Regional Advantage

Explore how Silicon Valley in California and Route 128 in Massachusetts started as centers of electronics innovation and entrepreneurship but ended up with vastly different fates. Despite similarities in their histories and technologies, Silicon Valley thrived while Route 128 declined. The author argues that Silicon Valley's success is due to its decentralized system, promoting experimentation, collaboration, and collective learning among specialist companies. Meanwhile, Route 128 was dominated by a few self-sufficient corporations, slowing their adaptivity to changing markets. Learn how local knowledge and relationships can create new markets, products, and applications, and the importance of developing regional economic policies.