New explanatory models for analyzing spatial innovation: a comparative investigation

The period of the 1980s and 1990s has witnessed a profound interest in innovation research. At first, we have seen much attention for technological innovations as part of a long-term cycle based on Schumpeterian views (see e.g. Kleinknecht, 1988). Later on, the interest shifted from macro-economic analyses to regional and urban economic investigations into the success conditions for new innovations (e.g. incubation theory; see e.g. Davelaar, 1991) as well as to the spatio-temporal diffusion and acceptance patterns of innovations (see e.g. Bertuglia et al., 1997).