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Plastic waste has come to the forefront of academic and political debates as a global problem that demands an urgent solution. Promoted by policymakers, academia, and corporations alike, the circular economy model presents a viable path to reach more sustainable levels of development. Emerging and disruptive technologies can catalyse the transition to a circular economy, but their application to the transition of the plastic materials realm is not fully understood. Based on a systematic review of the literature, this paper aims to understand the role of key emerging technologies in the transition towards a circular economy in the plastic materials value chain, their potential impact, as well as the barriers of adoption and diffusion. Employing the ReSOLVE framework, the analysis reveals that rather than individual technologies, four technology sets associated with Industry 4.0, distributed economies, bio-based systems, and chemical recycling stand as major enablers of this transition. The complementarity of technologies and the change needed from a systemic perspective are discussed along with a proposal for governance and practical implementation pathway to overcome barriers and resistance to the transition.

For firms in symbolic (creative) industries, the region is usually seen as the main arena for knowledge sourcing and exchange. Why and how these firms use global innovation networks remains however poorly understood. This paper draws on in-depth interviews with firm representatives and network data collected through a survey of video game developers in southern Sweden. Video game development is a typical example of a symbolic industry, encompassing the development of non-tangible and symbol-intensive products and services. In recent years, this industry has advanced from a niche sector into a global mass market. Understanding how the hybrid character of the industry–with strong symbolic cultural roots but also a significant global engagement–affects the geography of innovation networks is the focus of this paper. The analysis reveals that knowledge sourcing and exchange take place likewise on the regional and global scale, but for different purposes and through different mechanisms. It also shows that not all variance in network engagement can be explained by differences in industrial knowledge bases or regional innovation systems. In contrast, the target market and the nature and geography of demand are important explanatory factors.

Economic geographers have recently made important contributions to understanding of the relationship between regional transformation, industrial specialisation and innovation networks in the emergence of new industries. However, most contemporary research has focused on the influence of networks on regional trajectories, paying lip service to how regional trajectories also influence network configurations. Furthermore, international comparative research on how specific regional innovation system (RIS) trajectories may shape innovation networks in new industrial sectors is underdeveloped.The paper investigates how the trajectories of Bangalore and Beijing RISs influence the objectives and geographical configuration of innovation networks in the new media industry. The co-evolution of different elements of the RIS trajectory points to the unfolding of a politically and institutionally driven trajectory in Beijing, and a cognitively driven trajectory in Bangalore. These trajectories lead to specific barriers and opportunities for the development of innovation networks in new industries. Economic geographers have recently made important contributions to understanding of the relationship between regional transformation, industrial specialisation and innovation networks in the emergence of new industries. However, most contemporary research has focused on the influence of networks on regional trajectories, paying lip service to how regional trajectories also influence network configurations. Furthermore, international comparative research on how specific regional innovation system (RIS) trajectories may shape innovation networks in new industrial sectors is underdeveloped. The paper investigates how the trajectories of Bangalore and Beijing RISs influence the objectives and geographical configuration of innovation networks in the new media industry. The co-evolution of different elements of the RIS trajectory points to the unfolding of a politically and institutionally driven trajectory in Beijing, and a cognitively driven trajectory in Bangalore. These trajectories lead to specific barriers and opportunities for the development of innovation networks in new industries.

Recent literature stresses the increasing importance of global innovation networks (GINs) as a mechanism to organize innovation across geographical space. This paper investigates why and to what extent citizenship diversity of the firm's employees relates to the engagement of small and medium size companies in GINs. Citizenship diversity provides knowledge about the institutional context of other countries, increased capabilities to deal with institutional differences, larger social networks to build GINs and a broader search space. Further, the paper examines how the absorptive capacity of firms mediates the relationship between citizenship diversity and GINs. The empirical study is based on a linked employee-employer dataset with 6,771 observations of innovative small and medium size firms in Sweden. It provides strong evidence that the engagement in GINs is positively related to citizenship diversity, depending, however, on the absorptive capacity of firms.

