The Uneven Landscape of Innovation Poles Local Embeddedness and Global Networks

Series: IIR-Discussion Paper

Betriebliche Reorganisation und regionale Industrie Entwicklung bei veränderten Rahmenbedingungen 1973-1981 in Österreich

Series: IIR-Discussion Paper

Regional Networks of High-Technology Firms The Case of the Greater Boston Region

The creation and application of new technologies in the form of new products or new processes is increasingly becoming a collective effort in which firms, universities and research laboratories as well as public and other institutions at various spatial scales are engaged. Some of these "networks" are international or even global, such as strategic alliances and R&D joint ventures, which are undertaken to mobilize complementary assets and to provide distant market access. However, it is at the the local and regional level that the development of technology-based firms is most often stimulated. The example of the Greater Boston region shows that these local links are particularly relevant for newly emerging industries such as the computer industry in the 1960's or the biotechnology industry in the 1980's. Relevant linkages include those to universities and research institutions as well as those to venture capitalists, business services, specialised suppliers and customers. Since very specific knowledge bases, firms and institutions are involved, only few regions of a country can develop such high technology networks. As the industries mature, not just the markets but also the supplier and collaborative linkages become international and global, and the embeddedness of these networks into the region therefore becomes less important.Series: IIR-Discussion Paper

Organisatorischer Status von Betrieben und Regionale Innovationsdisparitäten in Österreich

Series: IIR-Discussion Paper

Firm Strategies and Restructuring in a Globalising Economy

The past decades have seen severe sectoral and spatial shifts of industry. By some scholars these were interpreted as "break-down" of traditional core - periphery structures, others saw the emergence of a new regional growth model, such as the industrial district or the networked region. Underlying these phenomena are strategic and organisational responses of firms to a rapidly changing environment. Since the 1980s there was a certain catching up of some of the newly industrialising countries as well as an increasing interdependence between the countries of the "Triad" (Europe, USA, Japan) leading to a reinforced competition in a variety of industries. Firms in advanced countries react through various strategies such as the search for cost advantages, for technological advantages and/or for advantages of flexibility. As a consequence we observe "old" forms of restructuring such as rationalisation, automation and relocations to low cost areas, but also "new" forms such as "lean production", just-in-time concepts, as well as new "interactive" ways of innovating. The variety of these strategies implies rather complex spatial outcomes and precludes simple generalisations. There is neither a break-down of traditional divisions of labour nor a hegemonic new model. What we do observe are partly modifications of old forms, such as spatial divsions of labour at larger spatial scales, coexisting with new forms such as localised networks.Series: IIR-Discussion Paper

Effects of the internet on the spatial structure of innovation networks

Research on innovation systems and innovative milieux has shown that the innovation process of companies is strongly interrelated with other firms and organisations. Internet is a new information and communication technology with a considerable potential to change such relationships and networks. An often held expectation is that the Internet will allow firms to interact with distant partners more easily and that as a consequence innovation networks become independent from geographical space. A contrasting view argues that local and regional networks and innovation systems will keep their importance, due to the fact that tacit knowledge, face to face communication and institutional factors are still of key relevance. In the paper we are going to investigate to which extent and how the Internet changes innovation network of companies. Do firms using the Internet intensively have other innovation partners at wider spatial scales than firms which hardly use this communication technology? We have analysed the effects of the Internet on the innovation-related knowledge flows of firms by conducting a telephone survey, personal interviews and a WWW-survey of Austrian firms. Preliminary analysis shows that there is significant variance between firms depending on the relative importance of different types of knowledge communicated and the type of firm (e.g., science-based firms versus traditional manufacturing firms). Overall, there is evidence that the Internet made relations to innovation partners more efficient. However, the configuration of networks (types and location of partners) did not change as much as is often expected in the literature.

Knowledge intensive industries, networks, and collective learning

Knowledge has become a key source of competitiveness for advanced regions and nations, indicating a transformation of capitalism towards “knowledge-driven economies“. Know ledge intensive sectors in production and in services have a lead in this respect, they can be considered as role models for the future. The innovation process, the mechanisms of knowledge exchange and the respective linkages in those industries differ quite markedly from those in other sectors. Clustering and local knowledge spillovers are frequently stated phenomena, although it is still unclear to what extent regional networks and collective learning are indeed relevant and what the mechanisms of knowledge flows are. The aim of the paper is to examine in a differentiated way the character of the innovation process and the ype of interactions in those industries, in order to find out how strongly they are related to regional, national and international innovation systems. We will analyse the relevant types of actors, the respective mechanisms of knowledge exchange and the importance of collective learning and innovation. The paper will discuss relevant theoretical concepts and available evidence and it will be based on an empirical analysis for Austria. The data base is a recent firm survey which was carried out in the year 2003. From this analysis conclusions regarding the role of regional and other innovation systems for the development of knowledge-based industries will be drawn.

Competencies of firms, external knowledge sourcing and types of innovation in regions of Europe

Many innovation studies have been focusing on a narrow concept of innovation such as the generation of patents or new products. The performance of companies, however, often depends on innovation defined from a broader perspective. This includes process, organisational and market innovations as was pointed out already by Schumpeter. Drawing on the concept of knowledge bases and innovation networks we argue that these different types of innovation require both internal competencies, and technological and market knowledge from various kinds of external sources. These can be located at regional, national and international levels. In the present paper we are going to analyse evidence from eight European countries in this respect. Based on a multivariate model we are able to show that product, process and organisational innovations indeed rely on quite different types and sources of knowledge, and that in addition also the institutional characteristics of regions and countries matter.

Does combinatorial knowledge lead to a better innovation performance of firms?

The knowledge base concept in the past has often been applied in its "pure" form, i.e. it was assumed that there are dominant knowledge bases in particular sectors and firms, that shape the knowledge- and innovation process and related networks. For example, it has been argued that in the case of "analytical sectors" such as biotech codified knowledge generated by universities and R&D organisations are key for radical innovation, and that such knowledge is often transmitted by formal R&D cooperations and university-firm links. "Synthetic sectors" such as machinery on the other hand were assumed to innovate more incrementally by recombining existing knowledge that was often drawn from suppliers or service firms. Empirical literature partly has confirmed these basic patters, but also has demonstrated that more complex knowledge processes are underlying these overly schematic expectations. In addition, there have been arguments by Asheim, Boschma and Strambach, among others, more recently that combinations of different but related knowledge bases and -assets might be of high relevance for understanding innovation processes of firms in particular sectors and regions. This implies that innovation of firms e.g. in "analytical sectors" might benefit not just from new and basic knowledge generated by research, but also from recombining existing and applied knowledge or by drawing on symbolic knowledge assets. The same argument for the relevance of combinatorial knowledge bases applies for "synthetic" and "symbolic sectors", but in different forms. The paper investigages if the reliance on combinatorial knowledge bases leads to a better innovation performance and more radical forms of innovation than the use of more narrow knowledge assets. The paper investigates the relevance of combinatorial knowledge bases for innovation at first conceptually and based on respective literature. In the second part we analyse this question empirically by drawing on findings for the ICT sector in three regions of Austria (Vienna, Upper Austria, and Salzburg). (authors' abstract)Series: SRE - Discussion Paper