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This paper reconsiders the roles of actors in regional innovation systems in the context of transformative industrial change. Empirically, it draws on evidence from the Värmland region of Sweden, where regional innovation system actors, with partial funding from the Swedish Innovation Agency, are striving to build a bioeconomy upon the traditional forest-related industries. The main findings include that transformative industrial change adds a variety of responsibilities to regional actors, including the provision of change legitimacy, influencing the industry's innovation directionality and achieving social acceptance for change. A combined perspective on sociotechnical transitions and path development in regional innovation systems theoretically informs the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and application of technologies such as robots and artificial intelligence drive a shift toward non-routinized, creative work. A stylized narrative is that a few regions dominate the making of these technologies and enjoy a virtuous cycle of increasing employment, innovativeness, and in-migration of the creative class. Regions merely applying these technologies may get into a vicious cycle of increasing unemployment, out-migration, and decreasing innovativeness. Following the normative governance turn in regional political economics, this theoretical policy paper pitches a framework of three complementary institutions to direct the technology-driven structural change for regional catching-up. Firstly, a system for innovation and entrepreneurial activity creates jobs by supporting exploitation of complementarities of application, co-development activities, and product innovation within mature and emerging sectors. Secondly, education provides creative and entrepreneurial skills to exploit technological opportunities and upskills workers for emerging sectors. Thirdly, labour market and social security institutions are to allow rationalization in mature sectors, incentivize hiring and learning on the job, as well as encourage innovative ventures, notably in emerging sectors. Challenges of implementation of the framework due to path-dependence, co-evolution, and multi-scalarity as well as applicability in different varieties of capitalism are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatedness is a popular concept for regional branching within Smart Specialisation. However, this proximity-network approach misses its regional perspective, making difficult its operationalization in regional policies. This paper advances the regional perspective of relatedness for improving prioritization in Smart Specialisation by combining the concepts of technological relatedness and sectoral specialization. Using a four-stage methodology, we reveal potential Smart Specialisation priorities for a set of 16 European regions considering both cognitive links arising through technological relatedness and their regional structures. The proposed methodology reduces the stress of regional stakeholders participating in entrepreneurial discovery processes by providing a narrower set of priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why and how do regional politics develop outside the context of a coherent regional economy? Alongside the familiar logic of city-regional growth coalitions, we introduce a less familiar logic of regional imaginaries actively constructing strategies in novel scalar configurations. We explore this second logic of regionalism in the case of the Toronto–Waterloo 'Innovation Corridor'. We highlight three important forces: the productive ambiguity of the region as a spatial and strategic concept; the centrality of regionalism entrepreneurs in constructing a political agenda; and the importance of extrospective policy-making for establishing a rationale for collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AV technologies have the potential to transform urban landscapes and existing transport systems and networks. Yet, the utopian imaginary of reduced automobile ownership and a new shared economic future sits in tension with suggestions that car dependency, urban sprawl and transport inaccessibility will be exacerbated. The issues are situated in a complex governance landscape involving an influential private sector who are increasingly setting the agenda. The public sector may be forced into reacting to the new innovations by information technology and automobile companies as they are introduced into existing built environments. Drawing on an extensive literature base and interviews with public sector planners, this paper reveals the conceptual gaps in the framing of AV technology - the prospects and limits - and how these are conceived. The paper raises questions about the role urban planning can play in the rollout of AVs in order to anticipate and mediate unwanted built environment and socio-spatial impacts, as well as reconciling the ambition of transport innovation with the public purpose of planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the specialisation of European Union (EU) regions in key enabling technologies (KETs) and assesses whether or not being specialised in these technological areas has an effect on regional growth. The evidence presented shows that regions specialised in KETs are concentrated in central Europe; however, over the period taken into account (1996–2011), less innovative and peripheral EU regions have been increasing their specialisation in these technological areas at the expense of the most advanced regions. There is also evidence