The pursuit of economic growth is at the top of every nation's policy agenda at the end of the 20th century. This authoritative and comprehensive book goes beyond the narrowly-based convergence model of economic growth by considering global, national and regional patterns of growth from a comparative perspective. Issues examined include:





the evolution of the firm and the role of R&D
long-term implications of the loss of national sovereignty
international 'openness'
social and political institutions
patterns of regional harmonization in the United States, particularly income and earnings trends across states and the reasons for convergence
persistent regional disparities in Europe including the roles of sectoral transformation, regional spillovers, human capital formation and the allocation of structural funds
the experience of convergence in individual countries including Italy, the UK, Spain and Germany