Small firms, innovation and regional development in Britain in the 1990s

This paper analyses regional variations in the growth, innovativeness and other performance characteristics during the 1990s of a sample of 1,000 small and medium sized manufacturing and service enterprises (SMEs) in Britain. Set within a theoretical context provided by Vaessen's critique of regional resource munificence theory, it shows that South East core region firms grew faster than those in Peripheral regions, and reported more original innovations, but that the latter had a better record of continuing innovation and higher R&D intensity. Significant regional differences in competitive environments and collaborative networking also carry implications for long term competitiveness.