that (spatial) diffusion of KETs often occurs across regions contiguous to each other. The results of the econometric estimations show that being specialised in KETs affects regional economic growth (per capita gross domestic product) and that this effect is stronger in the case of less innovative EU regions. Overall, these results hint at the pervasive nature and enabling role of KETs and demonstrate the importance for EU regions to target these technologies as part of their smart specialisation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of firms in the process of regional renewal and path development is a somewhat neglected area in the existing literature. With few exceptions, the literature is mainly concerned with aggregated development paths. To cover this gap, the current study turns its attention to cross-industry innovation capability (CIIC) building in firms and discusses how conditions for innovation and learning in a region drive this process. We introduce a new concept of CIIC – that is, the firm’s ability to transform knowledge and ideas from different industries into new products, processes and systems and/or its ability to adapt existing products, processes and systems to new industries – and identify its drivers and indicators. The discussion is supported by empirical studies of firms in three Norwegian case regions that undergo the restructuring process due to the recent severe decrease in oil prices. Our empirical data demonstrate that organizationally thick and diversified regions are more favourable for firms’ abilities to develop CIIC and cross-industry innovation activity. As a result, we emphasize that future regional policies should have a stronger focus on the linkages between internal firm characteristics and regional innovation systems to contribute to the firms’ absorptive capacity for developing cross-industry innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The literature on regional innovation systems (RISs) has grown impressively in the last two decades. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of all RIS articles published in scholarly journals between 1998 and 2015. It aims to inform researchers of the empirical results obtained so far and highlight areas that need further work. This review describes how the RIS field has developed, charts the current body of RIS research and discusses recommendations for moving the RIS field forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years in international cooperation policies and public policies of the Central American (CA) region multilateral mechanisms were generated to form interinstitutional networks that drive science, technology, and innovation (STI) as the engine for regional economic growth. In the agreements social, political, and economic disparity were taken into account in order to stimulate the articulation between actors and potentialize local strengths to generate critical mass on the level of knowledge and build a research core base. The aim of this article is to identify institutional and productive capacities acquired in the countries of the region (CA) that encourage interaction on a national level and create favorable conditions to generate regional agreements to build regional interaction on STI. Results show deficiencies in the linking between public and private agents derived from the limited funds destined to I+D, the insufficient channels of information and the lack of interest of the investigations to respond to priority problems of the region, which weaken links with the productive sector. From there, arise the need to build a joint and collaborative work agenda to consolidated the institutional environment and favors the capacities to absorb knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing research interest in the relationship between the composition of regional knowledge bases and the extra-regional collaborative ties maintained by actors during their development work. To investigate this relationship, we use patent data to characterize European NUTS 3 regions by their (i) comparative technological specializations; and (ii) related technological variety. We find domestic, extra-regional collaboration to be negatively associated with regional technological specialization and related technological variety. At the same time, we find related technological variety to serve in support of international innovation collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shipping industry was transformed by the expansion of international trade and technological innovation, notably containerization, since the 1960s. Accordingly, this was followed by a significant increase in research addressing different aspects of container shipping. Despite such availability, important questions have remained unanswered: what are the major contributions that the research community has made to the container shipping industry, global and regional economies? Have their contributions been skewed towards particular themes, directions, and geographical areas? What can the shipping research community learn from the evolution and trends of container shipping research so that they can continue to contribute to the well-being of the global and regional economies? To address these questions, the paper undertakes a critical review and analysis on the evolution and trends of research in container shipping in the past four decades, based on a collection of 282 papers investigating different topics in container shipping featuring in major scholarly journals between 1967 and 2012. The study enables the shipping research community to enhance