This book presents a radically innovative view on trade shows as knowledge-rich places, where firms learn through observation and interaction with other economic actors, and as enablers, rather than mere consequences, of globalization. Traditionally seen as marketing tools, trade shows are conceptualised as temporary clusters that facilitate the creation and diffusion of knowledge across geographical distances, even in the age of social media.

The book is organized in four parts. Part I lays out the conceptual foundations of the knowledge-based perspective, from the early development of trade fairs to modern-day events. Part II analyses specific global developments, focussing on the trade show ecologies of Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Part III investigates differences in the nature of knowledge generation practices across international hub shows, exports shows, and import shows in different industries, and investigates competition between such events. Part IV discusses the implications of a knowledge-based conceptualisation of trade shows.

The book will be of interest to scholars and students in economic geography, management, marketing, organization studies, political science, and sociology. It also has practical implications for trade show organisers on how to make their events more competitive through knowledge-based strategies; for industry associations and cities, on how to use these events for collective/place marketing purposes; and for policy makers, on how to use trade shows for export promotion and innovation policies.

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Harald Bathelt is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Innovation and Governance. Since 2007, he has also been affiliated with the University's Department of Geography and Program in Planning. He received both his Ph.D. and Habilitation at the University of Giessen, Germany. He presently holds the Zijiang Visiting Chair at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. His research interests are in the areas of economic geography, political economy, and methodology. In addition to books on North American high-technology industries (1991) and the German chemical industry (1997), he has published a textbook on economic geography (2003) and a monograph on the relational economy (2011, both jointly with Johannes Glückler). Francesca Golfetto is Professor of Business Management and Marketing at Bocconi University, Milan Italy. She has taught at the Universities of Venice and Turin, and was visiting professor at Oxford University, Said Business School. She is Director of MiMeC (Master in Marketing and Communication) and has been Co-director of Bocconi University's CERMES (Center for Research on Markets and Industry). She has founded CERMES' Trade Fair Observatory, which has become the leading European research institution devoted to the trade show industry. She is consultant in Business Strategy and Marketing, and has also been a member of the advisory board of leading Italian companies and consultant for various trade show organisers and exhibitions centres. She has published various books on topics as European manufacturing industry, firm competition and strategy, marketing communication and trade shows. Diego Rinallo is Associate Professor of Marketing at Kedge Business School, Marseille, and Associate Researcher at CERGAM, Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix Marseille. He was visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Schulich School of Business, Toronto. He is an affiliated member of CERMES Bocconi's Business Communication and Events Lab (formerly Trade Fair Observatory), where he conducted several applied research studies in the context of the trade show industry. His academic research, focused on trade shows, marketing communications and consumer culture, was published in Journal of Marketing, Economic Geography, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, and Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. He is the author of Event Marketing (Egea, 2011), and the editor of Consumption and Spirituality (Routledge, 2012).