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In the innovation and development literature, natural resources ( NR) are generally viewed as a curse for developing nations and NR-based industries as having little potential to innovate and drive long-term growth. This has led policy and development experts to opt for strategies to induce a shift in the pattern of specialization towards other sectors. This paper proposes a different approach. By exploring recent evidence from the Argentinean agricultural sector and the mining industry in Chile, it points to the window of opportunity that NR industries offer as a platform to develop knowledge intensive industries with which to support economic development in resource-endowed countries. The lessons drawn from these findings suggest that development strategies can also promote more innovative knowledge intensive NR-based industries rather than moving away from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the spatial concentration patterns of innovation in science-based industries in the Netherlands. Using patents as an indicator for innovation we show that science-based industries have a relatively high level of spatial concentration compared to other technologies. In order to understand spatial patterns of innovation, insights into specific spatial and market characteristics of these technologies appears necessary. This is illustrated by the large influence of the Royal Philips Electronics NV on the spatial pattern of innovation in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses spatial patterns of innovation and partnership in innovation processes in the Netherlands, building on the Netherlands’ part of the Community Innovation Survey, conducted by Statistics Netherlands. Innovation is analysed from a system perspective, addressing both input factors (education levels of human resources and R&D), throughput factors (partnership with regionally, nationally and internationally based partners) and output factors (results in terms of the launching of new products on the market and/or the implementation of new processes in production). Our descriptive analyses at detailed spatial levels (four-digit postal code areas) provide indications that the relation between input factors and results of innovation processes is highly differentiated across regions. Furthermore, international connectivity seems to be strongly connected to the results of innovation processes, whereas the relation between regional clustering and innovative output appears rather weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses spatial patterns of innovation and partnership in innovation processes in the Netherlands, building on the Netherlands’ part of the Community Innovation Survey, conducted by Statistics Netherlands. Innovation is analysed from a system perspective, addressing both input factors (education levels of human resources and R&D), throughput factors (partnership with regionally, nationally and internationally based partners) and output factors (results in terms of the launching of new products on the market and/or the implementation of new processes in production). Our descriptive analyses at detailed spatial levels (four-digit postal code areas) provide indications that the relation between input factors and results of innovation processes is highly differentiated across regions. Furthermore, international connectivity seems to be strongly connected to the results of innovation processes, whereas the relation between regional clustering and innovative output appears rather weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study investigates the effect of different cultural dimensions on different innovation indicators covering as many EU countries and neighbouring countries as possible. The measures of cultural dimensions were composed on the basis of the EVS/WVS data with the help of confirmatory factor analysis. Correlation, regression, graphical and cluster analyses were used. It was confirmed that innovation processes are strongly reliant on culture: power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity turned out to be negatively and individualism positively related to innovation performance. The final innovation performance may develop on the basis of the combined effect of the four cultural dimensions that may or may not balance each other in a particular country. Hence, the Culture Index was calculated on the basis of the four cultural dimensions and it appeared to explain the differences in innovation performance between different countries quite well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study uses a variety of indicators such as patent grants, new product sales and R&D spending to examine the spatial patterns of industrial innovation in China during the 1990s. It is found that industrial innovation in China has been concentrated in the coastal areas, and the spatial concentration has been increasing in the 1990s, which is contrary to what Sun (2000) found on the patterns of all patent applications in 1985 to 1995. The study also reveals that large and medium-sized enterprises in China have experienced a switch in their modes of innovative behaviours in the late 1990s: from more spending on imported technologies to more in-house R&D; though expenditure on absorbing imported technologies has been marginal. Finally, enterprises are not well integrated with independent R&D institutes regarding their R&D efforts, which indicates that the national innovation system in China is still fragmented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]