self-understandings and identifies major gaps for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Social Sciences in China is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Increasing globalization, if properly exploited, can provide interesting opportunities for regional economies. Nevertheless, when they are not managed with a far-sighted approach, regions, and particularly those at an intermediate level of development, can lose their comparative advantages compared with regions of developing countries. Innovation is the main instrument for improving and ensuring competitiveness to enterprises and growth opportunities to local economies. The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of public policies in reinforcing regional innovation systems and the role of regional innovation agencies. With this in mind, we describe the policies implemented by the “Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation” of Apulia, a region in Southern Italy, highlighting its main strengths and weaknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the innovation systems (IS) concept was coined in the late 1980s, it has been accepted as a mechanism of economic and technological development in policy circles. This recognition follows a change in our understanding of the characteristics of the innovation process as a non-linear process and having a systemic character. This changed understanding is also reflected in the movement in policy focus from science and technology (S&T) policy towards innovation policy. In recent years, the IS approach has been downscaled from the national level (NIS) to the regional level (RIS), a system's level that has gained the interest of policy makers. There are many rationales for this regionalization of innovation policy. However, as this paper points out, there are several challenges to implement an IS policy on the regional level. Based on a case study of a Swedish regional policy programme, this paper highlights (some of) the challenges related to defining the regional system's domain, implementing functional regions and securing sufficient regional knowledge infrastructure. This paper argues that when the IS approach is put into policy practice and downscaled to the regional level, it stands the risk of losing its strength as a tool for coping with the structural problems connected to innovation and globalization. Based on the identified challenges, the paper is concluded with a number of more general policy implications for IS-based policies with regional intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the growing importance of global, or external, search networks that firms and other actors rely on to locate collaborators who can solve part of a problem they face or require part of a solution they may be able provide. We focus on the creation in emerging economies of venture capital-an institution that is organized to search systematically for, and foster the development of, firms and industries that can, in turn, collaborate in codesign. The article examines the case of Taiwan, where first-generation immigrant professionals from U.S. technology industries have collaborated with their home-country counterparts to develop the context for entrepreneurial development. It refers to the members of these networks as the new Argonauts, an allusion to the ancient Greek Jason and the Argonauts, who searched for the Golden Fleece. We also argue that the most significant contributions of these skilled professionals to their home countries are not direct transfers of technology or knowledge, but participation in external search and domestic institutional reform. The new Argonauts are ideally positioned to search beyond prevailing routines to identify opportunities for complementary "peripheral" participation in the global economy and to work with public officials to adapt and redesign relevant institutions and firms in their native countries. They are, therefore, exemplary protagonists of "self-discovery"-the process by which an enterprise or entrepreneur determines which markets it can serve-and of a micro level institutional reform that can, diffusing and cascading, ultimately produce wider structural transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Spatial Economic Analysis is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the emergence of university-industry partnerships in the motor sports industry cluster located in the Charlotte region of North Carolina, USA. Despite little industry demand for the local engagement, the universities and community colleges started to approach the industry in the late 1990s and recently several new programmes of motor sports-related research and education have been initiated. During the past 3 years, the regional and state governments have also started to play a role in building up support for the motor sports industry. This process has largely been influenced by the ideas of knowledge economy and innovation as an interactive process, by the ideas of the wider social and economic role of universities, and by increase awareness of the relevance of the motor sports industry for the regional economy. Charlotte's motor sports industry is an interesting example of how a previously rather craft-based industry transforms into one in which technology, innovation and creativity play a key role in firm performance. However, the strategy for building up regional capabilities and relationships necessary to support the increased technological intensity of the industry has been slow to develop. This paper addresses the important question of how the universities