The Geography of Knowledge Spillovers Between High-Technology Firms in Europe: Evidence from a Spatial Interaction Modeling Perspective

The focus in this article is on knowledge spillovers between high-technology firms in Europe, as captured by patent citations. The European coverage is given by patent applications at the European Patent Office that are assigned to high-technology firms located in the EU-25 member states (except Cyprus and Malta), the two accession countries Bulgaria and Romania, and Norway and Switzerland. By following the paper trail left by citations between these high-technology patents we adopt a Poisson spatial interaction modeling perspective to identify and measure spatial separation effects to interregional knowledge spillovers. In doing so we control for technological proximity between the regions, as geographical distance could be just proxying for technological proximity. The study produces prima facie evidence that geography matters. First, geographical distance has a significant impact on knowledge spillovers, and this effect is substantial. Second, national border effects are important and dominate geographical distance effects. Knowledge flows within European countries more easily than across. Not only geography, but also technological proximity matters. Interregional knowledge flows are industry specific and occur most often between regions located close to each other in technological space.     

地理邻近促进产学研协同创新吗?——基于多维邻近整合的视角

运用偏最小二乘法（PLS）构建结构方程模型,将多维邻近整合到统一的研究框架,分析地理邻近对跨区域产学研协同创新绩效的影响。结果显示：地理邻近是多维邻近的第一维,其他邻近都是在地理邻近的影响下作用于产学研协同创新绩效;社会邻近虽然正向作用于技术邻近和关系邻近,但是不能间接通过技术邻近和关系邻近正向影响产学研协同创新绩效;制度邻近和关系邻近对产学研协同创新的影响很显著。为了实现科技资源优化聚集,有必要加快制度、市场和基础设施的一体化建设。     

Innovation Processes and Proximity: The Case of IDEON Firms in Lund,Sweden

Increasing pressure on innovativeness and collaboration is supposed to strengthen the importance of geographical proximity in innovation systems. But simultaneously there are 'globalization forces' and information and communication technology (ICT) developments that stress wider contexts and different dependencies to place and distance. With case studies of innovative firms at IDEON Science Park in Lund, the article presents analyses of the importance of proximity, related to the kind of knowledge and collaborative arrangements involved in innovation processes. Scope for 'untraded interdependencies' is discussed as well as the possible ICT impact of these collaborative relations. Argument for a three tier innovation system is put forward and its implications for regional innovation strategies are, concludingly, discussed.     

Location and collaboration: Manufacturing firms' use of knowledge intensive services in product innovation

The paper addresses the relation between geographical location of firms and collaboration with knowledge intensive service providers on product innovation in a small country setting. The analysis shows that even in a small country with limited geographical distances firms located in peripheral areas are less likely to be broad users of collaboration with knowledge intensive service providers in the process of product innovation than firms located in major urban areas. However, it is only amongst firms located in the periphery that collaboration strategy seems to matter in the sense that differences in development in employment can be detected between broad and rare users of collaboration.     

Geography of Knowledge-based Collaboration in a Post-communist Country: Specific Experience or Generalized Pattern?

This article addresses the role of geographical proximity for knowledge and innovation collaboration patterns in the Czech Republic and assesses the factors which determine the spatial distribution of innovation co-operation. The article uses alternative sources of empirical data to map collaboration patterns of innovating companies, research institutes and universities and to find basic regularities. By this, the article aims to fill in the gap in current research focused rather on most advanced regions by adding new knowledge from a transformation, post-communist economy. Also, it aims to shed light on the issue of the role of proximity between actors involved in collaboration in the sphere of knowledge and innovation creation which still remains rather elusive. The findings indicate that even though co-location and intra-regional knowledge and innovation collaboration exist, it cannot be regarded as a decisive characteristic. Geographical proximity is not a crucial condition in knowledge and innovation collaboration as all actors are involved to an important degree in international linkages. Yet, the role of the specific institutional context and factors at micro-level influence the innovation co-operation pattern.     

Intermediaries in Regional Innovation Systems: High-Technology Enterprise Survey from Northern Finland

Intermediaries play an important role in national as well as in regional innovation systems, especially in innovation policy. In linking organizations within an innovation system, intermediaries are focusing on technology transfer, commercialization of ideas and funding. This research focuses on the role of intermediaries in high-technology product development in northern Finland. Based on a survey of 168 high-technology enterprises, funding services are regarded as the most important activity of intermediaries. Our results show that finance matters: a key actor within the Finnish innovation system in terms of direct funding and indirect collaborative resourcing, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), is considered the most important public sector organization in private sector product development. The survey also reveals that growth-driven companies with emphases on product innovation and high levels of investment in research and development for increasing their annual turnover benefit the most from intermediaries.     