Over the last decade we have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of cross-border R&D investments towards large emerging countries such as China and India. However, small middle-income countries have played a marginal role as recipients of R&D-related FDI despite increasing policy efforts. In particular, several Latin American countries have recently launched new policy programs with the aim of attracting this kind of investments, but it remains uncertain whether public incentives can be useful to compensate for other locational disadvantages. The case of Chile provides an interesting empirical setting to explore these issues because during the last decade its government has been actively promoting R&D-related FDI through a new policy mix. This article suggests that for national innovation systems to benefit from the attraction of internationally-mobile R&D it is critical for public policies to ensure that appropriate linkages are established with local actors that hold absorptive capacities. Equally important for a small emerging economy like Chile is to prioritize R&D-related FDI in strategic technology niches where the country can realistically attain critical mass.

This perspective paper aims to contribute to current discussions about responsible innovation and innovation systems for sustainability. The paper interrogates the purposes of innovation and its role in sustainable development. It reflects on the differences between adopting weak or strong sustainability as the final goal in terms of innovation and innovation systems. At a meta level, it aims to bring clarity to the use of concepts like innovation, technology or responsible innovation in relation to sustainability and sustainable development discussions. The paper concludes suggesting some areas for future research in the realm of innovation for sustainable development.

Over the last few years, there has been a growing concern among academics and practitioners about the slow pace in which sustainability transformations unfold. While most socio-technical transformations tend to happen over extended periods, research shows that unless some dramatic changes are introduced, we are risking damaging the critical earth systems that sustain human life. In this context, understanding why and how transformations happen at a much faster pace in certain places than in others is of crucial importance. This paper investigates the rapid transformation of Panzano, from traditional wine production to organically produced wine. Using a combination of document analysis, participant observation, and face to face interviews in Panzano in 2019, this article examines the role of the territorially embedded innovation ecosystems facilitating this fast transformation. The study looks at place based-structural preconditions and different forms of agency at different stages in the transformation. Our findings illustrate that a place-based agency is paramount for accelerating sustainability transformations.

Scientific advance and innovation are major sources of economic growth and are crucial for making development socially and environmentally sustainable. A critical question is: Will private enterprises invest sufficiently in research technological development and innovation and, if not, to what degree and how should governments engage in the support of science, technology, and innovation? While neoclassical economists point to market failure as the main rationale for innovation policy, evolutionary economists point to the role of government in building stronger innovation systems and creating wider opportunities for innovation. Research shows that the transmission mechanisms between scientific advance and innovation are complex and indirect. There are other equally important sources of innovation including experience-based learning. Innovation is increasingly seen as a systemic process, where the feedback from users needs to be taken into account when designing public policy. Science and innovation policy may aim at accelerating knowledge production along well-established trajectories, or it may aim at giving new direction to the production and use of knowledge. It may be focused exclusively on economic growth, or it may give attention to impact on social inclusion and the natural environment. An emerging topic is to what extent national perspectives continue to be relevant in a globalizing learning economy facing multiple global complex challenges, including the issue of climate change. Scholars point to a movement toward transformative innovation policy and global knowledge sharing as a response to current challenges. (Less)

Widening income and knowledge inequalities have led to growing expectations for universities to integrate social innovation in their core missions as a response to societal problems. This systematic review of literature provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of knowledge on the role of the university in enabling social innovation through its missions of teaching, research and third mission. It also identifies knowledge gaps in the field. A bibliometric approach wasused to identify and analyze books, journal articles and reports examining factors driving social innovation activities at universities, organizational and insitutional change to accommodate such activities as well as their impact. The review reveals that the literature on university engagement in socially-oriented activities as part of the third mission of the university is conceptually well developed and a growing field of inquiry. It also points to gaps in the knowledge base; relatively few studies address issues related to institutional change and incentive structures that influences the ability of universities to engage in social innovation. Likewise, impact studies on social innovation activities at universities are scarce. Further research that builds an impact measurement framework would support the process of integrating social innovation activities in the three missions of the university.

The type of regional innovation system (RIS) strongly affects possibilities of paths of industrial transformation. This paper argues that traditional manufacturing districts, corresponding to speci...

This paper investigates commonalities and differences in firm-level determinants of internationalization of production (production-related investments or PFDI) and innovation (technology-driven investments or TFDI) by multinational enterprises. Our database is based on a cross-country survey which includes firms within Automotive, Agro-processing, and Information and Communication Technology sectors from both developing and advanced economies. Our results show that despite some differences, most of the determinants affect in a similar manner both the PFDI and TFDI which rather contradicts recent arguments claiming significant differences between the two. More interestingly, however, we found that institutional determinants such as policies related to foreign direct investments play almost no role in internationalization process of firms while managerial (internal to the firm) determinants had a far greater impact.

