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Gallie E.-P. Is geographical proximity necessary for knowledge spillovers within a cooperative technological network? The case of the French biotechnology sector, Regional Studies. The models of the geography of innovation do not take into account the channels for spillovers diffusion. The main interest of this paper is to introduce cooperation as a channel of spillovers directly into the knowledge production function. This enables one to test if geographic proximity is a necessary condition for diffusion or if the development of a cooperative network, whatever the distance between partners, also allows this transmission. The main result is that the distance separating French or European partners does not constitute a barrier to knowledge flows. However, intra sector-based spillovers are found from surrounding areas, but not from further areas, when they are measured by an external stock of knowledge... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectations that biotechnology will become a major contributor to economic growth and impact on quality of life explain its high priority on the political agenda of EU Member States. Theoretical advances in understanding innovation processes and instruments for innovation policy have created an increasing demand for empirical tools to develop policy from a systems perspective. This paper aims to provide policy-makers with tools to assist in biotechnology policy-making. Key aspects considered are: the systemic nature of the innovation process in biotechnology; the different policy areas involved in its promotion; and the time lag between policy action and potential policy outcomes. The benchmarking approach combines quantitative and qualitative indicators in order to assess policy activity in relevant policy areas and the achievement of policy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a focus on technological change, this article deals with the issue of how to systematically study regional restructuration. The article aims to study regional restructuration as a case of general economic transformation in an evolutionary economics perspective. However, such open-ended types of analyses are inherently complex. In order to remediate the difficulties of empirical studies and to allow for a more structured comparison of different frameworks, the article outlines and applies a `research tool' to the specific issue of regional restructuration. While such a tool is not a framework, it is intended to more readily compare different theories and frameworks with empirical studies. The tool treats change as involving novelty, renewal and destruction of actors and activities. These changes take place across four different dimensions: technology, organizations, interactions and economic value. The article `tests' the tool by analysing three case-studies of regional restructuration at the municipality and country levels. The issue under scrutiny is how the restructuring of regional industries and technologies takes place, especially as linked to the emergence of new technologies. There are two cases of information technology in West Sweden and one case of biotechnology in Sweden. Three issues relating to the empirical findings are discussed. (1) The tool can help to structure empirical material to analyse complex processes of change over time. This is illustrated, for example, by the changes across dimensions of what is internal and external to regional restructuration. (2) The processes of technological development and of economic exploitation overlap but are differentiated from each other. Hence, a clearer distinction is needed between technology concepts and economic concepts such as `products', `industries', `economic growth' and `regional development'. (3) In emerging technologies, there is clear evidence of the interdependencies between new, old and exit during regional restructuration. These three concluding remarks highlight the need for additional research to link empirical material to theoretical considerations of evolutionary processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]