Demographics,Innovative Outputs and Alliance Strategies of Canadian Biotech Firms

This paper focuses on the characteristics of biotech firms that consider alliances as critical to the innovation and commercialization of biotech-based products. First, we consider alliances with both universities and industries. Next, we examine attributes for those firms who consider proximity to universities as critical compared with others that do not put high value on physical proximity. Our study is informed by the literature on the biotechnology industry as well as studies on absorptive capacity, alliances and clusters in exploration and exploitation of knowledge, research and technologies. We analyse data based on a 2002 survey of Canadian biotech firms and find that while collaborative arrangements with universities are the most common among our sample firms, those who assign a high value to such linkages are not necessarily always the biotech firms experiencing commercial success.     

高速铁路的社会经济影响与空间效应的研究进展——基于国际SCI和SSCI期刊论文的分析

高速铁路正在重塑区域空间格局,并对社会经济发展产生深刻影响。本文以检索获得的347篇高速铁路社会经济影响与空间效应研究相关的国际SCI和SSCI期刊论文为研究对象,从文献来源、发文量年际变化、作者和机构、载文期刊、研究主题等方面对全球高速铁路社会经济效益研究的趋势和特征进行了系统分析;并从高速铁路的空间效益、经济影响以及社会影响等三个方面对研究内容和主题开展了系统综述;最后从研究趋势和研究内容等方面归纳了主要结论,提出未来研究的趋势与方向。结果表明,在高速铁路快速发展推动下,全球高速铁路效应研究呈现快速增长的态势,并在高速铁路的空间效应、社会经济效应等方面取得了较为丰硕的成果。中国大陆学者在高速铁路效应研究上异军突起,成为近年来国际发表论文最多的国家,但在研究深度和广度以及研究成果影响力上与西班牙等欧美国家仍有较大的差距。     

The challenge of breaking the academia–business firewall in Czechia: comparing the role of differentiated knowledge bases in collaborative R&D projects

Contemporary innovation processes increasingly involve a large number of networked actors, and cross-fertilization between knowledge institutions and firms has thus become a significant driver for innovation. Important insights into the differing nature of research and development (R&D) collaboration in particular sectors have been provided by research inspired by the knowledge-base approach embedded within innovation system (IS) theory. This study aims to contribute to this body of literature by applying the concept of differentiated knowledge bases to the former state-socialist countries, where the IS operates through a firewall between academia and industry. Data on collaborative R&D projects co-financed by public resources have allowed a detailed analysis of the nature of collaboration networks, revealing emerging patterns of academia–industry linkages and questioning the propositions stemming from the knowledge-based approach. The study concludes that collaborative science–industry networks show a very distinct topography when analytical and synthetic knowledge is compared.     

Different Modes of Innovation and the Challenge of Connecting Universities and Industry: Case Studies of Two Regional Industries in Norway

The paper argues that no single formula exists for how universities can stimulate innovation activity and industrial development in a particular region. The type of university–industry cooperation must be fined-tuned according to the knowledge base of the university and to the dominant mode of innovation in the regional industry. This article discusses two different modes of innovation: science, technology, innovation (STI) and doing, using, interacting (DUI). The unit of analysis is innovation and cooperation with universities in two regional industries in Norway, which are dominated by the two modes of innovation: STI (marine biotechnology in Tromsø) and DUI (oil and gas equipment suppliers in Agder). The empirical analyses demonstrate the different roles that universities play in these two regional industries. The University of Tromsø is the main organization behind the development of the marine biotechnology industry in Tromsø and is an important knowledge node and source of biotechnology spin-offs. Equipment suppliers in Agder have become world leaders in some niches, almost without research cooperation with universities. A general lesson is that the dominant mode of innovation in a regional industry makes a difference to the role universities can play in stimulating the development of the industry.     

