Ron Boschma

Related Variety, Trade Linkages, and Regional Growth in Italy

Abstract This article presents estimates of the impact of regional variety and trade linkages on regional economic growth by means of export and import data by Italian province (NUTS 3) and sector (three-digit) for the period 1995–2003. Our results show strong evidence that related variety contributes to regional economic growth. Thus, Italian regions that are well endowed with sectors that are complementary in terms of competences (i.e., that show related variety) perform better. The article also assesses the effects of the breadth and relatedness of international trade linkages on regional growth, since they may bring new and related variety to a region. Our analysis demonstrates that regional growth is not affected by simply being well connected to the outside world or having a high variety of knowledge flowing into the region. Rather, we found evidence of related extraregional knowledge sparking intersectoral learning across regions. When the cognitive proximity between the extraregional knowledge and the knowledge base of a region is neither too small nor too large, real learning opportunities are present, and the external knowledge contributes to growth in regional employment.

Knowledge Networks and Innovative Performance in an Industrial District: The Case of a Footwear District in the South of Italy

The traditional district literature tends to assume that: (1) the competitiveness of firms depends on external sources of knowledge; (2) all firms in a district benefit from knowledge externalities; (3) relying on external knowledge relationships necessarily means these are confined to the district area. Our case study of the Barletta footwear district in the South of Italy suggests otherwise. Based on social network analysis, we demonstrate that the local knowledge network is quite weak and unevenly distributed among the local firms. A strong local network position of a firm tended to increase their innovative performance, and so did their connectivity to extra‐local firms. So, it mattered being connected either locally or non‐locally: being co‐located was surely not enough. Having a high absorptive capacity seemed to raise only indirectly, through non‐local relationships, the innovative performance of firms.

How Do Regions Diversify over Time? Industry Relatedness and the Development of New Growth Paths in Regions

Abstract The question of how new regional growth paths emerge has been raised by many leading economic geographers. From an evolutionary perspective, there are strong reasons to believe that regions are most likely to branch into industries that are technologically related to the preexisting industries in the regions. Using a new indicator of technological relatedness between manufacturing industries, we analyzed the economic evolution of 70 Swedish regions from 1969 to 2002 with detailed plant-level data. Our analyses show that the long-term evolution of the economic landscape in Sweden is subject to strong path dependencies. Industries that were technologically related to the preexisting industries in a region had a higher probability of entering that region than did industries that were technologically unrelated to the region’s preexisting industries. These industries had a higher probability of exiting that region. Moreover, the industrial profiles of Swedish regions showed a high degree of technological cohesion. Despite substantial structural change, this cohesion was persistent over time. Our methodology also proved useful when we focused on the economic evolution of one particular region. Our analysis indicates that the Linköping region increased its industrial cohesion over 30 years because of the entry of industries that were closely related to its regional portfolio and the exit of industries that were technologically peripheral. In summary, we found systematic evidence that the rise and fall of industries is strongly conditioned by industrial relatedness at the regional level.

Towards an Evolutionary Perspective on Regional Resilience

Boschma R. Towards an evolutionary perspective on regional resilience, Regional Studies. This paper proposes an evolutionary perspective on regional resilience. It conceptualizes resilience not just as the ability of a region to accommodate shocks, but extends it to the long-term ability of regions to develop new growth paths. A comprehensive view on regional resilience is proposed in which history is key to understand how regions develop new growth paths, and in which industrial, network and institutional dimensions of resilience come together. Resilient regions are capable of overcoming a trade-off between adaptation and adaptability, as embodied in related and unrelated variety, loosely coupled networks and loosely coherent institutional structures.

The Spatial Evolution of Innovation Networks: A Proximity Perspective

We propose an evolutionary perspective on the geography of network formation that is grounded in a dynamic proximity framework. In doing so, we root the proximity concept in an evolutionary approach to the geography of innovation networks. We discuss three topics. The first topic focuses on explaining the structure of networks. The second topic concentrates on explaining the effects of networks on the performance of actors. The third topic deals with the changing role of proximity dimensions in the formation and performance of innovation networks in the longer run.

Creative Class and Regional Growth: Empirical Evidence from Seven European Countries: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Abstract This article analyzes the regional distribution and economic effect of the “creative class” on the basis of a unique data set that covers more than 500 regions in 7 European countries. The creative class is unevenly geographically distributed across Europe; the analyses show that a regional climate of tolerance and openness has a strong and positive effect on a region’s share of these people. Regional job opportunities also have a large effect on the size of a region’s population of the creative class. The findings reveal some evidence of a positive relationship among creative class occupation, employment growth, and entrepreneurship at the regional level in a number of European countries. On the basis of the analysis, however, it is not clear whether human capital, measured by creative occupation, outperforms indicators that are based on formal education, or if formal education has the stronger effect.

The Emergence of New Industries at the Regional Level in Spain: A Proximity Approach Based on Product Relatedness.

abstract How do regions diversify over time? Inspired by recent studies, we argue that regions diversify into industries that make use of capabilities in which regions are specialized. Since the spread of capabilities occurs through mechanisms that have a strong regional bias, we expect that capabilities that are available at the regional level play a larger role than do capabilities that are available at the country level for the development of new industries. To test this hypothesis, we analyze the emergence of new industries in 50 S panish regions at the NUTS 3 level in the period 1988–2008. We calculate the capability-distance between new export products and existing export products in S panish regions and provide econometric evidence that regions tend to diversify into new industries that use similar capabilities as existing industries in these regions. We show that proximity to the regional industrial structure plays a much larger role in the emergence of new industries in regions than does proximity to the national industrial structure. This finding suggests that capabilities at the regional level enable the development of new industries.

