History Matters: Path dependence and innovation in British city ...

Figure 26: Cambridge and Swansea adult residents with degree level qualifications
1981-2001
35
30
25
Percentage of
adult residents
with degree
level or equivalent
qualifications
20
15
10
5
0
1981 1991
2001
Years
Cambridge Great Britain Swansea
Cambridge had a significant proportion of
highly qualified people (though the area
around it didn’t, and still doesn’t). The
development of the high-tech economy
has both been attracted by that, and of
course has in turn itself attracted even
greater numbers of well educated workers
to the area: it’s one of those self-reinforcing
things. There is no doubt that knowledge
is ‘in the air’ here… It’s a place of intense
knowledge creation and knowledge
assimilation, to use your term.” [Interview
CAMB001]
Respondents agreed on the importance of
graduate retention for the development of
the Swansea knowledge economy. However,
many felt that retention was poor, as there
are too few local job opportunities, despite
the attractive location of the city on the coast
with the Gower peninsula nearby. Another
commentator from the university questions the
university’s role in this regard:
“To a certain extent, as a university, we’re
not really training people up for the local
area; we’re to give them the skills to go all
over the world and that would be a sign of
success.” [Interview SW006]
It is suggested that the Technium programme
could help retain some Swansea University
graduates, although the scale of employment
at this level is too small to affect the overall
figures. Skills are identified as a significant
issue in Wales and Swansea, with the lack of
availability of ‘good people’ a major factor
limiting the growth of companies, and their
ability to assimilate knowledge.
“It’s all very well creating a compelling
infrastructure for these companies to grow
and develop. If the people aren’t there,
then you can’t. You can’t grow without the
people.” [Interview SW001]
Knowledge exploitation
A local economy’s ability to exploit knowledge
depends on the number, type and absorptive
capacity of its firms. A local firm base that
is orientated to knowledge creation is likely
to perform well in terms of knowledge
exploitation as measured by the innovation rate
and the commercialisation of ideas. Cambridge
has been developing such a base. The growth
of its high-tech cluster has been underpinned
by an above-average high firm formation rate
(see Figure 19 and Figure 27). In Swansea,
industrial legacy has left it with a low new firm
birth rate (Figure 27), especially of knowledgeoriented
firms.
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