Managing Long Distance and Localized Learning in the Emilia Romagna Life Science Cluster

The paper provides some empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the “open innovation” model in the life science cluster of Emilia Romagna (a region of Italy), comparing the network of R&D collaborative activities in public research organizations (PROs) and the network linked to R&D collaborative activities in private firms. By presenting the main results of a field research in the life science sector in Emilia Romagna, we are contributing to the recent debate focused on the crises of the old “closed innovation” model and the rise of the “open innovation” model. Our survey consists of both primary data deriving from face-to-face interviews with researchers and entrepreneurs, and secondary data extracted from the Internet, the PubMed database, and from the European Patent Office. Our work is based on the analysis of a representative sample of 30 research groups in PROs, 2173 scientific articles published by the interviewed scientists, and a representative sample of 78 private firms.     

城市居民出游的高铁选乘行为意向的形成机理——以长沙市为例

高速铁路以快捷、舒适、环保的明显优势促成旅游者的选乘决策。基于已有研究成果,思辨选乘动机、选乘阻碍、阻碍协商策略、行为意向的关系,构建人们高铁选乘意向形成的概念模型。选择长沙市居民进行研究,结果表明:快捷选乘动机和阻碍协商策略对行为意向有正向影响,选乘阻碍对阻碍协商策略和行为意向有负向影响。选乘意向的形成有两条路径,一是直接通过快捷动机形成;二是基于快捷和舒适动机,判断选乘阻碍,采取阻碍协商策略,最后形成行为意向。依据研究结论得到了旅游业发展中科学利用高铁的四点启示。     

国外创新网络研究述评与区域共生创新战略

创新网络是企业创新在地理空间和战略关系层面上的综合体现。在经济地理视角下,本文重点从企业层面的联盟创新网络,产业层面的集群创新网络,以及区域层面的共生创新网络加以具体评述与分析。在企业层面,强调企业在网络当中的核心地位,以及如何通过企业战略联盟构建创新网络;在产业层面,强调产业集群要素对创新网络影响,更倾向刻画创新网络是一种以产业地理空间为边界的整体性创新网络;在区域层面,跨越企业所处的产业边界,基于生态共生思想提出区域共生创新网络的新范式。最后,提出创新网络未来的研究应重点关注企业、产业与区域三个层面的协同演化,突破传统区域创新网络的空间特征和地理格局,探讨如何构架一个具有层次性、协同性和互动开放性的区域生态共生创新网络。     

长江中游城市群协同创新空间关联网络结构时空演变研究

基于城市群城市间创新联系和创新差异水平的改进引力模型,运用社会网络分析方法探究了2006—2016年长江中游城市群协同创新空间关联网络结构及其时空演变趋势。研究发现：研究期内长江中游城市群城市间协同创新水平整体逐渐提升,但强寡弱多的非均衡格局改变并不显著;空间上形成了以武汉、长沙为中心辐射邻近地区的协同创新高值区,环鄱阳湖城市群相对落后;长江中游城市群协同创新空间关联网络整体密度和效率提升较快,而三大子城市群城市间协同创新发展相对滞后;网络多中心在发育,逐渐由最初的双核主导发展为“3+5”多核心格局;随着创新内外环境的变化,网络内部四个凝聚子群不断重构,结构和功能更加复杂化和层次化。     

高速铁路城市联系职能研究——基于京广高铁调研数据的实证

审视与评估现实中高速铁路的城市联系职能,是研究高铁发展与城市发展之间相互作用关系的基础。基于对京广高速铁路沿线14个城市进行的实地调研和近3000份调查问卷,分析了高铁旅客在城市间的流动方向及特征,发现高铁主要承担着中心城市与普通城市之间、中心城市与中心城市之间的客流联系。通过对不同城市间客流强度影响因素的计量分析,发现高铁旅客在省内城市间的流动强度普遍高于省外流动强度,去往中心城市的客流强度也大于去往普通城市的,且两个城市间的高铁旅客数量与两个城市的经济水平正相关。高铁加强了中心城市与普通城市之间的客流联系,但会带来中心城市进一步的极化发展还是使中心城市更好地带动普通城市的发展,是值得进一步探讨的问题。     

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.     