together with other research and educational organizations can build collaboration with an industry that has traditionally prospered in the region without any links to them, but which in the face of technological challenges needs to reach out to access cutting-edge knowledge and highly qualified personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations are inherently connected to knowledge transfers. The need of face-to-face contacts to transfer tacit knowledge is commonly argued to cause a regional dimension of innovative activities. The paper presents an alternative explanation based on a model of boundedly rational actors who search for knowledge. It is shown that a regional dimension exists in these processes that results from a regional bias in an actor's search activities. Social embeddedness, a shared regional identity and limited spatial mobility foster this bias. We argue that insights from research on these topics can help to define the geographic size of a region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become clear that the idea of regional learning is an inadequate way of evolving regional economic development because of numerous problems of composition or utilizing samples of one, learning legacies and delays and impossibility of repeat experience. So, perforce, to offset regional imbalances responsible agencies are having to explore solutions endogenously in greater measure. This means constructing regional advantage, not an easy thing to do, by integrating and exploiting a range of assets from economic strengths to knowledge assets, good governance and creativity. Of great importance in this is seeking to promote “related variety” among economic activities. Single innovations diffuse swiftly across technology “platforms” into related industries because absorptive capacity is high among them. The key trick in constructing regional advantage is designing appropriate policy platforms that mix variable policy instruments in an integrated and judicious manner. This paper maps out a theoretical approach enabling this to be accomplished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reevaluates the regional embeddedness of multinational manufacturing branch plants in view of recent work on global production networks and extraregional links. It argues that the predominance of extraregional production linkages is not necessarily detrimental to regional economies and that such linkages can even compensate for weak territorial innovations systems in noncore regions. The arguments are supported by a case study of the South Tyrol region of Italy, using firm-level data from surveys and interviews, complemented by evidence on institutional conditions. The findings suggest that neither the branch plants nor the locally owned manufacturing firms are strongly embedded in the region in terms of material linkages and interorganizational relationships, indicating that the ownership status of firms is not a good predictor of embeddedness. Second, compared to local firms, branch plants are more innovative and hence contribute to a larger degree to regional upgrading processes. Third, South Tyrol's core institutional structures, such as those governing the labor force, play a decisive role in the competitiveness of branch plants and therefore create codependencies that bind these producers to the territory. The results suggest a more differentiated assessment of the role of branch plants within noncore regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we contribute to the longstanding discussion on the role of knowledge to economic growth in a spatial context. We observe that in adopting the European policy strategy towards a competitive knowledge economy, the Netherlands is—as most European countries—mainly oriented towards industrial, technological factors. The policy focus is on R&D specialized regions in their spatial economic strategies. We place the knowledge economy in a broader perspective. Based on the knowledge economy literature, we value complementary indicators: the successful introduction of new products and services to the market (“innovation”) and indicators of skills of employees (“knowledge workers”). Using econometric analysis, we relate the three factors “R&D”, “innovation” and “knowledge workers” to regional economic growth. We conclude that the factors “innovation” and “knowledge workers” are more profoundly related to urban employment and productivity growth than the R&D-factor. Preferably, urban research and policy-makers should therefore take all three knowledge factors into account when determining economic potentials of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major developments in thought regarding regional economic growth and development are traced over the last two decades. The supply‐side micro‐foundations of regional growth have come under scrutiny in a manner which has previously not been evident. In particular, an examination of the elements of industrial clustering, regional industrial structure, and place characteristics which may promote innovation, have become a central focus of modern regional growth analysis. The micro‐foundations of these arguments are analysed, and the links between innovation and clustering explored within a transactions‐costs framework. This allows us to point to areas in which our understanding has grown over recent years, and to identify further areas of analysis which are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent years regional policy has become more and more concerned with the improvement of the innovation capacity and performance of