Summary User–producer interactions have been recognized as important for innovation. With the rapid growth of emerging economies’ markets, and an increasing degree of technological sophistication of both users and producers in those markets, user–producer interaction is becoming global. Using original firm-level data, this paper explores how collaboration with users in different income regions affects the degree of innovations’ novelty. We find that collaborating with international users is positively related to higher degrees of novelty. Furthermore, firms in low- and middle income countries will benefit more from south–south user collaboration than a south–north one.

This chapter aims at discussing the main challenges of designing and implementing science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in developing countries. In particular, it addresses the problems of: a) aligning STI policies with the national economic development agenda, as well as coordinating STI policies among different ministries and other public organizations, and among diverse government levels (horizontal alignment); and b) aligning rationales, objectives, instruments and specific problems of the system (vertical alignment). In addition, the main barriers for designing and implementing STI policies are examined. The chapter combines theory and concepts with examples of STI policy design and implementation in Asian and Latin American countries to illustrate the arguments. The analysis of STI policies as innovation system policies suggests that developing countries need policies that are comprehensive, evidence based, long-term and aligned. (Less)

The chapter discusses the spatial aspects of the increased globalization of innovation, analysing both the region’s role in influencing the propensity of actors to engage and to play different roles in global innovation networks (GINs). Until now, different concepts such as global value chain (GVC), global production network (GPN) and GIN have been used to explain the increase globalization of innovation activities. The authors provide a critical overview of these concepts. The involvement of new actors (not just multinationals) from different locations (not just from developed economies) reveal the limitations of frameworks such as GVC and GPN in explaining the structure and dynamics of global networks. The chapter highlights how the concept of GIN, when properly addressed, can lead to a better understanding of the micro and meso dynamics of the new phenomena that arise from the globalization of innovation activities. (Less)

Researchers have long acknowledged the importance of culture in the innovation process. However, while culture is well integrated into frameworks such as Regional Innovation Systems (RIS), the actual processes through which cultural outlooks influence innovative activities is still poorly understood. Beyond this, culture is frequently viewed in an overly simplified way in which only one cultural attribute (such as ethnicity or geography) is seen as a deterministic force in the innovation process. The chapter provides a sympathetic critique of the ways in which culture is employed in RIS research and suggests that the work of Pierre Bourdieu is useful as an alternative to understand the role of overlapping and often confluent cultural outlooks within regions. This framework views innovation as a bundle of practices that actors employ based on their position within multiple, overlapping ‘fields’ of power relations and norms. The framework allows for a more nuanced appreciation for the role of culture that acknowledges the role of multiple sources of cultural influence.

This paper explores the relationship between competences and global innovation networks in the Swedish ICT industry. More specifically this paper combines econometric techniques and case study analysis to capture the interplay between firm level competences (competences as enablers), the availability of competences in the host country (competences as drivers), and the specific strategy of the firm for engaging in global innovation networks. Our results show that for Swedish ICT firms, firm-level competences are an important enabler for globalization of innovation, particularly for offshoring. Home regional competences also play an important role for the mode of globalization of innovation that firms engage in. Host regional competences are important drivers for globalization of innovation, particularly for offshoring and collaboration. The results suggest that the breadth and depth of competences available in host countries actually determine the type of innovation activities that the subsidiary performs,...

The aim of this article is to discuss the role of intermediate organizations in supporting different forms of interactive learning and capability building in small-scale business initiatives in emerging innovation systems in developing countries, using data from Tanzania and El Salvador. It is argued that different types of intermediate organizations have played key roles in linking marginalized economic actors to sources of knowledge and other resources that are essential for capability upgrading and innovation in both traditional and more differentiated economic activities. They thus play an important role in linking innovative activity, to maintaining and upgrading the quality of existing jobs in crisis, generating new ones where opportunities arise, and providing income crucial for family well-being in countries characterized by low levels of human development and high levels of inequality.

