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Metropolitan Development of Nanotechnology: Concentration or Dispersion?

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Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development

Part of the book series: Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society ((YNTS,volume 2))

Abstract

In this chapter, Jan Youtie and Philip Shapira leave the world of economic theory and plunge into the economic realities of the regional distribution of nanotechnology activities today in the United States. Some emerging technologies in the past have developed in specific locations, with the best known being Silicon Valley in California, Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, and Route 128 near Boston. Such “technology districts” can be a great boon for local economies, but they inherently open up inequalities with other areas. Youtie and Shapira explore how current nanotechnology research is distributed among regions in the United States.

Originally presented at the Workshop on Nanotechnology, Equity, and Equality at Arizona State University on November 21, 2008.

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Acknowledgements

This study uses data from the large-scale global nanotechnology publication and patent datasets developed by the group on Nanotechnology Research and Innovation Systems at Georgia Institute of Technology—a component of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS-ASU). Support for the research was provided through CNS-ASU with sponsorship from the National Science Foundation (Award No. 0531194). The findings and observations contained in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Correspondence to Jan Youtie .

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Youtie, J., Shapira, P. (2010). Metropolitan Development of Nanotechnology: Concentration or Dispersion?. In: Cozzens, S., Wetmore, J. (eds) Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development. Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9615-9_10

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