firms. Many regional development strategies have as key elements the support of their regional innovation systems and innovative clusters of firms. It has been recognized that increasing the technological level, the value added and the competitiveness of a regional economy relies to a large extent on the innovation capacity of regional firms and clusters. Regional development is an important policy issue also for the European Union (EU). The EU Structural Funds aim at supporting regions lagging behind in their development or facing structural problems. In this paper how the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) affects innovation in the Austrian Objective 1 region Burgenland is analysed. In this case study data from an innovation survey conducted in the context of the recent mid-term evaluation are used in order to assess the innovation-related effects of the ERDF. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the ERDF does not target the problems and needs of regional firms regarding innovation in a satisfactory way which also hampers the successful restructuring of the regional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Industrial Revolution the cyclical processes of rise and fall of regional economies have been accelerating. Many of the specific problems of the falling part of clustering, that is old industrial areas, are related to path dependency and lock-ins. Particularly political lock-ins hinder the necessary restructuring processes in old industrial areas. They can be considered as thick institutional tissues aiming at preserving existing industrial structures and therefore unnecessarily slowing down industrial restructuring and indirectly hampering the development of indigenous potential and creativity. Of the recently born offspring of the family of territorial innovation models, the learning region concept seems to be most focused on overcoming and avoiding political lock-ins in old industrial areas. Most scholars consider learning regions as regional development concepts in which the main actors are strongly, but flexibly, connected with each other and are open both to intraregional and interregional learning processes. Policy-makers in learning regions are involved in learning from institutional errors made in the past and by doing that in avoiding path-dependent development. Empirical evidence, however, shows that the learning region is of limited importance to unlock regional economies from path dependency, due to three weaknesses: its fuzziness, its normative character in its squeezed position between national innovation systems and global production networks. A less normative and more process-oriented concept is proposed in this paper, namely that of the learning cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is great interest in the new knowledge economy, less favoured regions seem permanently disadvantaged because they lack a critical mass of knowledge capital to initiate accumulation, growth and economic development processes. This is a problem for policy-makers seeking to promote economic growth and territorial cohesion in such regions. Despite this, examples from two such regions, Newcastle, UK and Twente, the Netherlands, suggests that such companies can be very successful. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual model of how university spin-off companies (USOs) can improve their regional economies. The economic benefits that such companies bring are explored, to identify those elements which can potentially upgrade regional economies through knowledge accumulation, which are termed ‘building up territorial knowledge pools’. This paper concludes by developing a conceptual framework for the operation of the territorial knowledge pool; highlighting four different roles played by USOs in improving regional innovation environments and considering the conceptual and policy implications raised by the framework model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines how regional development policy in New Zealand has attempted to reshape the organizational and institutional foundations of regional growth and innovation since the government initiated the implementation of growth and innovation-focused policies in 2000. Dealing with the governance and the economic dimension, the paper elaborates on the challenges encountered in different regional environments that range from metropolitan areas to remote rural regions. The paper outlines New Zealand's institutional and economic framework and the set of programmes used to foster regional development and innovation. Principal lessons from New Zealand's experience are the importance of the institutional set-up in regions, the need to tailor initiatives to different regional contexts, and insights into the complex relationship between regional development and regional innovation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capello R. and Faggian A. (2005) Collective learning and relational capital in local innovation processes, Regional Studies 39 , 75-87. Innovative capacity of firms has traditionally been explained through intra-firm characteristics. In the more recent literature, much emphasis has been put on determinants that are external to the firm. These external factors, called knowledge spillovers, refer to the positive externalities that firms receive in terms of knowledge from the environment in which they operate. Geographers and industrial economists underline the importance of knowledge spillovers. As the paper underlines, an important difference exists between the approach of knowledge spillover and that of