Mika Kautonen

Policies to promote new knowledge-intensive industrial agglomerations

This paper explores the role of policymakers in encouraging endogenous growth in regions. Policymakers in many regions have sought to create the local conditions and the knowledge base that will allow a dynamic and innovative cohort of new knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial firms to emerge. We review existing models of agglomeration to identify the critical antecedents and dynamic processes that lead to agglomeration formation. The policy interventions and instruments that impact on these antecedents and processes are then outlined. We describe the evolution of two new knowledge-based agglomerations, Dublin in Ireland and Tampere in Finland, emphasizing the role of policy interventions in the process of agglomeration formation. We show how policy interventions play an important role in stimulating the development of new agglomerations. However, because the process of agglomeration formation is dependent on local resources and processes, efforts to directly transpose a development model from an established district are likely to be ineffective.

Emerging innovative networks and milieux: the case of the furniture industry in the Lahti region of Finland

Abstract A crisis might be a start for something new. Loss of competitive edge in a major Finnish furniture industry agglomeration was observed in connection with the downward trends on the domestic market. This, combined with severe recession, was reflected in bankruptcies and job loss. Many advantages of the agglomeration were not utilized, partly because of distant or arms‐length relations between different actors in the local milieu. During the recession, the value of the closer relationships was discovered, whereas the processes to unlearn some old institutions have only just begun. These processes of innovative network development, as well as problems and prospects connected to them, are analyzed in this article.

Balancing Competitiveness and Cohesion in Regional Innovation Policy: The Case of Finland

This article sheds light on the relationship and tension between competitiveness and cohesion as undercurrents and continuous causes of controversies in the regional innovation policy. The in-built problems in regional innovation policy that emerge because this policy is essentially a synthesis of different policies with different rationales are contemplated. Empirically, this article outlines the main phases of evolution and drivers of development in the Finnish regional innovation policy. It also discusses the recent developments from the perspective of regional (and national) competitiveness and cohesion nexus. These empirical outlines are then used to feed the views back into the discussion on a more theoretical level.

Internationalising business services and the national innovation system: The Finnish business services sector in a European comparison

The business services sector is often neglected in assessing the capacities of innovation systems although its role may be crucial in transferring business knowledge between firms and industries. This paper presents a statistical comparative tool on the significance and level of internationalisation of the business services sector and deploys it by comparing the EU15 countries with a special focus on Finland. The outcomes show a considerable variation between the European national economies and indicate that Finland has a relatively weakly developed business services sector. The paper then discusses factors that affect the growth and internationalisation of a national business services sector.

Transnationalizing innovation systems by transplanting innovation platforms

The feasibility of the concept of a national innovation system (NIS) in the globalizing world had already been questioned in its early days and recently long-time advocates of the NIS approach have also raised their doubts. Along with more traditional facilitating policy model, we propose conceptually platform-based policy models with four subcategories that can be considered as appropriate in relation to innovation policies that intend to deal with an increasing rate of border-crossing innovation activities. Building on the views of system and governance failure, we also argue that a community-oriented approach might provide more systemic and hence more efficient and self-sustaining linkages between regional innovation systems that are located in different countries. We will introduce some recent policy measures from the Nordic countries, especially from Finland but also from Denmark, in order to link the conceptual discussion to real-life policies. The purpose is by no means narrowly restricted to an empirical categorization of the Nordic cases, but to outline stylized policy models related to the internationalization of an innovation system that could be applied more generally when designing or analysing policies.

Service competitiveness and cohesion: an introduction to the special issue

This is an introduction to the special issue on service competitiveness and cohesion, based on the outcomes of the XVII RESER Conference in Tampere, Finland, 13–15 September 2007. It shows the rich diversity of research across Europe and the rest of the world but more importantly, such research helps to inform the policy debates about economic growth, productivity and competitiveness in an increasingly turbulent global economy.

Transformation of regional innovation policies: from ‘traditional’ to ‘next generation’ models of incubation

ABSTRACT This paper explores a widely employed instrument of regional innovation policy: the innovation incubator. It proposes that incubation approaches are moving away from a ‘traditional’ approach strongly premised on physical infrastructure and high-technology, to a more interactive, participatory and social mode of innovation, in line with broader developments in innovation policy and theory. To practically illustrate this shift, we take two cases: a ‘traditional’ style of incubation in Wales, UK, and a ‘next generation’ incubation programme in Finland. This paper reflects on incubators as a mode of regional innovation policy, both past developments and future trends, to ensure that new policies and programmes learn from best (and indeed, worst) practice and build on, rather than replicate, past approaches.

Open Innovation Platforms as a Knowledge Triangle Policy Tool – Evidence from Finland

Open innovation platforms (OIPs) as a new tool fostering the convergence of innovation, education, and research activities have been gaining popularity over the course of recent years. Innovative activities are evolving towards more agile and user-driven processes. OIPs are the key mechanism for orchestrating these processes, providing a qualitatively new space for the interactions between science, education, and innovation. Platform actors have the opportunity to share knowledge and use the urban environment as a ‘living lab’. Using the case of Tampere (Finland), the paper explores OIPs’ role in the orchestration of joint innovation projects within the framework of the ‘smart city’ model. The functions of the platforms in coordinating innovation are illustrated by the practices of three universities implementing the ‘knowledge triangle’ strategy. The initial data for the analysis of the cases were collected within the framework of the Six Cities Strategy project. The authors were guided by a participatory action research (PAR) approach and directly participated in events aimed at the development of strategy. The results of the case analysis should contribute to the evolution of the OIPs concept both from the academic and policy perspectives. The authors highlight some tentative policy implications and recommendations.

The effect of external KISA on innovation in manufacturing firms

Manufacturing firms increasingly rely on externally supplied knowledge and services, which motivate many of them to pay increased attention to external knowledge-intensive service activities (KISA). This article aims to increase understandings of how and through which mechanisms external KISA can facilitate the generation of innovations by manufacturing firms. Results from this study of Chinese manufacturing firms and KISA suggest that knowledge integration (including knowledge combination and knowledge allocation) mediates between external KISA and innovation.