Developing biotech products, making cars, creating video games: Disentangling knowledge bases in three German regions

This dissertation applies the knowledge base concept (KBC) in order to scrutinize industry-specific processes of knowledge formation and innovation in a spatial perspective. Three knowledge bases are to be distinguished from each other: analytical (science based); synthetic (engineering based); and symbolic (creativity based). The book elaborates a fine-grained picture of the KBC within a wider theoretical context. Moreover, it provides empirical insights into the underlying knowledge base configurations of three regional industries in Germany, that is, the biotechnology industry in the Aachen Technology Region, the automotive industry in Southwest Saxony, and the video game development industry in Hamburg. Further considerations refer to the potentials and limits of the KBC as a tool for policy formulation, which is closely connected to the issue of operationalization. The last chapter also raises a number of questions for future research that is going to deal with knowledge bases.