The Innovation System of Norwegian Aquacultured Salmonids

This paper is about one of the most important export products in Norway, “Norwegian salmon”, focusing especially on the innovation system of aquaculture of salmon and trout in Norway, the aim of the paper is to describe the sector in a national and global context, for thereafter highlight in particular how different aquaculture firms operate and carry out innovation by looking at what kind of external relations and interactive learning processes are involved in innovation, and as such suggesting input to policy makers on how to strengthen the sectoral innovation system, a sector with the potential to become even more knowledge intensive and innovative than today. By differentiating aquaculture according to knowledge base and degree of structured and functionally differentiated organisations, the empirical material presented in this paper shows that aquaculture firms have very different approaches to innovation; from antiinnovation strategies to strategies of being in the fore-front of innovation in the industry. The empirical material has shown that firms with very different innovation systems exists side-by-side and the overall functioning of the sectoral innovation system of aquaculture is influenced by all the different layers of firm types.

KIBS and industrial development of cities.Labour mobility, innovation and client interaction

The paper departs from a seemingly disagreement between theoretical propositions stressing the importance of the KIBS sector as an innovation agent, and empirical results from quantitative innovation surveys. KIBS are increasingly seen to have a strategic role in stimulating innovation processes, particularly in large cities. However, the alleged importance of KIBS does not show up in empirical surveys. The surveys generally regard KIBS (or consultancy firms) to be of less importance as information sources and innovation partners. The paper somewhat supports the conclusions from the empirical surveys, pointing to the fact that parts of the literature attach larger importance to the role of KIBS in innovation processes than can be confirmed by empirical results. However, the low importance attached to KIBS in quantitative surveys may rely on the fact that surveys only seize some of the roles played by KIBS in innovation processes. Surveys do not map, for example, knowledge spillovers occurring through the mobility of workers. The paper demonstrates that many workers left the KIBS sector in Norway to start working in other sectors during parts of the 1990s, signifying a flow of knowledge following the workers out of the KIBS sector. However, the paper also demonstrates that the flow of knowledge via labour mobility first of all benefits the most central parts of Norway. Less knowledge is seen to flow from the KIBS sector in Oslo and the other large cities to other industries and other parts of the country.

Innovation in an urban context

The dissertation is based on a collection of papers addressing different aspects of regional innovation systems in an urban context. The overall aim is to find explanatory factors behind the workings of regional innovation systems in urban agglomerations by looking at the innovation dynamics and innovation outcomes of the Oslo region, and secondly, by analysing how two diverse subsets of economic activity in the Oslo region (and other urban agglomerations) are able to exploit a regional innovation system (clustered manufacturing SME's and Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS). This is done by using theoretical insights and empirical research. The empirical findings indicate that regional and national systems have different roles in the innovation dynamics of the Oslo region. The findings shows that to be a well functioning and operative innovation system barriers rooted in both a ?competence? and a ?cultural? mismatch must be overcome for SME?s, and policy suggestion for a governance structure able to help overcome these barriers are suggested. Further, the research addresses the interrelatedness between KIBS and a regional innovation system characterized by urban agglomeration, firstly by looking at why and how this system is important for KIBS? competitiveness, and secondly how a regional innovation system profits from KIBS agglomeration. The thesis questions what characterises KIBS? clients that are able to innovate and take part in learning processes with KIBS