Lars Coenen

Face-to-Face, Buzz and Knowledge Bases: Socio-Spatial Implications for Learning, Innovation and Innovation Policy

Whilst concurring with the new streams of literature in geography that highlight the importance of face-to-face and ‘buzz’ in the globalizing learning economy, we argue that this literature is misleading on three interrelated counts. Firstly, it conflates face-to-face and buzz; secondly, it fails to distinguish between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for industries drawing on different knowledge bases; and, thirdly, these conceptual inadequacies lead to an exaggeration of the importance of cities as sites for creativity and innovation, and hence regional competitiveness. By applying an industrial knowledge base approach, we seek to reconstruct an alternative framework that allows for a systematic differentiation between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for different industries. This provides a framework for developing a more nuanced understanding of the spatial implications of face-to-face communication and buzz for learning and innovation.

Explaining spatial patterns of innovation: analytical and synthetic modes of knowledge creation in the Medicon Valley life-science cluster

The authors address the dichotomy around ‘proximate’ and ‘distant’ learning processes by looking specifically at the characteristics of the knowledge-creation process. By way of suggesting an alternative conceptualization to the well-known tacit–codified knowledge dichotomy they propose a distinction between ‘analytical’ and ‘synthetic’ modes of knowledge creation. Analytical knowledge creation refers to the understanding and explaining of features of the (natural) world. Synthetic knowledge creation refers to the design or construction of something to attain functional goals. By applying this framework to qualitative empirics from the Medicon Valley life-science cluster, the authors demonstrate the complementarity of globally distributed analytical knowledge creation and locally oriented synthetic knowledge creation.

Nodes, networks and proximities: on the knowledge dynamics of the Medicon Valley biotech cluster

Empirical research on the knowledge dynamics of biotechnology demonstrates a dual local‐global knowledge flow pattern. The sector is characterised by strong spatial concentration around nodes of excellence that are interconnected through a global network. This requires a specification of the notion of proximity as a facilitator of learning processes which emphasises its multifaceted configuration. This study highlights the significance of relational proximity within epistemic communities shaping innovation processes across multi‐spatial scales. These arguments are illustrated with a database‐survey on collaboration in scientific publication by 109 biotechnology firms in the Danish‐Swedish life‐science cluster Medicon Valley.

Places and Spaces of Sustainability Transitions: Geographical Contributions to an Emerging Research and Policy Field

LARS COENEN∗∗∗ & BERNHARD TRUFFER ∗CIRCLE: Centre for Research, Innovation and Competence in the Learning Economy, Lund University, Box 117, 22100 Lund, Sweden, ∗∗NIFU: Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education, Wergelandsveien 7, 0167 Oslo, Norway, CIRUS: Centre for Innovation Research in Utility Sectors, EAWAG, Dübendorf, Switzerland, Department of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Exploring the multiple roles of Lund University in strengthening Scania's regional innovation system: Towards institutional learning?

Universities are increasingly seen as potential contributors to regional innovative capacity by serving as local knowledge conduits, bringing global state-of-the-art science and technology into the region. In practice, however, more active university engagement with their regional innovation systems is not as straightforward as it may seem. The article uses examples from a successful case by which less successful regions could be inspired. Our analysis considers how various forms of technological learning intersecting within Lund University around three distinct sectoral engagement efforts have been built up and how this created new structural regional innovation capacity.

Comparing a Pharmaceutical and an Agro-food Bioregion: On the Importance of Knowledge Bases for Socio-spatial Patterns of Innovation

The aim of this paper is to compare the socio‐spatial patterns of innovation and knowledge linkages of a biopharmaceutical and an agro‐food biotech cluster. Dissimilarities can be expected based on differences in terms of historical technological regimes and sectoral innovation system dynamics between the agro‐food and pharmaceutical industries in general and particularly the distinctive analytical (science‐based) knowledge base of biopharmaceuticals in contrast with the more synthetic (engineering‐based) knowledge base of agro‐food biotechnology. Drawing on bibliometric data and case material the study compares two representative bioregions: a biopharmaceutical cluster in Scania, Sweden and an agro‐food biotech cluster in Saskatoon, Canada. The empirical study supports the theoretical expectations and shows that knowledge dynamics in the agro‐food cluster are more localized than in the biopharmaceuticals cluster. It is important, however, to acknowledge that these differences are relative. Both sectors display local and non‐local patterns of collaboration following the general pattern for biotechnology.

