摘要：By the late 1970s, it was apparent that regional policy-as perceived traditionaIly as a top-down exercise in diverting branch plant investments in the manufacturing sector to designated regions-was in a state of flux. Sources of mobile manufacturing investment had declined, and regional inequalities remained firmly entrenched. Indeed, many observers argued that in sorne cases such inequalities had become institutionalized by rc1iancc on the same branch plant investments meant to resolve them. The reccssionary crisis of the early 1980s further undermined the role of larger firms as job generators (while that of the smaIl firm sector was enlarged) and governments everywhere cut back fiscaIly, including on the traditional regional poliey instruments. Moreover, recognition of the central role of technological innovation within the engine of economic growth gathered momentum during the 1970s and 1980s.
