Search

The aim of this paper is to test the way in which geographical proximity and technological relatedness relate to an industry's innovative output. Two mechanisms are therefore tested, namely, urbanization economies and the regional exploitation of technological relatedness. A new dataset is applied, which includes German patent applications from within the period 1995 to 2006. Four industries are considered, two of which are science-based, whereas the remaining two are specialized supplier industries. While diversity is associated with high innovative output in the specialized supplier industries, the same does not hold for science-based industries. However, both kinds of industries seem to benefit from recombinant innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue including one about networks and economic agglomerations, another one about network analysis application in innovation studies, and one on innovation and entrepreneurship.

There is manifold literature dealing with co-operative activities of firms. However, no empirical study seems to have investigated the factors leading to malfunctions in co-operation projects in terms of a low likelihood of co-operation, low rate of success, and failed co-operation. Our paper attempts to fill this gap by investigating the possible presence of two problems in co-operation: the lack of intermediation and of reciprocity. Based on data gathered for firms in two German regions and one French region, we find that the success of co-operation projects depends on the perceived importance, rather than on the perceived quality, of intermediate actors. Hence, the major problem for intermediating suitable partners is more related to communication than it is a programmatic issue. Trust and reciprocity in co-operation between firms is found to be relevant ex-post in the sense of being a main determinant of failed co-operation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]