Philip R Tomlinson is Associate Professor in Business Economics at the University of Bath School of Management, where he is also a convenor for the Institute for Policy Research (IPR). His research interests predominantly focus upon economic governance, regional development and industrial policy, where he has published extensively in some of the world’s leading academic journals. He also co-edited Crisis or Recovery in Japan: State and Industrial Economy (2007, Edward Elgar, with David Bailey and Dan Coffey) and has contributed to several edited volumes. He has addressed the All Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group on industrial policy and also worked closely with the British Ceramic Confederation on issues relating to the development of the ceramics industry.