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Robert Huggins Profile

Robert Huggins is Professor of Management and Policy at the Cardiff School of Management, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff and Director of the Centre for International Competitiveness. He is an economic development specialist of international standing, and acts as a policy advisor and consultant to a range of organisations. He is currently undertaking a two-year study on the role of university generated knowledge in achieving regional competitiveness of UK’s Economic and Social Research Council’s Programme on the Impact of the Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economies.

He was also the coordinator of the Managing and Infusing Research Investment and Development (MIRIAD) initiative for the European Commission www.miriad.org

Key areas of interest include the study of competitiveness, knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and small business management. Research projects have focused on: the analysis of regional competitiveness; inward investment; the knowledge economy and high-technology industry; and the culture of entrepreneurship and business development – in particular, the creation and evolution of business networks and knowledge clusters; and the development and mobilisation of knowledge and skills.

As the originator of the European Competitiveness Index, the UK Competitiveness Index and the co-founder of the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index, he is committed to furthering research that informs corporate strategy and public policy, especially practical actions aimed at improving the competitiveness of small businesses and the regions in which they are located.

Some of his recent publications include:

Books

Huggins, R and H. Izushi (2007) Competing for Knowledge: Creating, Connecting, and Growing, Routledge, London.
Huggins, R. (2000) The Business of Networks: Inter-firm Interaction, Institutional Policy and the TEC Experiment, Ashgate, Aldershot.

Refereed Journal Articles

Huggins, R. (forthcoming) The Evolution of Knowledge Clusters in a Post-Bubble World: Progress and Policy, Economic Development Quarterly
Huggins, R. (forthcoming) Regional Competitive Intelligence: Benchmarking and Policymaking, Regional Studies
Huggins, R. and Williams, N. (forthcoming) Enterprise and Public and Policy: A Review of Labour Government Intervention in the United Kingdom, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy
Huggins, R., Johnston, A. and Steffenson, R. (2008) Universities, Knowledge Networks and Regional Policy, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Vol. 1, No. 2, 321-340.
Huggins, R. and H. Izushi (2008) ‘Benchmarking the Knowledge Competitiveness of the Globe’s High Performing Regions: A Review of the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index’, Competitiveness Review, Vol. 18, No. 1/2, 70-86.
Huggins, R. (2008) ‘Universities and Knowledge-Based Venturing: Finance, Management and Networks in London’, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Vol. 20, No. 2, 185-206.
Huggins, R., Jones, M. and S. Upton (2008) ‘Universities as Drivers of Knowledge-Based Regional Development: A Triple Helix Analysis of Wales’, International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, Vol. 1, No. 1, 24-47.
Huggins, R. and M. Weir (2007) ‘Managing Intellectual Assets in SMEs: Evaluating the Scope for Policy Intervention’, International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, Vol. 4, No. 4, 412-429.
Huggins, R. and M. Weir (2007) ‘Intellectual Assets and Public Policy’, Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 8, No. 4, 708-720.
Huggins, R., Demirbag, M. and V. Ratcheva (2007) ‘Global Knowledge and R&D Foreign Direct Investment Flows: Recent Patterns in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America, International Review of Applied Economics, Vol. 21, No. 3, 437-451.

Other Publications

Fletcher, D., Huggins, R. and L. Koh (2008) ‘Institutional Entrepreneurship in the Emerging Regional Economies of the Western Balkans’, in Phan, P.P, Venkataramanm, S. and R. Velamuri (eds.) Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions around the World: Theory, Evidence and Implications, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, forthcoming.
Huggins, R. and Davies (2008) Conceptualising and Measuring the Competitiveness of Regions: A Review of the European Competitiveness Index, Red Review, Vol. 1, 48-57.
Huggins, R. and H. Izushi (2007) ‘The Knowledge Competitiveness of Regional Economies: Conceptualisation and Measurement’, Bank of Valletta Review (35): 1-24.
Huggins, R. (2006) ‘Switzerland and Knowledge Competitiveness’, in Kälin, C.H. (ed.) Switzerland Business & Investment Handbook, Sussex: Wiley.