Introduction: geography, open innovation and entrepreneurship

Innovations are generated by two types of economic agents: incumbent firms and entrepreneurs. This chapter discusses two specific but interrelated aspects of innovation by these two types of economic actors, namely the role of geography, that is, the location of economic agents, and of open innovation. A successful innovation process is usually an open process, where valuable ideas, knowledge and resources can come from both inside and outside the economic agent. This leads to two fundamental questions: how does openness influence the ability of incumbents and potential entrepreneurs to innovate and to appropriate the benefits of innovation? And how is this ability influenced by the location of incumbents and potential entrepreneurs? By discussing these factors in this introductory chapter, we create a background and a foundation for the rest of the chapters in this edited volume.