组织与认知邻近对东营市石油装备制造业创新网络演化影响

多维邻近性成为学术界研究创新网络演化的新视角。中国学者的相关研究侧重分析地理邻近的作用,对其它维度邻近性的作用机理讨论较少。本文基于1985-2013年东营市石油装备企业申请专利与合作专利数据,以及东营市17家石油装备企业访谈调查的分析,探讨了多维邻近对东营市石油装备制造业创新网络演化的影响。根据主导邻近性的差别,将东营市石油装备制造业创新网络发展划分为起步阶段、稳定发展阶段、跃升阶段。起步阶段,市场环境相对封闭,形成了以胜利油田企业为主体的创新网络;组织邻近起主导作用,但过度的组织邻近限制了创新网络的发展。稳定发展阶段,民营企业网络地位快速上升,中国石油大学（华东）成为网络新节点;组织邻近和认知邻近共同推动创新网络发展。跃升阶段,民营企业和学研机构对创新网络发展的作用逐渐增强;认知邻近起主导作用,促进创新网络规模快速扩张。相比于地理邻近,组织和认知邻近对内生型产业集群创新网络发展的驱动作用强。依托亲友圈、朋友圈、师生圈等关系,能够促进认知邻近的发展。     

Where cities fail to triumph: The impact of urban location and local collaboration on innovation in Norway

The role of cities in fostering innovation has for long been taken for granted. Agglomeration and the knowledge spillovers generated in dense urban environments have been considered fundamental drivers of innovation. This view has, however, become challenged by research questioning the returns to physical agglomeration and local networking, placing instead more emphasis on the importance of interregional and international collaboration, and on innovation in peripheral regions. This paper delves into the debate on the role of cities for innovation by examining the interplay between urban location and local collaboration in Norway. It uses data from the Community Innovation Survey for 2006–2010 to map out the geographical dimension of R&D collaboration in Norwegian firms with a view to assessing whether different types of R&D collaboration in urban and rural locations affect firms’ propensity to innovate. The results show that local collaboration is associated with increased process and organisational innovation, while it does not produce higher levels of product or marketing innovation. Conversely, international collaboration is connected with higher probabilities of product, new-to-market and marketing innovations. Furthermore, location in urban or rural areas makes no difference for most innovation outcomes in Norway when other characteristics are controlled for. Location in cities also does not shape the returns to local R&D collaboration. Hence, the role of cities for innovation in Norway, whether in themselves or as sites for dense local interaction, is less relevant than the urban innovation literature would predict.     

多尺度视角下中国城市创新网络格局及邻近性机理分析

借助2016年国家知识产权局的专利合作数据,利用复杂网络和空间分析方法对国家、区际和省内三个尺度的城市创新网络结构进行刻画,并利用负二项回归法对创新合作的邻近性机理进行了剖析。研究表明：①全国城市创新网络的整体联系较弱,网络极化现象明显,空间结构呈现出以北京为核心的放射型网络形态。区际城市创新网络的跨区域网络联系强于区内网络联系,东中西形成以区域中心城市为核心的异质性空间结构。省内城市创新网络的本地结网不足,内部联系强度低,空间形态普遍呈现出以省会城市为中心的核心-边缘结构。②回归结果证实了社会邻近、技术邻近对城市创新结网具有显著的促进作用,地理邻近则呈现出不显著的正向影响。其中,技术邻近的促进作用显著高于社会邻近,而地理邻近则需要通过社会邻近的调节效应对创新结网产生影响。     

Outsmarting geography: implementing territorial innovation strategies in sparsely populated regions

The smart specialization literature has hardly addressed the role of geography in promoting novel approaches to local and regional innovation processes beyond classic clustering approaches. Based on empirical observations from five sparsely populated regions, the present article proposes original insights that contribute to the theoretical debate on the place-based nature and spatial dimension of entrepreneurial discovery, the key functional mechanism behind smart specialization. First, it advocates the added-value of integrating strategic spatial planning approaches at different stages of smart specialization implementation, from design to operationalization. Second, it suggests that more effective ways of creating domains through shared knowledge bases of existing sectors should aim at promoting collaboration between second-tier economic agents. Finally, the specificity of the territorial preconditions found in sparsely populated regions brings to the fore new forms of proximity relations based on institutional, cognitive and organizational proximity rather than on geographical clustering.     

