Regional Development in the Knowledge-Based Economy: The Construction of Advantage

Abstract

In this introduction the editors showcase the papers by way of a structured project and seek to clarify the two key concepts cited in the title. We consider the history of the idea that knowledge is an economic factor, and discuss the question of whether regions provide the relevant system of reference for knowledge-based economic development. Current transformations in university-industry-government relations at various levels can be considered as a metamorphosis in industry organization. The concept of constructed advantage will be elaborated. The various papers arising from a conference on this subject hosted by Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada are approached from this perspective. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006regions, innovation, constructed advantage, knowledge, research, A14, O33, R11, R58,

Technology transfer as a driver for location of R&D active firms on science parks

“…Obviously science park firms can be attracted by policy measures directed to these financial issues. The significance of the difference of appreciation by science park firms of local rules and regulations underscores the relative local autonomy in offering a 'constructed advantage' (Cooke and Leydesdorff, 2006). The presence of vertical networks shows that off-park firms attach more importance to these networks, even though the effect is marginally significant.…”

“…Afuah (1998) defines innovation as the use of knowledge in developing new products and processes for their profitable commercialisation on the market. In a knowledge-based economy, institutional agents pursue a joint strategy to enhance the generation (by science) and use (by industry) mediated by stable interactions and exchange (by government) (Cooke and Leydesdorff, 2006). Science parks are considered an infrastructural policy instrument to transfer knowledge from science to industry (Löfsten and Lindelöf, 2002;Cassingena Harper and Georghiou, 2005;Tsai, 2005).…”

State-Supported Science and Imaginary Lock-in: The Case of Regenerative Medicine in Japan

“…The concept of 'a knowledge-based economy' was originally introduced in the context of international politics in the mid-1990s to cross-examine strong economies observed at local, national and regional levels (Cooke and Leydesdorff 2006;Godin 2006;Jessop 2005). The Japanese policy vision was a local interpretation of this concept, and it affirmed that the trend in the late twentieth century that S&T became 'deeply related to all aspects of society' would also prevail in the twenty-first century, emphasizing the importance of political initiatives to 'create new knowledge' (STA 2000: Part 1, Ch.…”

Sound Affects: Competing with Quality in the Swedish hi-fi Industry

“…Knowledge creation and innovativeness are also regarded as facilitated by, and considered more efficient in, systems of localised firms; either in specialised regional agglomerations or clusters (Porter 1990, Maskell andMalmberg 1999) or in diversified, primarily urban, milieus (Jacobs 1969, Florida 2002. This has fostered the idea that national or regional competitiveness is not so much about a set of inherited and fixed resources, but rather a result of strategies being more or less planned or intentional (Porter 1990) and constructed advantages (Cooke and Leydesdorff 2006). The major contributions made in regional development and economic geography show that these processes are deeply embedded in space, and stress that they are neither space-less nor ubiquitous global phenomena (Porter 1990, Camagni 1991, Maillat 1995, Cooke et al 1997, Morgan 1997, Malmberg and Maskell 2002.…”

“…The first has to do with the globalisation of goods and services and the increased demand for compatibility, use of standards, and integration in value chains and production networks/circuits (see Angel andRock 2005, Ponte andGibbon 2005). The second perspective deals with literature stressing issues of untraded interdependencies and social and spatial embeddedness of production and consumption stimulating regional specialisation (Granovetter 1985, Storper 1995, Maskell and Malmberg 1999, Cooke and Leydesdorff 2006, in which differentiation, branding, environmental and ecological concerns are emphasised (Murdoch et al 2000, Molotch 2002, Parrott et al 2002, Pike 2009). However, and in line with recent research, it is apparent that local or regional milieus should be viewed not only as arenas providing access to local networks, knowledge and buzz, but also, and equally important, as facilitators of critical external (global) networks and linkages (Gertler 2003, Bathelt et al 2004, Storper and Venables 2004 in a relational space , Dicken and Malmberg 2001, Doel and Hubbard 2002, Yeung 2005).…”