Frans Boekema

Do Networks Matter for Innovation? The usefulness of the economic network approach in analysing innovation

Economic network theory emphasises the importance of external resource mobilisation. In this paper, the relations between the mobilisation and use of internal and external resources in innovation processes, and the innovative performance of firms, are explored empirically, using an adapted version of Hakanssons (1987) economic network model. The main research question was: to what extent do network variables contribute to the innovative performance of firms? To answer this question, we assessed the explanatory power of economic network theory within the empirical study of innovation. Firms were found to engage in various configurations of internal and external resource bases, enabling them to innovate with better results. The relations in the estimated models are strongly influenced by moderating variables such as sector, and type and level of innovations produced. Our main conclusion is that models that include both internal and external resources explain the innovative performance better than models in which only internal resources are used.

The Learning Region: Foundations, State of the Art, Future

The aim of this book is to present a much-needed conceptualization of ‘the learning region’. The editors scrutinize key concepts and issues surrounding this phenomenon, which are then discussed in the context of recent literature. This unique conceptualization of the learning region presents a state of the art exploration of theories. Leading scholars from across Europe, the USA and South Africa draw upon various disciplines to explain how regional actors perform regional learning.

The spatial dimension of social capital

Social capital pertains to the social relations between humans, and since these social relations have a spatial dimension, so too does social capital. However, the spatial dimension of social capital has received little attention in the literature so far. Even in a globalizing world where electronic and virtual communication have the potential to defeat the need for geographical proximity, it is still relevant to consider the spatial dimension of social capital. After all, human beings exist most prominently in real rather than in virtual space. This special issue undertakes an inquiry into the spatial dimension of social capital from an explorative perspective. It aims to further theoretical and empirical understanding of the spatial dimension of social capital. As editors we recognize that the debate on social capital is still ongoing in the literature and that it is fed from different, sometimes conflicting perspectives. Therefore, the spatial dimension of social capital can only be conceptualized in the light of these different perspectives, which necessitates an explorative approach. Nonetheless, the various contributions of this special issue allow several conclusions that are valuable to the ongoing discussion on social capital and its spatial dimension. In the first part of this introductory paper, we discuss social capital from a conceptual angle, as we distinguish between two key approaches (the “structuralist” and “interactionist” approaches). We then argue how these approaches may be helpful to the understanding of the spatial dimension of social capital. In the second part, we introduce the various contributions and explain how they contribute to the aim of this special issue.

Universities and Regional Development

Bright Satanic Mills: Universities, Regional Development and the Knowledge Economy, Allan Harding, Allan Scott, Stephan Laske and Christian Burtscher (Eds), Ashgate, Aldershot (2007). xv+242 pp. £6...

The Learning Region

The aim of this book is to present a much-needed conceptualization of ‘the learning region’. The editors scrutinize key concepts and issues surrounding this phenomenon, which are then discussed in the context of recent literature. This unique conceptualization of the learning region presents a state of the art exploration of theories. Leading scholars from across Europe, the USA and South Africa draw upon various disciplines to explain how regional actors perform regional learning.

Innovation, Policy and Economic Growth: Theory and Cases

The origin for this special issue goes back to June 2004, when a group of economic geographers at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, organized an international conference on “Governance and Places”, or GaP. GaP can be understood in two different ways. First, it refers to the research group on Governance and Places from the Faculty of Management Sciences at Radboud University, the group that organized the conference. One of the teams of the GaP group researches the knowledge-based economy and innovation. Secondly, GaP refers to the real meaning of the word, in the sense that there is a gap between knowledge, on the one hand, and innovation, on the other hand. Both scientists and practitioners are searching for ways to close this gap in order to boost our economies. One of the sessions in the conference was dedicated to this knowledge gap. Scientists from a variety of disciplines (i.e. economic geography, sociology and business economics) presented and discussed their work in this session. Their papers are the basis of the current special issue.

Social Capital, Distance, Borders and Levels of Space: Conclusions and Further Issues

In this special issue, we attempted to combine two multifaceted concepts, social capital and space, a difficult and complex task. The various papers in this special issue have all demonstrated that social capital has a spatial dimension but they have also demonstrated that a straightforward connection between the two concepts does not emerge. In our view, the next step on the road to explaining the relation between social capital and space is to better conceptualize the latter. In the introductory paper, we focused on social capital, arguing that this concept can be approached from a structuralist or an interactionist perspective (with focus on the networks and the norms/values, respectively) and that it can bring positive as well as negative effects. Social capital is carried by individuals and different types of organizations, but, as the contributions in this special issue demonstrate, it also has a spatial factor. This necessitates conceptualizing space more clearly in order to better understand how social capital and space are related. In this final paper, we make an effort in this direction. Space may be theorized as a concept with three complex approaches. 1. A horizontal space in which distance is a continuous variable and in which access to social capital diminishes continuously with distance—although the relationship is not necessarily linear. This distance approach is based on the classic contributions

Beyond the Learning Region: A New Direction for Conceptualizing the Relation between Space and Learning

The learning region has been unsuccessful in delivering its main ambition of conceptualizing the relation between space and learning. Taking the region as the level of analysis biased the learning region towards learning in regional networks up to the point where it conflates regions with networks. As learning is a process of social interaction between individuals, innovation networks of individuals are suggested as the alternate level of analysis. The spatial dimension of innovation networks is two-fold. Their reach may vary between the local and the global. Second, regional social capital and norms and values affect learning as they are brought into the networks by spatially sticky individuals.

The Learning Region: A Conceptual Anatomy

The aim of this book is to present a much-needed conceptualization of ‘the learning region’. The editors scrutinize key concepts and issues surrounding this phenomenon, which are then discussed in the context of recent literature. This unique conceptualization of the learning region presents a state of the art exploration of theories. Leading scholars from across Europe, the USA and South Africa draw upon various disciplines to explain how regional actors perform regional learning.

A Future for the Learning Region

The aim of this book is to present a much-needed conceptualization of ‘the learning region’. The editors scrutinize key concepts and issues surrounding this phenomenon, which are then discussed in the context of recent literature. This unique conceptualization of the learning region presents a state of the art exploration of theories. Leading scholars from across Europe, the USA and South Africa draw upon various disciplines to explain how regional actors perform regional learning.