Using firm-level data collected through a survey in 2008 followed by semi-structured interviews with firms in 2009–2010, this article systematically compares the geography of linkages of the software industry between two regions, one in India (Pune) and one in China (Great Beijing). In contrast to what the literature on knowledge bases and regional innovation systems argues the paper points out to marked differences both in the organization as well as in the geographical spread of the knowledge sources in the software industry between Pune and Greater Beijing. The paper suggests that the literature of knowledge bases could benefit from incorporating the insights from strategy studies as well as innovation systems studies.

The issue of the rationale for public intervention under the system of innovation (SI) perspective has recently received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. However, with few exceptions, this literature has been based on the analysis of innovation policies and innovation systems in industrialized countries neglecting almost completely the specific policy dilemmas that arise from the weak and fragmented innovation systems that characterize developing countries. In the last few years, a growing number of developing countries have adopted the SI approach officially in their innovation policy. Yet, there has not been an adequate attempt to systematically analyze how (and if) this has been done in practice. This study attempts to shed some light on this issue by analyzing the innovation policy of Thailand. It suggests that while the innovation system approach might be officially adopted by a government, the practice follows old innovation paradigms and hardly addresses systemic problems.

This paper is concerned with unpacking the role of clusters in supporting the move from competing on low-costs to competing on innovation in the global value chain; special attention is paid to clustered SMEs. By comparing 4 clusters in different industries in Asia, we highlight significant differences in the learning paths of clustered SMEs. The paper contributes to current discussion on upgrading in clusters in developing countries by a) providing an explanation on how localized interactive learning and thus clustering relates to upgrading b) discussing under which conditions upgrading requires interactive learning and c) identifying the linkages between particular types of interactive learning and different upgrading strategies

This paper analyses the relationship of the accumulation of technological competencies at the firm level, the spatial distribution of the firm's innovation networks and the degree of novelty of product innovation. Firm-based primary data collected in two innovative regions in emerging economies are used to predict higher degrees of novelty in emerging economy firms. Similarly to advanced economy firms, the results show that international linkages are associated with higher degrees of novelty. However, new-to-the-world innovation in emerging country firms is fundamentally externally driven, suggesting that international linkages seem to be a compensating mechanism for the initially lower technological capabilities rather than a complementary source of knowledge.

This paper discusses the importance of global–local linkages for the development of indigenous production in cultural clusters by analyzing the interplay between the indigenous film production cluster in Toronto, Canada, and Hollywood's runaway productions. Global–local linkages are at the forefront of the current debate in cluster studies, the discussion has so far had only a limited impact on the research on cultural clusters. The paper identifies the limitations to the dominant cluster models to explain the difficulties for Toronto to develop its indigenous cultural cluster. The inclusion of the global linkages in the analysis of the Toronto film cluster provides a new insight into the current development potentials and barriers faced by the indigenous film industry.

Summary The paper builds up on the pioneer work of Martin Bell, who started studying the Thai S&T policy already in the sixties. In one of his latest work (Bell, 2002) Martin strongly highlights the need to move from a traditional approach to science and technology policy to a broader system of innovation policy, that focuses on capability building and on the interactions between the different organizations responsible for the creation, acquisition and use of knowledge for innovation. The issue of the rationale for public intervention under the systems of innovation perspective has recently received an increasing attention among scholars and practitioners. However, with few exceptions, this literature has been based on the analysis of innovation policies and innovation systems in the industrialized countries neglecting almost completely the specific policy dilemmas arising from weak and fragmented innovation systems that characterize developing countries. In the last few years, a growing number of develop...

The article is aimed at understanding the dynamics and consequences of technology-driven foreign direct investments, undertaken predominantly with the aim of accessing and learning to master technologies by Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises (EMNEs) in Europe, with a particular focus on India and China. The results are grounded on a database, which contains all the investment deals by EMNEs in the EU between 2003 and 2011. It shows that agglomeration economies play a key role in attracting investments from emerging economies, which tend to concentrate in areas with a massive presence of firms in the same industries.

The aim of the present article is to put culture on the agenda when discussing and working with IC reporting and IC management. Differences between Spain and Sweden in the Meritum work are discussed in relation to the interest and experience of IC among firms; and the way the firms develop IC management and IC reporting. We propose that culture might affect the assumptions of knowledge as well as the creation and the adoption of new knowledge. Thereby culture may determine the emergence of IC management and reporting. However, there are no national cultural differences with respect to the development of IC management and reporting.