Regional networks of small and medium sized enterprises: evidence from the Metropolitan Area of Ottawa in Canada1

Innovation is currently seen as a process which results from various interactions among different actors. Recent theories of innovation emphasize clusters and geographical proximity as loci of knowledge, development and exchange, critical to higher levels of innovation and regional growth. As a consequence, there is a territorial dimension to innovation. This article investigates the innovation activities and networking of 53 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ottawa, Canada. Taking its point of departure from the proliferating literature on the localized nature of innovation processes, the article sets out to answer three empirical questions: How intensively are SMEs engaging in innovation activities? To what extent do they interact during innovation process activities? What is the relevance of spatial proximity in networking, and what is the relative importance of localized cooperation as compared to non‐localized cooperation. The results revealed SMEs rely as much on external networks of customers and suppliers, as they do on ones based in their own region, and that these are considerably more important, than other potential sources of ideas, to the innovation process within the firm.     

Research collaboration beyond the boundary: Evidence from university patents in China

Geographical distance constitutes friction in searching for research collaborators. Taking advantage of a quasinatural experiment featured by High-Speed Railway (HSR) lines in China, this paper employs the difference-in-differences model to identify the causal impact of a substantial improvement in the intercity transportation infrastructure on collaborative innovation across cities. The data pertain to a universe of patent applications filed by Chinese universities and their citations. We find that HSR contributes to a substantial increase in the innovation quantity and quality of collaborative patenting innovation between universities and corporates. It contributes to industry collaboration by utilizing university academic disciplines in the related technology fields. Lastly, HSR facilitates universities to search for new research partners with better quality beyond the geographical boundary.     

农业产业集群发展中的共同演化分析——以鄢陵县花木产业集群为例

本文基于演化经济地理学的视角,结合鄢陵县花木产业集群30多年的纵向发展演化实例,探讨了农业产业集群内部微观基础(农户、企业)、中观尺度的产业网络和宏观尺度的外部环境(制度、技术和空间)如何共同演化并决定着农业产业集群的演变。研究发现:①农业产业集群的演化与其内部基本行为主体农户与企业、产业网络、技术、制度和地域空间的演变具有协同作用、共同演化,特定的影响因素与集群网络交互作用形成了集群发展的不同阶段。②在集群发展的不同阶段,企业、网络、技术、空间和制度具有各自的特点和不同的协同演化特征,微观主体的组织创新是对宏观环境变化的适应,宏观环境变化及地域空间演变是微观变化的综合。③在培育农业产业集群的过程中,既要重视个别农户和企业的成功示范,又要重视地理邻近效应对整个产业网络、技术、惯例形成和空间再造的作用。本研究结论对于农业产业集群的管理实践和集群政策制定具有一定的参考价值。     

Spatial Proximity and Intercompany Communication: Myths and Realities

Abstract

Spatial proximity is credited with numerous virtues in the economic literature. In particular, for a company to be located near other companies is seen as conducive to the development of business relations. Spatial proximity is also considered to contribute to the quality and efficiency of these relations by facilitating face-to-face meetings that foster the exchange of complex knowledge and, in particular, the emergence of innovation. This article explores the notion of spatial proximity in intercompany relations, its capacity to facilitate exchange, as well as the link with the methods of communication employed (information and communication technologies and face-to-face). It is based on a distinction between real proximity (the spatial distance between firms), perceived proximity (the spatial distance as evaluated by the firm itself) and active proximity (spatial proximity that facilitates the exchanges). The data come from a survey conducted in 2008 with more than 2000 firms located in the Brittany region (France). The findings emphasize the relative nature of the notion of spatial proximity and the distinction in some cases between real and active proximities, and show that the positive perception of the role of spatial proximity is sustained by the increased face-to-face contact it entails.     

