Åke E. Andersson – författare

With the publication of The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida in 2002, the 'creative city' became the new hot topic among urban policy makers, planners and economists. Florida has developed one of three path-breaking theories about the relationship between creative individuals and urban environments. The economist Ake E. Andersson and the psychologist Dean Simonton are the other members of this 'creative troika'. In the Handbook of Creative Cities, Florida, Andersson and Simonton appear in the same volume for the first time. The expert contributors in this timely Handbook extend their insights with a varied set of theoretical and empirical tools. The diversity of the contributions reflect the multidisciplinary nature of creative city theorizing, which encompasses urban economics, economic geography, social psychology, urban sociology, and urban planning. The stated policy implications are equally diverse, ranging from libertarian to social democratic visions of our shared creative and urban future. Being truly international in its scope, this major Handbook will be particularly useful for policy makers that are involved in urban development, academics in urban economics, economic geography, urban sociology, social psychology, and urban planning, as well as graduate and advanced undergraduate students across the social sciences and in business.

This title was first published in 2003. This book focuses on the role of tangible and intangible networks that affect spatial interdependencies in economic and social life. It addresses the question - is the effect of distance disappearing? In examining this question the book considers the types of interaction that bring about globalisation of markets as well as social life in general and the distortion of distance patterns and changes in spatial interdependencies. The contributions elaborate theory and methods by examining hierarchical fields of internal and external influence on regional change; sources of productivity growth in a network of industries, endogenous growth and development policies. The book concludes with an assessment of plan evaluation methodologies for a changing and globalizing world characterized by new economic networks and networking arrangements.

This title was first published in 2003. This book focuses on the role of tangible and intangible networks that affect spatial interdependencies in economic and social life. It addresses the question - is the effect of distance disappearing? In examining this question the book considers the types of interaction that bring about globalisation of markets as well as social life in general and the distortion of distance patterns and changes in spatial interdependencies. The contributions elaborate theory and methods by examining hierarchical fields of internal and external influence on regional change; sources of productivity growth in a network of industries, endogenous growth and development policies. The book concludes with an assessment of plan evaluation methodologies for a changing and globalizing world characterized by new economic networks and networking arrangements.

In this challenging book, the authors demonstrate that economists tend to misunderstand capital. Frank Knight was an exception, as he argued that because all resources are more or less durable and have uncertain future uses they can consequently be classed as capital. Thus, capital rather than labor is the real source of creativity, innovation, and accumulation. But capital is also a phenomenon in time and in space. Offering a new and path-breaking theory, they show how durable capital with large spatial domains - infrastructural capital such as institutions, public knowledge, and networks - can help explain the long-term development of cities and nations. This is a crucial book for spatial and institutional economists and anyone working outside the neoclassical mainstream. Academics and students of economic history, urban and regional planning, and economic sociology will also find it an illuminating and accessible exploration of time, space and capital.

In the post-industrial network economy, international gateway regions are becoming increasingly important. These gateway regions are the nodes (defined as a city or a city region) that act as saddle points between a region and the global economy. While gateway regions have existed ever since inter-regional trade was first practised, new non-trade networks, and the wider global economy, have made these regions more complex. The book includes discussions of infrastructure networks such as the internet and air transport, as well as networking activities such as long-distance scientific cooperation, financial networks and direct investments. The contributors have expertise in fields such as regional economics, economic geography, institutional economics and business administration.The book offers in-depth analysis of both existing and developing gateway regions in three sections:North AmericaAsia-PacificEuropeEconomists and researchers with an interest in regions, the knowledge economy and institutions will find this book of great value. It will also be of interest to economic geographers, regional planners and development agencies.

The Economics of Experiences, the Arts and Entertainment serves as a welcome and unique introduction to various economic aspects of the production and consumption of art and entertainment products. The book begins with analyses and discussion of neoclassical production and utility functions, with a focus on art and entertainment as instances of experience goods or services. The authors then go on to present alternative Austrian and institutional approaches which focus on the role of creative entrepreneurs in the market process. Aesthetic and psychological theories are also discussed with a focus on their impact on producers' and consumers' decisions, as well as historical examples of creative centres, such as Renaissance Florence and Post World War II New York.One important conclusion reached in the book is that there is no economically meaningful way to distinguish art from entertainment, if such a distinction is to be based on the inherent qualities of products. Instead, an analysis of the activities of interest groups, politicians and other gatekeepers to the world of the arts serves to illuminate how a designation as art serves to abolish market prices and suppress competition, in contrast to the much less distorted market for entertainment products.David and Ake E. Andersson's path-breaking book will appeal to scholars and researchers at all levels of academe involved in economics, public sector economics and those with a special interest in art and/or entertainment. Public and private sector managers, planners and administrators in various art and entertainment industries will also find much to engage them within this book.