Networks and Innovation: The Role of Social Assets in Explaining Firms' Innovative Capacity

The claim of a positive association between a firm's social assets and its innovative capacity is a widely debated topic in the literature. Although controversial, such an argument has informed recent innovation policy across Germany, increasingly directed to the cluster formation. In the light of the growing attention and financial efforts that cluster-based innovation policies are receiving, it is worth answering two main questions. First, are firms with a relatively high level of social capital likely to be more innovative? Secondly, do companies pursuing innovation in partnership innovate more? This paper empirically answers these questions by exploring a cross-sectoral sample of 248 firms based in the Jena region. On the one hand, the extent to which a firm is integrated in its community life does not contribute to an explanation of its innovative performance. On the other hand, directed cooperation with the specific goal of innovating shows a positive impact on innovative performance. However, the correlation between the extent of the network of co-innovators and firms' innovative capacity presents an inverted U-shaped relation: there is a threshold in the number of co-innovators justified by the costs of innovating by interacting. A policy lesson can be drawn from these findings: cluster-based policies are to be treated with caution as firms face costs of networking and not merely benefits.     

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。     

Measuring structural social capital in a cluster policy network: insights from the Basque Country

Cluster Associations (CAs) attempt to promote competitiveness through inter-firm collaboration, and are generally seen as drivers of social capital formation in the region. We map in this paper, by using Social Network Analysis, the cluster policy network of the Basque Country in 2013, which may be considered a proxy of the structural dimension of social capital in the region. Besides, we identify the central agents of this network and attempt to explain the reasons for their centrality and the roles that they play. We take the affiliation of an organization to at least two CAs as a first indicator of the overall pattern of connections within the cluster policy network. Later on, we filter it with data about the Boards of Directors of CAs, and the Basque Contact Points created to concur with the Seventh Framework Programme for Research launched by the European Commission. We contend that those organizations that are present in these three networks form a ‘small world’ that numerous studies have shown to be favourable for creative output, where they might play a dual role of gatekeepers of knowledge and innovation within and between clusters and drivers of bridging social capital formation in the Basque Country.     

省域城市网络中心性测度及比较研究——以江苏省和广东省的对比分析为例

城市网络中心性是衡量城市地位、分析城市体系的重要概念.本文在剖析中心性理论内涵的演化后,提出网络中心性应当同时体现规模等级和要素流动的水平.通过区分静态网络和联系网络,论文构建了基于规模数据和流动数据的网络中心性评价体系,并以江苏、广东为例进行实证分析.研究发现:①从规模和联系两类城市网络中心性的视角识别首位城市是有效...     

创新网络研究进展述评与展望

创新网络解读主要从网络尺度、网络演化及网络机理等方面展开研究,本文对创新网络已有研究成果及新转向进行评述及展望：①网络尺度视角,已有研究多对不同尺度进行区分研究,缺乏对不同尺度的整合;多强调发达国家网络发展模式,忽略对发展中国家特有结构及路径的理论总结;因此多尺度耦合网络研究成为未来的方向。②网络演化视角,经历了从网络节点结构到网络联系演化的转向,将多层联系结合进行整体网络演化的研究需更关注包括各类组织、个人、技术及空间等网络情境在内的整体分析。③网络机理研究关注多维邻近、网络管制及外部创新情境作用,而多维临近综合作用分析及我国特定情境嵌入全球网络等问题都值得进一步深入探讨。     

Spatial and Sectoral Characteristics of Relational Capital in Innovation Activity

The paper presents prima facie evidence of the role of relational capital in innovation activities, and underlines the spatial and sectoral difference of the effects of relational capital on innovation processes. Relational cpaital is defined in this paper as the stock of relations that a firm can entertain with other firms, institutions, research centres, measured through the intensity of cooperation among local actors. The paper is structured in two parts. In the first part, a review on the literature is presented, and the similarities and differences between the concept of relational capital and the more common concept of knowledge spillovers is underlined. In the second part, the empirical results of the analysis are presented; the empirical analysis is based on a database of 133 firms' observations, located in different geographical areas. With a quantitative approach, the paper replies to the following key questions: Is relational capital a determinant for innovation activities? If it is so, does it have the same role in urban and non-urban areas? Does it have a different role in specialized and despecialized areas? The empirical results to these questions help in understanding whether it is true that competitive city regions in the global economy are the major locations for relatively exclusive knowledge and learning resources. The paper shows that if relational capital plays a role in innovation activities, it may very well be that its role strongly depends on the sectoral as well as the spatial characteristics in which the innovation process takes place. Non-urban areas characterized by strong local synergies and highly specialized activities may even be more facilitated in their inovation activity.     

