This paper deals with knowledge flows and collaboration between firms in the regional innovation system of southern Sweden. The aim is to analyse how the functional and spatial organization of knowledge interdependencies among firms and other actors varies between different types of industries that draw on different types of knowledge bases. We use data from three case studies of firm clusters in the region: (1) the life science cluster represents an analytical (science-based) industry, (2) the food cluster includes mainly synthetic (engineering-based) industries, and (3) the moving media cluster is considered to be symbolic (artistic based). Knowledge sourcing and knowledge exchange in each of the cases are explored and compared using social network analysis in association with data gathered through interviews with firm representatives. Our findings reveal that knowledge exchange in geographical proximity is especially important for industries that rely on a symbolic or synthetic knowledge base, because the interpretation of the knowledge they deal with tends to differ between places. This is less the case for industries drawing on an analytical knowledge base, which rely more on scientific knowledge that is codified, abstract and universal and are therefore less sensitive to geographical distance. Thus, geographical clustering of firms in analytical industries builds on rationales other than the need for proximity for knowledge sourcing.

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The literature on geography of innovation suggests that innovation outcomes depend on the type of knowledge base employed by firms. While knowledge bases are distinct categories with regards to the nature and the rational of knowledge creation, existing studies also stress that innovation usually involves more than one knowledge base. In fact, new ideas often occur when analytical, synthetic and symbolic knowledge intertwines. It remains unclear, though, which combinations of knowledge bases are most conducive to innovation at the level of the firm, and how this is influenced by the knowledge bases available in the regional milieu. Therefore the contribution of this paper is threefold: i) to measure knowledge bases of firms and their regional heterogeneity in a more comprehensive way than the existing empirical literature has been able to do so far, ii) to quantitatively assess the impact of combinations of knowledge bases on innovation output, iii) to analyze the interplay between firm-and region-level knowledge bases (and combinations thereof) in generating innovations. Empirically, the paper applies econometric analysis on firm-and region-level data from Sweden. The knowledge base of firms is captured using detailed occupational data derived from linked employer-employee datasets that is merged at the firm-level with information from Community Innovation Surveys. The empirical analysis reveals in a quantitative way the extent to which the knowledge base combinations affect innovativeness of firms.

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