Christoph Hornych

Political Institutionalisation and Economic Specialisation in Polycentric Metropolitan Regions: The Case of the East German ‘Saxony Triangle’

The rising focus of politicians as well as scientists in the EU on the large urban agglomerations as centres of economic growth is accompanied by political efforts to identify and to demarcate such agglomerations under the label ‘metropolitan regions’. This study develops a theoretical framework broaching the issue of cooperation between municipalities from the perspective of regional economics as well as political science. The framework is applied to the empirical case of the polycentric metropolitan region of the ‘Saxony triangle’ in east Germany. The results show that various intervening factors prevent intense co-operation between the actors in the region. Policy implications and conclusions for future research are discussed.

Specialisation versus diversification: perceived benefits of different business incubation models

Business incubator initiatives are a widespread policy instrument for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and the development of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). Recently, there has been an increasing tendency for the more traditional diversified incubators to be superseded by incubators focusing their support elements, processes and selection criteria on firms from one specific sector, and its particular needs. Despite the increasing importance of such specialised incubators in regional innovation strategies, the question of whether they are advantageous has neither been investigated empirically nor discussed theoretically in detail. Drawing on large-scale survey data from 161 firms incubated in either diversified or specialised incubators in Germany, we investigate the benefits to firms of being part of a specialised business incubator as opposed to being part of a generalised business incubator. The investigation of the value-added contribution of specialised incubators, in particular regarding hardware components, business assistance, networking and reputation gains, reveals considerable differences compared to the more diversified incubation model.

Knowledge sharing through informal networking: an overview and agenda

Informal inter-organisational networks provide manifold opportunities to organise the transfer of information, knowledge and technology between actors. The importance of informal networks as channel of knowledge transfer is widely acknowledged by academics and practitioners. However, there is a significant lack of discussion on their theoretical foundations and systematic empirical research on the origins, dynamics and effects of informal networking. The objective of this paper is threefold. First, we review the fragmented academic discussion of the notion of informal networking, thereby focusing on how these relationships emerge initially and what conditions (presumably) are required to make them a mutually fruitful and sustainable channel of the transfer of information and knowledge. Second, we give an up-to-date overview over most important and recent studies trying to disentangle the mechanisms of inter-organisational informal networking. Finally, we outline an agenda of future research directions that we encourage researchers to pursue in future empirical studies. Overall, six important research gaps are identified.

Ende der ‚Gemischtwarenläden‘ — Spezialisierung von Technologie- und Gründerzentren als Option kommunaler Wirtschaftsförderung

ZusammenfassungIm Kontext einer Unternehmens- und Existenzgründerförderung auf kommunaler Ebene in Deutschland lässt sich seit Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts ein expliziter Trend zur Errichtung einer neuen Art von Technologie- und Gründerzentren (TGZ) erkennen. In zunehmender Anzahl werden Zentren errichtet, welche ihre Förderstrukturen auf eine einzige oder wenige komplementäre Branchen bzw. Technologien ausrichten. Mittlerweile kann jedes fünfte in Betrieb stehende TGZ in Deutschland als spezialisiert bezeichnet werden. Trotz steigender Bedeutung dieser spezifischen Maßnahme städtischer Wirtschaftsförderung, existieren noch keine verlässlichen Analysen, welche Bedingungen gegeben sein sollten und welche Besonderheiten zu beachten sind, damit spezialisierte Zentrenkonzepte überhaupt langfristig erfolgreich operieren können. Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags wird nun erstmalig dieser Forschungsfrage nachgegangen. Basierend auf den theoretischen Schlüsselprinzipien und -elementen einer Unternehmensförderung durch TGZ sowie bisherigen empirischen Ergebnissen zur Auswirkung einer Spezialisierung, diskutiert der vorliegende Beitrag die besonderen Anforderungen an die regionale Wirtschaftsstruktur sowie an die Betreiber dieser Einrichtungen selbst. In diesem Kontext werden insbesondere die Chancen aufgezeigt, welche sich gegenüber eher traditionell diversifizierten Zentrenkonzepten zeigen können. Ebenso wird die Entwicklung und regionale Verteilung dieses Konzeptes in Deutschland analysiert.AbstractIn the context of policy measures that focus on the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovative start-ups on the level of cities and municipalities, since the beginning of the 21st century, there is an explicit tendency to establish a new type of business incubators and technology centers. These support facilities focus their support infrastructure and processes on firms from one specific sector and its particular needs. In Germany, since 1999, nearly one-third of all new business incubators opened with a sector-specific focus. Despite the continuously increasing importance of such specialized business incubators in local and regional development strategies, there is no analysis of these support facilities. On the basis of the key principles of business incubation functionality, supplemented by recent findings of incubator/incubation research, this article investigates the evolution of this incubator concept in Germany, its regional distribution and describes the benefits to firms of being part of a specialized incubator. Moreover, this article details what are the general conditions and requirements for the long-term success of specialized business incubation initiatives.