武汉市多尺度道路网络中心性与社会经济活动点空间分布关系分析

本文运用城市网络分析工具测度武汉市主城区多尺度道路网络中心性并分析其与各类社会经济活动空间分布的关系。研究结果表明：①随搜索半径增大,邻近中心性由多个高值区到趋于城市质心并呈圈层结构,中介中心性由片状到点轴式分布,直线中心性空间格局基本不变。②道路网络中心性随尺度变化与社会经济活动空间分布呈现不同的相关性,且变化各异。社会经济活动空间分布与全域邻近道路网络中心性和搜索半径为3000 m的直线中心性相关性最强,与中介中心性基本不相关。③道路网络中心性与各类社会经济活动空间分布关系略有差别,与医疗教育等公共服务业相关性最强,零售业其次,休闲娱乐业最弱。④道路网络中心性与社会经济活动空间分布存在非协调区域,局域路网识别出来的中心性区域功能缺失。     

旅游产业集群的企业网络属性研究——以平遥古城为例

由于旅游产业的特殊性,旅游产业集群内旅游企业间关系和合作并不是建立在投入-产出的物质联系上,旅游产业集群的企业网络也就有不同于制造业集群的属性和特征。根据四种划分标准可以将旅游产业集群的企业网络分为四种不同的类型;根据对平遥古城的调查和利用社会网络分析方法对数据分析发现,以沟通联系和非正式合作为主要内容的非正式网络为主;位于网络中心位置的主要是旅游核心部门或具有一定行业地位的企业;旅游企业本地网络的范围和结网对象与地理空间及个人关系相关;旅游产业集群的企业网络具有本地化网络对集群创新和竞争力提升有重要影响。     

Fostering place-based innovation and internationalization – the new turn in German technology policy

Since the mid-1990s German technology policy has experienced a paradigmatic shift from standard grant schemes towards a region-oriented and competition-based R&D policy. Currently, a new policy experiment, the InterClust contest, is under way, trying to simultaneously foster place-based innovation, R&D internationalization and the internationalization of innovative places. The current paper analyses the new policy, relating it to the recent literatures on heterogeneous firms and on cluster-life cycles, and presents results from a firm survey performed in 21 winner regions of InterClust. Findings show that the new funding scheme takes insights from recent theoretical developments into account and addresses important impediments to firm and cluster internationalization. Although it is too early for an overall assessment, it is argued that the long-term impact will critically depend on the inflow of heterogeneous knowledge and the strength of intra-regional mobilization effects.     

The Role of Knowledge Intermediaries in Developing Firm Learning Capabilities

Regional innovation systems (RISs) literature has emphasized the critical role of interactive learning and knowledge exchange amongst firms and a variety of spatially connected innovation institutions as the foundation of regional innovation. Knowledge intermediaries have been analysed in terms of the technology-transaction services they provide firms and/or knowledge producers such as universities and therefore the role they play in facilitating interaction within the RIS. However, innovation also depends on the capability of the firm to learn. Some studies have suggested that intermediaries also play a role in that regard as participation in intermediary knowledge transfer programmes can contribute to the development of firm capabilities for problem-solving and learning. Our research is based on two case study intermediary programmes involving interviews with facilitators and participants. Our data show that knowledge intermediaries affect organizational learning capabilities by impacting on firms' network relationships, internal and external communication channels and internal learning processes which in turn affect the ability to interpret and use knowledge within the firm. This suggests that the role of knowledge intermediaries might be greater than facilitating interactions in the innovation system, as knowledge intermediation may affect the ability of firms to learn and absorb knowledge from their environment.     

How Regional Innovation Systems Play a Relative Competitive Role Within Knowledge Networks

This study aims to explain how specific regional innovation systems (RISs) play relative important role in the knowledge network within European regions. EC encourages the interactions between regions and develop toward a cohesion balance. The whole Europe can be taken as a knowledge network that consists of different RISs possessing diversified resources. The existences of hierarchical relationships between different regions seem to lead us to explain whether the path toward higher-order position can be done by RISs to shape the regional competence in specific technological fields. We establish the datasets on the basis of patent data (from EPO) and REGIO database. Regional-level dataset, including 129 regions, helps to explore how different RIS develop their technological paths, and whether locational economic factors, technological conditions, and local innovativeness help RISs toward high-order position in the network. In addition, we also explore the role of the interaction of local factors for RISs in developing network position in Europe.     

全球—地方视角下西安市软件产业集群的创新效应研究

全球—地方关系为产业创新研究提供了新的视角。本文基于全球（通道）—本地（蜂鸣）关系视角构建了软件产业集群创新效应研究的理论框架。以西安市软件产业集群为例,采用Stata13定量分析不同尺度创新合作的创新效应及其影响因素。研究发现,本地和国际创新合作均对集群创新具有积极的影响,且后者比前者的创新效应更强,说明搭建外部通道对集群创新的必要性;本地与国际创新合作交互对不同规模的软件企业产生的创新效应不同,对小型软件企业存在减法效应,对中型软件企业存在加法效应,对大型软件企业具有乘法效应。建立领先软件企业带动的开放创新系统,是西安市软件产业集群提升创新效应的有效路径。     