The implementation of the intellectual capital (IC) concept at firm level introduces a new vocabulary to the existing language set. Firms are attempting to make sense of the concept and, in the process, operationalize it in terms of specific management tools. This paper provides a comparative analysis of intellectual capital trajectories in Norway and Spain. Although the implementation designs are different (selected small and medium-sized enterprises and sector in Norway and more non-selected in Spain), the paper finds that a dominant accounting perspective can lead to an excessive focus on measurement issues and little attention to management processes. Alternatively, introducing IC with a broader and less defined focus might help newcomers to experiment with the concept in a more open-minded way. In non-experienced firms the entrance point matters, as it defines the meaning for new words and concepts such as intellectual capital or intangibles.

Access to global innovation networks (GINs) has been unequal across the regions of the world. While certain regions are considered knowledge hubs in GINs, others still remain marginalized; this points to the role of regional innovation systems (RISs) in the emergence and development of GINs. Using firm-level data collected through a survey and case studies in 2009–2010, this paper systematically compares the patterns of global networks in the information and communications technology industry in a selection of European, Chinese and Indian regions. The results show that GINs are more common in regions which are not organizationally and institutionally thick, suggesting that GINs may be a compensatory mechanism for weaknesses in the RIS.

This article attempts to contribute to the development of a positive theory on the management of intangibles by building a model that describes the process followed by business firms willing to implement a system for the management of intangibles. The study reveals that companies usually take three steps: the identification of critical intangibles related to value creation, the measurement of those intangibles by means of a set of indicators and, finally, the monitoring of intangible resources and activities.

The paper contributes to research on innovation systems; in particular, the current debate on rationales for innovation policy by providing a framework to identify systemic problems in a given system of innovation and test the framework empirically. The data was drawn from the Thai Community Innovation Survey in the period after which a major change in the country’s innovation system policy had been initiated. By hierarchical factor analysis, systemic problems suggested by prior studies are grouped into four components: institution, network, science and technology infrastructure and other support services. Our framework and methodology may also be applied in the analyses of systemic problems in other countries, especially for the purpose to investigate a mismatch between policies and problems.

In the last decade, we have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the globalisation of innovation activities and more specifically, of global innovation networks (GINs) extending into middle-income countries. However, hitherto most of the literature is either theoretical or based on a handful of cases. We do not know what are the different forms of openness through networks in which firms participate whether in terms of the various degrees of global scope, innovativeness and network scope or other key characteristics. This exploratory paper provides empirical evidence of the different forms of openness through global innovation networks used by firms located in mature and emerging innovation systems. The paper relies on survey-based firm-level data collected in five European countries plus Brazil, South Africa, India and China.

Since the seminal work of Archibugi and Michie (1995) on the globalization of innovation, several authors have attempted to understand the complex relationship between innovation and internationalization. However, most tend to focus on industrialized countries, just one mode of globalization of innovation and often one traditional indicator of innovation, such as patents or R&D investment, thus ignoring the complexity and multiple aspects of the phenomenon. This paper explores empirically the linkages between different modes of globalization of innovation and firms' micro-characteristics in two of the fastest growing emerging economies. We analyze three distinct modes of globalization of innovation: the global exploitation of innovation, the global sourcing of technology and global research collaboration. We then use primary data from Chinese and Indian firms belonging to three sectors (automotive components, software and green biotech) to explore the differences in the ways in which the firms located in these two economies globalize their innovatiton activities.

This paper explores the geography and structure of global innovation networks (GINs) of two multinational companies belonging to industries with different knowledge bases. It contributes to the existing literature on knowledge bases, by studying both intra-firm and inter-firm GINs. By means of social network analysis based on primary data, we identify two different forms of GINs, namely the globally organized model and the locally organized model. The paper finds that, in addition to influencing the geographic spread of a GIN, the knowledge base also influences the way that a GIN is organized.