Learning across distances: an international collaborative learning project between Berlin and Turku

Many geographers graduating from universities enter an international and project-based professional life, which includes working in geographically dispersed project teams. In Europe, the Bologna process aligned study programs and supported student mobility to prepare students for such a work environment. However, research on higher education has reported few examples of international courses that include collaborative learning during which students have experience of both co-location and geographical dispersion. This paper reports on a pilot course that implemented international student-led research projects in two Geography Departments: the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the University of Turku. We monitored the students’ learning processes via a survey that was administered at the beginning, middle and end of the course, complemented by observations, informal discussions and student team reports. We analysed the survey and observations within a proximity-distance framework to identify the key challenges and good practices for supporting collaborative learning. We developed a model for organising an international course that applies both geographical distance and co-location.     

Renewable energy innovations and sustainability transition: How relevant are spatial spillovers?

In the societal challenge to switch to renewable energy, innovation has become an ever‐increasing critical determinant. However, while sustainability transition is a global challenge, diffusion and adoption of innovation tends to be uneven in space and unequal access may cause substantial heterogeneity in energy transition. This research analyzes how domestic and foreign innovation activities in the renewable energy sector influence energy transition over time. Empirical testing shows that a country's domestic innovation activity impacts renewable electricity generation capacity sooner than foreign technological innovations. I document that there are substantial barriers to substitute foreign technologies for domestic innovation efforts in the short run but also observe that foreign technologies have a stronger impact after some years. These findings have implications for cross‐border coordination of governmental innovation support and complementary policy instruments that aim at increasing adoption speed across borders.     

Wishful thinking? Towards a more realistic role for universities in regional innovation policy

ABSTRACT

The past 30 years has seen an escalating interest in the potential role of universities in contributing to their regional economies, reflected in the increasing trend for regional innovation strategies to ascribe a central role for universities, particularly in peripheral, institutionally thin places. The global economic crisis and subsequent austerity measures implemented in many developed economies have put further pressure on universities from national and regional policymakers to become more explicitly involved in contributing to their local economies in order to justify their public funding. This paper will draw on the academic literature to consider how justified this focus is by questioning whether universities are willing or even able to play the roles expected of them in contributing to regional innovation. It will critique an approach to policymaking that often views universities as homogenous actors in the regional innovation system and places an over reliance on imitating success stories from other places without sufficient consideration of the specificities of local conditions. It will argue for a more realistic and nuanced approach to involving universities in regional innovation policy, concluding with key insights for both universities and policymakers.     

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.     

The task coordination method of intelligence-alliance innovation team of universities in Western China

To resolve the dilemma among a shortage of high-end talents, low level of scientific research and a huge brain drain in western universities in China, we proposes a way out by building an intelligence-alliance innovation team—a new interregional and multiagent cooperation mode. We identify major disagreements that hamper a fruitful collaboration, and then analyze reasons of such poor coordination. Given diversified backgrounds and different preferences of intelligence-alliance innovation teams, we suggest multiagent group decision-making as a method of seeking task coordination for participants in conflict and their problem-solvers. Finally, a specific case is given to prove that this method can improve task coordination of intelligence-alliance innovation teams, and that holistic feedback coordination may be the best scheme of task coordination for intelligence-alliance innovation teams.     

Innovation platforms as a solution to the proximity paradox

The paper studies what kind of proximities and distances can be found in complex innovation environments. Case-study methods were used, with the research strategy building on experiences of creating a regional innovation platform aimed at development of new models for collaborative co-operation between the private, public and third sector in the context of physical-activity promotion. Building the innovation platform brought various proximities and distances between actors into focus. Distances may explain why some of the actions have not been successful or why some actions involved should be repeated several times. However, this study also highlights the role of distances as sources of various innovation. Distances and proximities are not static, and they could be exploited from a position of knowledge.     

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。     

Regional Innovation Systems and the Role of State: Institutional Design and State Universities in Turkey

This paper investigates the role of state played in the regional innovation systems through state universities and legal and institutional set-up within Turkey. Initially, the paper will discuss the lack of regional perspective in policy-making that, until very recently, was predominant in Turkey. Secondly, the paper examines two salient laws that have ramifications for regional economics. The key elements in regional innovation systems can be split apart into two sections. On one side there are technology development regions/centres, and university–industry joint research centres. On the other side, taking into account the public research undertaken, there are the state universities, and the role that they play in the earlier mentioned centres/regions. The econometric analysis asserts that each of these elements has a positive and statistically significant effect on the patenting performance of regions.     

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.