Changing value chain of the Swiss knowledge economy: Spatial impact of intra-firm and inter-firm networks within the emerging Mega-City Region of Northern Switzerland

Changing value chain of the Swiss knowledge economy: spatial impact of intra-firm and inter-firm networks within the emerging Mega-City Region of Northern Switzerland, Regional Studies. Based on an empirical analysis of intra-firm and inter-firm connectivities, this paper focuses on the spatial behaviour of advanced producer services (APS) firms and their relevance for polycentricity in the emerging Mega-City Region of Northern Switzerland. APS firms are found to be the main drivers of the emerging Mega-City Region. Although Zurich seems to be the central node in national APS networks, it is the complementary combination of Zurich and Basel, together with some secondary centres, that raises the emerging Mega-City Region to a competitive level in the context of the global economy.