The global location of R&D labs by MNCs is a rather new phenomenon; especially when it comes to establishing R&D labs in developing countries. The existing and rather limited literature on globalisation of innovation provides four possible explanations of why multinationals locate R&D labs in developing countries: reduce research costs, access large markets, tap into a large pool of qualified human resources or benefit from knowledge spillovers available in the local/regional system of innovation. The empirical research presented in this paper reveals that none of these arguments can fully explain the increasing location of R&D labs in China. The in-depth study of MNCs R&D labs in Beijing and Shanghai, China, reveals that specific aspects of market, technological and political uncertainty provide a more adequate explanation to the increasing presence of R&D labs from MNCs in developing countries such as China and thus calls for an integration in the regional innovation systems framework.

The question why the government should intervene to support R&D and innovation although a recent one, can be traced several decades back (Arrow, 1962, Nelson, 1959). Despite the extensive literature on innovation, the rationales for public intervention in innovation are still subject to an intense debate, especially related to new theoretical perspectives such as the system of innovation (SI) approach. Innovation policy can be defined as “the public actions that influence innovation processes, i.e. the development and diffusion of (product and process) innovations”. The objectives of innovation policy are often economic ones, such as economic growth, productivity growth or increased employment and competitiveness. However, they may also be of a non-economic kind, such as cultural, social, environmental, or military. As in any policy, the objectives of innovation policies are determined in a political process and not by researchers. Innovation policy design is a question of the division of labour between, on the one hand, the actions of private firms and, on the other, the actions of public organisations with regard to factors influencing innovation processes. For example, large-scale and radical technological shifts rarely take place without public intervention, while incremental innovation is normally carried out by firms without any explicit support from the government. To discuss the division of labour between private

This paper examines the dynamics of a technological innovator network (TIN) of a stateowned textile company in the underdeveloped southwest China. It addresses two research questions: how the structure of the TIN evolved in the past ten years and what impact it had on the technological performance of the firm. The case study reveals that the general structure of the TIN and the positioning of the actors influence not only the amount of technological innovations but also the predominant type (product versus process innovations). TIN that are adequate for process innovation may not be as efficient for product innovation

Part 1: The business model of industrial districts and clusters in the knowledge-based view and in the social network analysis perspective 1. The international fragmentation of the industrial districts value chain between relocation and global integration Fiorenza Belussi and Alessia Sammarra 2. Situated business networks facing globalisation: a critical assessment Fiorenza Belussi and Silvia Sedita 3. Boundary spanning strategies of industrial districts: the impact of absorptive capacity Tine Aage Part 2: Industrial districts and clusters in the global value chains. A taxonomical exercise on the path-dependent avenue of Marshallian/Satellite/Evolutionary/Science districts 4. Industrial districts and clusters in the global value chain: the cases of Saonara, Pistoia and Boskoop Fiorenza Belussi and Silvia Rita Sedita 6. The evolution of the Montebelluna sportswear district through knowledge creation, ICT adoption, and international commercial nets Fiorenza Belussi 7. A "low road" to competitiveness in the global apparel industry: the case of the Vibrata Valley district Alessia Sammarra 8. From proximity advantages to organisational advantages through the global extension of an industrial district: the case of the footwear district of Verona Fiorenza Belussi 9. Facing globalisation through inward and outward investments and international research collaboration: evidence from the biomedical district of Mirandola Fiorenza Belussi and Alessia Sammarra 10. Moving immigrants into western industrial districts: the "inverse" delocalisation of the leather tanning district of Arzignano Fiorenza Belussi and Silvia Rita Sedita 11. The clustering R&D through the institutional mechanisms in the Paris Region Najoua Boufaden, Sofiene Lourimi and Andre Torre 12. Transferring entrepreneurialship: the making of the cluster of Timisoara Fiorenza Belussi 13. How deeply embedded is the "footwear agglomeration" in Timisoara? Simona Montagnana 14. The Evolution of External Linkages and Relational Density in the Tuscan Leather Industry Lorenzo Bacci and Mauro Lombardi and Sandrine Labory 15. Local development and innovation policies in China: the experience of Guangdong specialised towns Annalisa Caloffi 16. Industrial Clusters in the Brazilian Ceramic Tile Industry and the New Challenges of the Competition in the Global Value Chain Renato Garcia and Gabriela Scur 17. The localisation of multinationals in Italian clusters between Marshallian and urban externalities Nicoletta Tessieri