree about whether ‘knowledge economy’ investments should include the training of manufacturing, transport and logistics workers. The documentation of regional occupational specialisations, ‘talent gap’ analyses and the …

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