Proximity and Innovation: From Statics to Dynamics

Balland P.-A., Boschma R. and Frenken K. Proximity and innovation: from statics to dynamics, Regional Studies. Despite theoretical and empirical advances, the proximity framework has remained essentially static. A dynamic extension of the proximity framework is proposed that accounts for co-evolutionary dynamics between knowledge networking and proximity. For each proximity dimension, how proximities might increase over time as a result of past knowledge ties is described. These dynamics are captured through the processes of learning (cognitive proximity), integration (organizational proximity), decoupling (social proximity), institutionalization (institutional proximity), and agglomeration (geographical proximity). The paper ends with a discussion of several avenues for future research on the dynamics of knowledge networking and proximity.

Editorial: Role of Proximity in Interaction and Performance: Conceptual and Empirical Challenges

PROXIMITY: CONCEPTUAL AND associated with business travel. Others almost exclude the possibility that effective transfer of tacit knowledge EMPIRICAL CHALLENGES can be accomplished at a geographical distance In scientific fields such as organization studies, innova(M , 2004). They claim that organizational and tion studies and regional studies, there is an awareness physical proximities are closely intertwined. As such, that proximity contributes to economic interaction and both dimensions of proximity are regarded as essential performance (e.g. A and W, 1999). for interactive learning and innovation. Proximity is often put forward as a sort of ‘umbrella’ These are some of the conceptual and empirical concept that consists of various dimensions, such as challenges that are addressed in this special issue. First, cognitive, physical, organizational and institutional conceptualizations of proximity are needed that proximity (T and G, 2000). Defined that account for its various dimensions and make it possible broadly, the notion of proximity draws attention to to distinguish these dimensions analytically. Assessing different bases for interaction between agents: ecothe importance of proximity for interaction and innovanomic agents can build on various dimensions of proxtion, a multidisciplinary approach is required, i.e. one imity when trying to coordinate their actions and needs to bring together different bodies of literature improve their economic performance. Even more from different scientific disciplines. It is hard to imagine interesting, it asks the question whether these bases for that researchers can state something useful on this interaction differ in different socio-economic contexts issue without knowing about how economic agents in space and time. coordinate their actions (building on insights from Economic geographers have embraced the concept industrial organization and institutional economics), of proximity because it might throw light on the how agents communicate and learn (cognitive question whether geographical proximity is a presciences), and how co-location might benefit local requisite for interactive learning and innovation (e.g. actors (geographical sciences). Without exception, the H , 2002). To what degree need actors operate contributors in this special issue have all adopted such and interact in actual (and lasting) physical proximity a multidisciplinary approach on proximity. in order to produce ‘proximity effects’, such as innovaAnother challenge for research is the need for more tion? In providing an answer to that key question, it dynamic approaches. Taking an evolutionary perspecproves relevant to account for the other dimensions of tive, one can account for the fact that proximities may proximity because these may serve as substitutes, but emerge, develop and disappear (B, 2004), and also as complements to geographical proximity. For that the different dimensions of proximity not only instance, there is an ongoing debate whether organizamight reinforce each other, but also might act as tional proximity might be a substitute for geographical substitutes over time. Instead, many studies on proxproximity as a means of transferring tacit knowledge. imity and innovation have been analysed from a statistic Some challenge the idea that geographical proximity perspective. However, a static approach is unlikely to matters almost automatically in this respect (B increase one’s understanding of whether clusters require and L , 2002). For instance, they emphasize the a whole range of different proximities to become selfimportance of ‘communities of practice’ that produce, sustaining, or just a few of them, and whether different acquire and diffuse knowledge through the use of combinations of proximity may be relevant in different stages of their development. digital technologies and ‘temporary’ physical proximity

The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography

This aim of this paper is to present the objectives and scope of an evolutionary approach to economic geography. We argue that the goal is not only to utilise the concepts and ideas from evolutionary economics (and evolutionary thinking more broadly) to help interpret and explain how the economic landscape changes over historical time, but also to reveal how situating the economy in space adds to our understanding of the processes that drive economic evolution, that is to say, to demonstrate how geography matters in determining the nature and trajectory of evolution of the economic system. We will argue that evolutionary economic geography is concerned with the spatialities of economic novelty; with how the spatial structures of the economy emerge from the micro-behaviours of economic agents; with how, in the absence of central coordination or direction, the economic landscape exhibits self-organisation; and with how the processes of path creation and path dependence interact to shape geographies of economic development and transformation, and why and how such processes may themselves be place dependent. Economic transformation proceeds differently in different places, and the mechanisms involved neither originate nor operate evenly across space. Our concern is both with the ways in which the forces making for economic change, adaptation and novelty shape and reshape the geographies of wealth creation, work and welfare, and with how the spatial structures and features so produced themselves feed back to influence the forces driving economic evolution. In the final part, we summarize a number of papers that have contributed to evolutionary economic geography, and which will be published in The Handbook on Evolutionary Economic Geography that is edited by the two authors, and forthcoming at Edward Elgar.