socialized processes of local knowledge creation developed by regional economists; while in the former, the mere probability of contacts explains local knowledge transfer, in the latter, the channels through which knowledge spills over a local area are clearly identified in the relational capital of the area. Relational capital is defined as all relationships - market relationships, power relationships and cooperation - established between firms, institutions and people, which stem from a strong sense of belonging and a highly developed capacity of cooperation typical of culturally similar people and institutions. The main aims of the paper are twofold. The first is to underline the major conceptual differences between industrial and regional economists. The second is to provide a quantitative empirical approach, using econometric techniques, to verify the existence and importance of relational capital on the innovation activity of firms. Proxies are found to represent the channels through which local knowledge develops at the local level and therefore indirectly of relational capital. The different regional, sectoral and firm characteristics are also analysed to understand whether they influence the role relational capital has on innovation. It is indeed reasonable to expect that relational capital will play a different role in different regional, sectoral and firm's contexts. Capello R. et Faggian A. (2005) L'apprentissage collectif et le capital relationnel dans les processus d'innovation locale, Regional Studies 39 , 75-87. Traditionnellement, la capacité à l'innovation des entreprises s'explique par des caractéristiques intra-entreprises. Dans la documentation plus récente, on met plutôt l'accent sur les facteurs externes. Ces facteurs externes, appellés retombées de connaissance , traduisent les effetes externes positifs dont profitent les entreprises en termes de la connaissance qui provient du milieu où elles opèrent. Les géographes et les économistes industriels soulignent l'importance des retombées de connaissance. Comme le souligne l'article, il y a une importante différence entre l'approche de retombées de connaissance et l'approche qui met l'accent sur les processus socialisés de la création de la connaissance locale, développée par des économistes régionaux. Alors que dans celle-là, c'est la probabilité de se faire des contacts qui explique le transfert de la connaissance locale, pour ce qui est de cette dernière, ce sont les canaux par lesquels la connaissance s'étend à une zone locale qui se voient clairement identifier dans le capital relationnel de la zone. Le capital relationnel veut dire tous les rapports - rapports de marché, rapports de pouvoir, partenariat - établis entre les entreprises, les institutions et les individus, qui proviennent d'un fort sentiment d'appartenance et d'une capacité à la coopération très développée, qui caractérise des individus et des institutions qui se ressemblent du point de vue culturel. L'article cherche primo à souligner les principales différences conceptuelles entre les économistes régionaux et industriels, et secundo à fournir une approche empirique quantitative, employant des techniques économétriques afin de vérifier la présence et l'importance du capital relationnel pour l'innovation des entreprises. On emploie des variables muettes afin de représenter les canaux par lesquels la connaissance locale se développe sur le plan local et, par la suite, indépendamment du capital relationnel. On analyse aussi les diverses caractéristiques des régions, des secteurs et des entreprises pour comprendre si, oui ou non, elles influent sur le rôle du capital relationnel quant à l'innovation. Il est fort probable que le rôle du capital relationnel varie suivant le contexte de la région, du secteur ou de l'entreprise. Capello R. und Faggian A. (2005) Kollektives Lernen und relationales Kapital in örtlich begrenzten Innovationsprozessen, Regional Studies 39 , 75-87. Innovationsfähigkeit von Firmen ist tradionell mit innerbetrieblichen Eigenschaften erklärt worden. In der neueren Literatur dagegen hat man von außen beeinflussenden Faktoren große Bedeutung für Firmen beigelegt. Diese außerbetrieblichen Faktoren, die auch unter dem Begriff Wissensverbreitung laufen, beziehen sich auf die positiven Außenfaktoren, die Firmen in Form von Fachkenntnissen von der Umgebung empfangen, in der sie wirken. Wie auch dieser Aufsatz unterstreicht, besteht ein wichtiger Unterschied zwischen dem Ansatz von Wissensverbreitung und dem in der Gesellschaft allgemein stattfindenden Vorgang der Wissensgenerierung am Orte, wie er von Regionalwirtschaftswissenschaftlern angestrebt wird. Während im ersteren Fall die bloße Wahrscheinlichkeit von Kontakten die Übertragung von Wissen am Ort erklärt, werden im letzteren die Kanäle, durch welche Fachkenntnisse in örtlich begrenzte Gebiete gelangen, klar im relationalen Kapital der Gegend herausgestellt. Relationales Kapital wird als alle Beziehungen definiert - Marktbeziehungen, Machtbeziehungen, Zusammenarbeit - die zwischen Firmen, Institutionen und Menschen betehen, und auf einem starken Gefühl der Zusammengehörigkeit sowie einer für kulturell verwandte Menschen und Institutionen hoch entwickelten Fähigkeit zur Zusammenarbeit beruhen. Der vorliegende Aufsatz verfolgt zwei Hauptziele: das erste ist, die begrifflichen Hauptunterschiede zwischen Betriebswissenschaftlern und Regionalwirtschaftlern zu unterstreichen, das zweite, einen quantitativen, empirischen Ansatz mit Hilfe ökonmetrischer Techniken vorzulegen, um das Vorhandensein und Bedeutung relationalen Kapitals für die innovative