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Innovation Networks for Regional Development. Overview and Contributions

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Innovation Networks for Regional Development

Part of the book series: Economic Complexity and Evolution ((ECAE))

Abstract

This chapter provides a concise conceptual overview of the literature on the relationship of innovation network dynamics and regional economic development and discusses the contributions contained in this book. The overview starts with a treatise of how the knowledge-based theory of the firm argues that, for knowledge exchange and recombination, collaborative governance forms are (dynamically) more efficient than integration or market transactions. However, while exchange of tacit knowledge best takes places in geographical proximity, knowledge with an innovative potential may well be found only outside the region. As such, innovation networks engaged in knowledge creation generally evolve over time and space in conjunction with the regions involved. This chapter provides a discussion of the relationship of network dynamics and the regional innovation system and the various policy interventions possible to ameliorate innovativeness and regional competitiveness. This chapter ends with an explanation of how agent-based computer models are used to study network dynamics and regional development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Here ‘region’ refers to a geographical area typically smaller than the average size of a country.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economics, Universität Hohenheim, Wollgrasweg 23, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Ben Vermeulen

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  1. Ben Vermeulen
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Correspondence to Ben Vermeulen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

    Ben Vermeulen

  2. Innovation Systems Department, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria

    Manfred Paier

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Vermeulen, B. (2017). Innovation Networks for Regional Development. Overview and Contributions. In: Vermeulen, B., Paier, M. (eds) Innovation Networks for Regional Development. Economic Complexity and Evolution. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43940-2_1

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