创新活动空间集聚及其影响机制研究评述与展望

创新的空间集聚现象是创新活动最重要的空间特征之一。传统的基于经济学的创新研究框架忽视了空间的重要性,20世纪90年代以来,随着创新地理学的兴起,对创新集聚的空间问题研究得到大力扩展和延伸。本文围绕创新活动在空间上是否集聚、在哪里集聚、如何集聚等问题,从集聚化、本地化和网络化三个方面对创新集聚的空间特征进行了梳理,并归纳总结出影响创新集聚的五种机制：知识溢出、服务共享、高技能劳动力匹配、不确定性和竞争,在此基础上讨论了当前研究存在的问题,并提出了深化创新集聚空间特征研究、完善创新活动与区域及城市间的互动理论、推动对创新网络的测度与演化研究、加强创新集聚的微观机制及模型化工作等建议。     

The Schillers of the suburbs – creativity and mediated sociality

Theories around the cultural geography of creativity have given new life, in recent years, to negative perceptions of the suburbs as ‘isolated’. These theories have emphasised the importance of ‘clusters’, ‘precincts’, ‘incubators’ and ‘hubs’, suggesting that even in the era of the Internet, creativity requires an immediacy of social interaction, which can only be found where there is social concentration. The paper brings these theories into question through a long historical perspective on the relation between creativity and ‘mediated sociality’. Drawing on the work of Elias, it suggests some surprising parallels between the position of German artists and intellectuals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and suburban creative practitioners today. The former were in many respects ‘isolated’, relatively dependent on mediated sociality, and yet they produced a major historical flowering of creative activity. The example prompts us to think more sympathetically and optimistically about the creative potential of contemporary suburbia.     

网络结构对长沙电视剧产业发展的影响研究

本文以2004年-2013年长沙影视企业为制作单位的106部电视剧为样本,运用空间分析、社会网络分析法,揭示长沙电视剧产业网络的空间结构和拓扑结构特征:1空间结构上,长沙电视剧产业网络高度开放;网络节点空间分布显著不平衡,长沙本地企业只占节点总数的9.49%,本地配套并不完备;2拓扑结构上,长沙电视剧产业网络呈现"轮辐状",核心-边缘特征明显;核心企业多为占据"出品"和"前期拍摄"环节的长沙本地企业,其中拥有"事业单位"、"企业"双重身份的湖南广播电视台中心度最高,权力最大。此外还探讨了网络空间、拓扑结构对长沙电视剧产业发展的影响。并对得出结论与国际已有研究对比展开讨论。     

Innovations, Competitiveness and Local Embeddedness: A Study of Machinery Producers in Sweden

This paper is about technological relations and firm performance in the Swedish machinery industry. Taking its point of departure in the proliferating literature on the localized nature of learning and innovation processes, the paper sets out to answer three empirical questions: To what extent are firms integrated in localized production systems based on buyer-supplier relations? At what geographical level–local/regional, national or international–are the most important technological relations found? Is there a correlation between localized technological relations and the technological performance of firms? The results indicate that few firms display localized buyer-supplier relations. Rather, the industry is highly internationalized, with the most important customers and competitors located outside Sweden. In terms of technologically important relations, the domestic arena seems to be more important. The majority of the most important technological relations link the machinery producers to other actors in Sweden. Three out of four firms may be classified as predominantly local/regional or national in their technological relations, or technology profile. This survey therefore supports the notion that there exists both local/regional and national innovation systems. Finally, however, despite the fact that most firms are fairly locally embedded in their technology relations, there is no evidence that such embeddedness shows up as superior firm performance, in terms of technology level or innovative capacity.     

L’émergence de la grappe industrielle de l'intelligence artificielle (IA) à Montréal

The paper analyses the emergence of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) cluster in Montreal and investigates two questions: (1) What are the different theoretical interpretations related to the emergence of industrial cluster? And (2) What are the factors underlying the emergence of the AI cluster in Montreal and to what extent have local and global factors been decisive in this respect? The AI cluster emerges through a process that brings into play the interaction between the local initial conditions and the birth of a new industry. Moreover, it also involves an interaction between the local and the global, which is supported by interactions with foreign actors located in different parts of the world.     

交通路网中心性对土地利用强度的影响研究——以青岛市中心城区为例

采取青岛市交通路网矢量数据和 POI 数据，综合运用核密度估计法、地理加权回归模型和多中心性评价模型，从中心性角度解析了青岛市中心城区交通路网与土地利用强度的相关关系。研究表明：青岛市中心城区交通路网的临近中心性与直线中心性结构呈现“中心—外围”模式，中介中心性具有显著的点轴模式；商业、公共服务以及居住用地布局均呈现多中心结构；交通路网中心性与土地利用强度具有较强的相关性且相关关系具有空间异质性；商业用地和公共服务用地与交通路网中心性的相关性高于居住用地。研究揭示了交通路网与土地利用强度之间具有较强的依赖性，为城市规划提供可靠的理论依据，有助于进一步优化城市空间布局。     

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.     

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。