Tätigkeit von Firmen zu bestätigen. Es wird festgestellt, daß Vertreter Kanäle darstellen, durch die sich Ortskenntnisse auf örtlicher Ebene entwickeln und daher indirekt auf relationales Kapital auswirken. Es werden auch die verschiedenen regionalen, sektoralen und firmeneigenen Charakterzüge analysiert, um zu erfahren, ob sie die Rolle des relationalen Kapital bei Innovation beeinflussen. Es ist, in der Tat, nur zu erwarten, daß relationales Kapital in unterschiedlichen Regional-, Sektoren- und Firmenzusammenhängen auch eine andersartige Rolle spielen wird. Capello R. y Faggian A. (2005) Aprendizaje colectivo y capital relacional en los procesos locales de innovación, Regional Studies 39 , 75-87. La capacidad innovadora de las empresas se ha explicado tradicionalmente por medio de características intra-empresariales. En la literatura más reciente, se ha puesto mucho énfasis en los determinantes que son externos a las empresas. Dichos factores externos, denominados desbordamientos de conocimiento ( knowledge spillovers ), se refieren a las externalidades positivas que reciben las empresas en materia de conocimiento del ambiente en el que operan dichas empresas. Los geógrafos y los economistas industriales destacan la importancia de los desbordamientos de conocimiento. Tal y como el artículo subraya, existe una diferencia importante entre el enfoque de desbordamientos de conocimiento y el de los procesos socializables de creación de conocimiento local por parte de los economistas regionales; mientras que en el primero, la mera probabilidad de contactos explica la transferencia de conocimiento a nivel local, en el segundo, los canales por los cuales se desborda el conocimiento sobre una área local están claramente identificados en el capital relacional de la zona. El capital relacional se define como todas las relaciones - relaciones de mercado, relaciones de poder, cooperación - que se establecen entre las empresas, instituciones y personas, las cuales derivan de un fuerte sentido de pertenencia y una capacidad altamente desarrollada de cooperación que es típica de personas e instituciones culturalmente similares. Este artículo tiene dos objetivos fundamentales: el principal objetivo es destacar las principales diferencias conceptuales que existen entre los economistas industriales y regionales. El segundo es ofrecer un planteamiento empírico cuantitativo, utilizando técnicas de tipo econométrico, con el fin de verificar la existencia e importancia del capital relacional en la actividad innovadora de las empresas. Se encuentran una serie de proxies para representar los canales a través de los cuales se desarrolla el conocimiento a nivel local y por tanto indirectamente respecto del capital relacional. También se analizan las diferentes características de las empresas, sectoriales y regionales, con el fin de entender si influyen de alguna forma en el rol que el capital relacional tiene en la innovación. En efecto, es razonable esperar que el capital relacional juegue un rol diferente en contextos sectoriales, regionales y de empresas diferentes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oerlemans L. A. G. and Meeus M. T. H. (2005) Do organizational and spatial proximity impact on firm performance?, Regional Studies 39 , 89-104. Recent theoretical developments in organization science, economic geography and regional economics have emphasized the importance of organizational and geographical proximity for the performance of firms. Empirical evidence on these relationships is scarce, though. The paper asks to what extent firm-specific resources, network activity, proximity and industry factors influence innovative and economic outcomes. We used a theoretical synthesis of regional and organizational science, and economic geography to build a research model that enabled us to derive several hypotheses on the influence of different forms of proximity on outcomes, taking other relevant predictors for performance into account. The empirical findings specify the importance of proximity especially for innovative outcomes. We found that in particular intra- and interregional relations with buyers and suppliers are conducive for firm performance. Moreover, innovation strategy (dis)similarity has interesting effects on relative firm performance. Finally, sectoral research and development spillovers influence outcomes in a positive way. Oerlemans L. A. G. et Meeus M. T. H. (2005) La proximité organisationnelle et géographique, importe-t-elle pour la performance des entreprises?, Regional Studies 39 , 89-104. De récentes avances théoriques dans la science organisationnelle, la géographie économique, et l'économie régionale ont souligné l'importance de la proximité organisationnelle et géographique pour la performance des entreprises. Cependant, rares sont les preuves empiriques sur ces rapports. Cet article cherche à déterminer dans quelle mesure les ressources spécifiques à l'entreprise, la constitution de réseaux, la proximité, et les facteurs liés à l'industrie influencent les résultats innovateurs et économiques. A partir d'un synthèse théorique de la science régionale et organisationnelle, et de la géographie économique, on construit un modèle de recherche qui permet d'obtenir plusieurs hypothèses sur l'influence de diverses formes de proximité sur les résultats, tout en tenant compte des autres moyens d'estimer la performance. Les résultats empiriques précisent l'importance de la proximité, surtout pour ce qui est des résultats innovateurs. Il s'avère en particulier que des rapports intra et interrégionaux avec les acheteurs et les vendeurs sont