The role of universities in the regional innovation systems of the North East of England and Scania, Sweden: providing missing links?

The increased popularity of and attention paid to innovation-based regional growth and development has, among other things, raised the importance of universities in regional innovation systems (RIS). The triple-helix literature especially underscores the value of increased interaction and interdependence between universities, industry, and government in modern, knowledge-based, economies by acclaiming the rise of the entrepreneurial. The author provides a comparative analysis of the RIS problems in the North East in the United Kingdom and Scania in Sweden and the role of universities in regional innovation policies addressing these problems. The results of this comparison question a one-size-fits-all (entrepreneurial) model to harness university-based knowledge resources for regional development. Instead, it is shown that various constellations are possible dependent on the characteristics of the RIS problems.

Path creation as a process of resource alignment and anchoring : Industry formation for on-site water recycling in Beijing

Abstract Where and how new industrial paths emerge are much debated questions in economic geography, especially in light of the recent evolutionary turn. This article contributes to the ongoing debate on path creation with a new analytical framework that specifies the formation of generic resources in embryonic industries. It suggests that path creation processes are not only conditioned by preexisting regional capabilities and technological relatedness but also by the way firm and nonfirm actors mobilize and anchor key resources for industry formation. Our framework elaborates on the early industry development phase, extending the focus on regional knowledge spillovers in evolutionary economic geography (EEG) literature with recent insights on industry formation dynamics from innovation studies. It understands early path creation as conditioned by four systemic resource formation processes—knowledge creation, investment mobilization, market formation, and technology legitimation—that can be mobilized both from inside or anchored from outside the region. The use and value of the analytical framework is illustrated by a case study on on-site water recycling technology (OST), based on interviews with 40 experts in three Chinese city regions. The findings suggest that, despite possessing the least favorable initial conditions, a sizable OST industry developed only in Beijing. This is explained based on the specific anchoring process of the four key resources in the early development stage of the industry. Our results imply that EEG would profit from incorporating a broader set of variables than knowledge-based relatedness in explanations of regional industrial path creation.

Path Renewal in Old Industrial Regions: Possibilities and Limitations for Regional Innovation Policy

Coenen L., Moodysson J. and Martin H. Path renewal in old industrial regions: possibilities and limitations for regional innovation policy, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the potential, barriers and limitations for regional innovation policy to facilitate industrial renewal in old industrial regions. It draws on a case analysis of the policy programme ‘Biorefinery of the Future’ geared to promote renewal of the forest industry in Northern Sweden. It is shown that infusion of radical emergent technology is necessary for new regional path development, but not sufficient. To avoid a singular focus on technology-push, policy should pay more attention to complementary experimentation processes in relation to demand-side characteristics, firm strategies and business models as well as regulatory aspects. Moreover, coordination between regional innovation policy and adjacent domains and levels of policy-making is needed as some of the most pressing obstacles for renewal are not specific to the region but instead to the industry at large.

Towards a theory of regional diversification: combining insights from Evolutionary Economic Geography and Transition Studies

ABSTRACT Towards a theory of regional diversification: combining insights from Evolutionary Economic Geography and Transition Studies. Regional Studies. This paper develops a theoretical framework of regional diversification by combining insights from Evolutionary Economic Geography and Transition Studies. It argues that a theory of regional diversification should not only build on the current understanding of related diversification but also account for processes of unrelated diversification by looking at the role of agency in processes of institutional entrepreneurship, and at enabling and constraining factors at various spatial scales. This paper proposes a typology of four regional diversification trajectories by cross-tabulating related versus unrelated diversification with niche creation versus regime adoption, and it develops a number of propositions.