Interaction among High-tech Talent and its Impact on Innovation Performance: A Comparison of Taiwanese Science Parks at Different Stages of Development

Numerous studies have studied how knowledge spillovers and various other factors influence industrial clusters in terms of geographical proximity. Related studies have generally confirmed significant positive correlations between firm innovative activities and factors such as spatial proximity and degree of industrial clustering. This study elucidates on an individual level, based on the relationship between proximity dimension and innovative activity, the interactive relationships between the mobility and interaction of high-tech talent and innovation performance. Survey results indicate that the spatial proximity of firms clustering within the Hsinchu and Tainan Science-based Industrial Park increases the interaction among high-tech personnel and the expansion of their professional networks, thus promoting innovation. Gradually organizational and social proximity evolve from physical proximity within high-tech districts via the evolution of industrial networks and interactions among high-tech talent. Additionally survey results demonstrate the value of mobility and informal relationships involving high-tech talent, as well as the effect of these relationships on innovation performance during the various stages of science park development. However, how to avoid lock-in in the future development of high-tech districts remains a critical issue. The results of this investigation provide a useful reference for planning and managing industrial districts.     

Multipolis: High-technology Network in Northern Finland

Multipolis is a publicly funded innovation-oriented regional policy instrument to develop high technology in northern Finland. Northern Finland has few experts, under 1000 high-technology enterprises and a small market in a territory of 155,100 square kilometres with 716,000 inhabitants. Multipolis connects high-technology enterprises in, and between, 15 specialized high-technology clusters, regional developers and higher education and research institutes. Multipolis combines the technologically highly developed functional urban region of Oulu (“technopolis”) and the rest of northern Finland (“learning region”). Multipolis has enhanced cooperation, acquisition of new information, social networks and common projects by high-technology enterprises. However, the management of the Multipolis network requires more attention.     

我国装备制造业的创新、知识溢出和产学研合作——基于一个扩展的知识生产函数方法

知识溢出的本地化现象揭示了地理边界的限制机理,然而越来越多的研究表明知识溢出也可发生在远距离的空间范围内。本文以我国装备制造业为例,采用扩展的知识生产函数方法探讨大学和科研机构的知识溢出对区域创新的影响。结果表明,大学和科研机构能够产生强烈的本地和跨区域的知识溢出效应,地理空间和创新网络在跨区域知识溢出中扮演重要角色。其中,产学研合作产生的知识溢出不仅局限于区域尺度,也发生在更高的国家尺度;在地理空间的制约影响下,高素质劳动力的流动对区域创新的影响十分显著且稳定,而大学和科研机构的衍生溢出机制则不那么明显,其原因可能与空间尺度选择有关。     

The influence of territory on innovation network design in mountain tourism resorts

As there is little research on the link between territories and interorganisational networks, this paper examines how the nature of a territory influences the characteristics of innovation networks. It compares the innovation network forms of two types of territories (high-altitude and medium-altitude mountain resorts) regarding four characteristics of networks widely debated in the literature: the nature of the relationships between members, the mode of regulation used, the architecture, and the geographical proximity of members. This research makes a significant contribution to both the spatial development and innovation management literature: indeed, our results show that according to the nature of the territory, innovation networks differ in terms of partners, geographical proximity, and regulation mode. However, the nature of the territory does not seem to influence the architecture of the innovation network since those networks need a hub organization that orchestrates the partners’ actions. These results, by providing a better understanding of the characteristics of innovation networks, help tourist territories to better attract customers.     

University-led innovation in and for peripheral urban areas: new approaches in Naples,Italy and Newark,NJ, US

This paper focuses on the spatial development problem of university-led innovation in peripheral urban areas. Highlighting issues of proximity, uneven geographic development, and multi-scalar urban governance as weaknesses of the regional innovation systems literature, we provide a novel synthesis of regional economics, innovation policy, and critical urban studies to assess the development roles of universities in concrete contexts. A comparative investigation of Naples and Newark, NJ captures the functional operation of regional innovation and urban development as a contested product of discourses, technologies (material and governance), and territorial arrangements. Our analysis demonstrates the significance of multi-scalar relationships in structuring innovation policy and practice in peripheral urban areas. The architecture of innovation is not simply rolled out into pre-determined spatial containers in places lacking established ‘institutional thickness’ or urban centrality. The spatial development of university-led innovation is a social product: material and governance infrastructures are essential components of the urban fabric and are essential to its co-constitution. Universities are shown to contribute differing resources dependent on their institutional strategic goals and the capacities and spatial imaginaries afforded to them by their situation in broader territorial governance regimes. We conclude by drawing comparative lessons and identifying directions for future research.