propices à la performance des entreprises. En outre, la(dis)similitude entre les stratégies en faveur de l'innovation a des effets intéressants sur la performance relative des entreprises. Pour finir, les retombées de R et D sectorielles influencent les résultats de façon positive. Oerlemans L. A. G. und Meeus M. T. H. (2005) Die Auswirkung organisatorischer und räumlicher Nähe auf Firmenleistung, Regional Studies 39 , 89-104. Die neuesten theoretischen Entwicklungen auf den Gebieten der Organisationswissenschaft, Wirtschaftsgeographie und Regionalwirtschaft haben die Bedeutung organisatorischer und geographischer Nähe für Firmenbildung betont. Es gibt jedoch nur wenig empirische Beweise für diese Beziehungen. In diesem Aufsatz wird die Frage aufgeworfen, in welchem Ausmaß firmenspezifische Ressourcen, Netzwerkunternehungen, Nähe und Industriefaktoren innovative und wirtschaftliche Ergebnisse beeinflussen. Die Autoren benutzen eine theoretische Synthese regionaler und organisatorischer Wissenschaften sowie der Wirtschaftsgeographie, um ein Forschungsmodell zu konstruieren, das sie in die Lage versetzt, verschiedene Hypothesen über den Einfluß unterschiedlicher Formen der Nähe auf Ergebnisse anzugeben, wobei andere relevante Voraussagefaktoren für Leistung in Rechnung gestellt werden. Die empirischen Befunde heben die Bedeutung der Nähe besonders für innovative Ergebnisse hervor. Es ergibt sich, daß der Firmenleistung vorallem intra-und interregionale Beziehungen zu Käufern und Lieferanten dienlich sind. Darüberhinaus üben (Un)ähnlichkeiten der Innovationsstrategien interessante Wirkungen auf relative Firmenleistung aus. Letztlich hat auch die Verbreitung von Forschung und Entwicklung einen positiven Einfluß auf die Ergebnisse. Oerlemans L. A. G. y Meeus M. T. H. (2005) Cómo afecta al rendimiento de las empresas la proximidad espacial y organizacional?, Regional Studies 39 , 89-104. Los desarrollos teóricos recientes en torno a la ciencia organizacional, la geografía económica y la economía regional han resaltado la importancia de la proximidad geográfica y organizacional para el rendimiento de las empresas. No obstante, la evidencia empírica en torno a dichas relaciones es escasa. En este artículo, nos planteamos hasta qué punto los recursos específicos de las empresas, actividades de networking , la proximidad y los factores industriales influyen los resultados económicos y de innovación. Utilizamos una síntesis teórica de la ciencia regional y organizacional, así como de la geografía económica, para elaborar un modelo de investigación que nos permitiera derivar una serie de hipótesis sobre la influencia de los diferentes tipos de proximidad en los resultados, teniendo en cuenta otros indicadores relevantes para el rendimiento. Nuestros resultados empíricos realzan la importancia de la proximidad especialmente para los resultados de innovación. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que, en particular, las relaciones intra- e inter-regionales con compradores y proveedores conducen al rendimiento de las empresas. Además, la desemejanza entre las estrategias de innovación tiene efectos interesantes en el rendimiento relativo de las empresas. Finalmente, los efectos de arrastre de I&D sectoriales influyen en los resultados de forma positiva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is aimed at testing the catching up hypothesis for the Italian regions. The use of Malmquist productivity indices allows to decompose productivity growth into technological progress and technical efficiency change, interpreted respectively as innovation and catching up measurements. The analysis leads to a conclusion that regional economies diverge at a decreasing rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research organizations within enterprises and universities are part of a (regional) innovation system (RIS). An important question concerns the nature of the relation between an RIS and regional economic growth. To be more specific: how to organize the transfer of information and knowledge? How is this related to embeddedness? Networks are organizational configurations that perform two functions: co-ordination and transmission. Both are important for the generation and transfer of knowledge. Networks consist of 'nodes', 'connections' and 'intensities of transfer'. Firms can be conceived of as 'nodes' consisting of 'bundles' of functions, forms of organizations, and technologies. Different parts of firms can participate differently in different networks. The transfer of knowledge is only one aspect of the functioning of firms and networks. Relations between firms are not static; 'embedded relational dynamics' would be a better description. The changing 'selection environment' requires the continuous adjustment of 'nodes', which in turn influence the connections and the intensities. Networks develop as 'emergent and embedded structures' with new varieties of innovation. Planning is an exception. Competition, the heterogeneous distribution of knowledge, and the diffusion of innovation are the prime movers of relations, resulting in economic growth. The structure of a network and its dynamics influence the diffusion of innovation. The precise nature of the transfer of information and knowledge also depends on the technology trajectory, the stage of a particular technological development path, and the nature of embeddedness. Universities can be important 'nodes' in the emerging innovation networks, in particular as 'producers' of human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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