IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/lucirc/2015_008.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Imitate, or innovate and collaborate? On innovation strategy choices in the urban economy

Author

Listed:
  • Herstad, Sverre J.

    (NIFU Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education)

Abstract

This paper explores how the innovation strategies of firms reflect the density, diversity and connectivity of their urban locations. Firms located outside the four large-city regions of Norway are generally more committed to development work than are their urban counterparts. Still, once engaged, firms in certain large-city locations exhibit unique preferences towards geographically dispersed collaboration that are most pronounced within the Western business district of the Capital. This shows that firm-level decisions along interconnected activity dimensions must be considered in order for different strategy choices, and the interdependencies between them that are an essential feature of urban economies, are to be revealed. The study provides new insights into the large-city region knowledge dynamics that are increasingly important to human capital formation, employment and growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Herstad, Sverre J., 2015. "Imitate, or innovate and collaborate? On innovation strategy choices in the urban economy," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/8, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.circle.lu.se/upload/CIRCLE/workingpapers/201508_Herstad.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Duranton, Gilles, 2006. "Labour pooling, labour poaching, and spatial clustering," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-28, January.
    2. Jensen, Morten Berg & Johnson, Bjorn & Lorenz, Edward & Lundvall, Bengt Ake, 2007. "Forms of knowledge and modes of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 680-693, June.
    3. Ragnhild Balsvik, 2011. "Is Labor Mobility a Channel for Spillovers from Multinationals? Evidence from Norwegian Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 285-297, February.
    4. Bernhard Dachs & Bernd Ebersberger & Andreas Pyka, 2004. "Why do Firms Co-operate for Innovation? - A comparison of Austrian and Finnish CIS 3 results," Discussion Paper Series 255, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
    5. Luis Suarez-Villa & Wallace Walrod, 1997. "Operational Strategy, R&D and Intra-metropolitan Clustering in a Polycentric Structure: The Advanced Electronics Industries of the Los Angeles Basin," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 34(9), pages 1343-1380, August.
    6. Bernd Ebersberger & Sverre J. Herstad, 2012. "Go abroad or have strangers visit? On organizational search spaces and local linkages," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 273-295, January.
    7. Dirk Czarnitzki & Bernd Ebersberger & Andreas Fier, 2007. "The relationship between R&D collaboration, subsidies and R&D performance: Empirical evidence from Finland and Germany," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 1347-1366.
    8. James D. Adams, 2002. "Comparative localization of academic and industrial spillovers," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 253-278, July.
    9. Richard Shearmur, 2012. "The Geography of Intrametropolitan KIBS Innovation: Distinguishing Agglomeration Economies from Innovation Dynamics," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(11), pages 2331-2356, November.
    10. Ron Boschma & Simona Iammarino, 2009. "Related Variety, Trade Linkages, and Regional Growth in Italy," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(3), pages 289-311, July.
    11. Alexander Oettl & Ajay Agrawal, 2008. "International labor mobility and knowledge flow externalities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(8), pages 1242-1260, December.
    12. B. Ebersberger & S. J. Herstad & C. Koller, 2014. "Does the composition of regional knowledge bases influence extra-regional collaboration for innovation?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 201-204, February.
    13. Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2013. "Firm collaboration and modes of innovation in Norway," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 128-138.
    14. Tether, Bruce S., 2002. "Who co-operates for innovation, and why: An empirical analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 947-967, August.
    15. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    16. Michael Fritsch, 2003. "Does R&D-Cooperation Behavior Differ between Regions?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 25-39.
    17. Ron Boschma & Rikard Eriksson & Urban Lindgren, 2009. "How does labour mobility affect the performance of plants? The importance of relatedness and geographical proximity," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 169-190, March.
    18. Frenz, Marion & Ietto-Gillies, Grazia, 2009. "The impact on innovation performance of different sources of knowledge: Evidence from the UK Community Innovation Survey," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 1125-1135, September.
    19. Tammy L. Madsen & Elaine Mosakowski & Srilata Zaheer, 2003. "Knowledge Retention and Personnel Mobility: The Nondisruptive Effects of Inflows of Experience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 173-191, April.
    20. Strand, Øivind & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2013. "Where is synergy indicated in the Norwegian innovation system? Triple-Helix relations among technology, organization, and geography," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 471-484.
    21. Koen Frenken & Frank Van Oort & Thijs Verburg, 2007. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Economic Growth," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 685-697.
    22. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2002. "R&D Cooperation and Spillovers: Some Empirical Evidence from Belgium," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1169-1184, September.
    23. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    24. Gabriel Robertstad G. Benito & Jorma Larimo & Rajneesh Narula & Torben Pedersen, 2009. "Multinational Enterprises from Small Economies: The Internationalization Patterns of Large Companies from Denmark, Finland and Norway," Chapters, in: Daniel Van Den Bulcke & Alain Verbeke & Wenlong Yuan (ed.), Handbook on Small Nations in the Global Economy, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    25. Bernd Ebersberger & Carter Bloch & Sverre J. Herstad & Els Van De Velde, 2012. "Open Innovation Practices And Their Effect On Innovation Performance," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(06), pages 1-23.
    26. Peter J. Lane & Michael Lubatkin, 1998. "Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning," Post-Print hal-02311860, HAL.
    27. Asheim, Bjørn & Coenen, Lars & Moodysson, Jerker & Vang, Jan, 2005. "Regional Innovation System Policy: a Knowledge-based Approach," Papers in Innovation Studies 2005/13, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    28. P. N. O'Farrell & J. Zheng & P. A. Wood, 1996. "Internationalization of Business Services: An Interregional Analysis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 101-118.
    29. Peter Teirlinck & Andre Spithoven, 2008. "The Spatial Organization of Innovation: Open Innovation, External Knowledge Relations and Urban Structure," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 689-704.
    30. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    31. Gina Dokko & Lori Rosenkopf, 2010. "Social Capital for Hire? Mobility of Technical Professionals and Firm Influence in Wireless Standards Committees," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 677-695, June.
    32. J. Scott Long & Jeremy Freese, 2006. "Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata, 2nd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 2, number long2, March.
    33. Richard Williams, 2006. "Generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models for ordinal dependent variables," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(1), pages 58-82, March.
    34. Heidi Wiig Aslesen & Stig‐Erik Jakobsen, 2007. "The Role Of Proximity And Knowledge Interaction Between Head Offices And Kibs," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 98(2), pages 188-201, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sverre J Herstad, 2018. "Innovation strategy choices in the urban economy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(6), pages 1185-1202, May.
    2. Sverre Herstad & Øyvind Pålshaugen & Bernd Ebersberger, 2011. "Industrial Innovation Collaboration in a Capital Region Context," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 2(4), pages 507-532, December.
    3. Herstad, Sverre J. & Sandven, Tore & Ebersberger, Bernd, 2015. "Recruitment, knowledge integration and modes of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 138-153.
    4. Sverre J. Herstad, 2018. "Beyond ‘related variety’: how inflows of skills shape innovativeness in different industries," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 396-420, February.
    5. Herstad, Sverre J. & Aslesen, Heidi Wiig & Ebersberger, Bernd, 2014. "On industrial knowledge bases, commercial opportunities and global innovation network linkages," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 495-504.
    6. J. Herstad , Sverre & Ebersberger , Bernd & Asheim, Bjørn, 2013. "MNC affiliation, knowledge bases and involvement in global innovation networks," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/12, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    7. Martin, Roman & Wiig Aslesen, Heidi & Grillitsch, Markus & Herstad, Sverre, 2017. "Regional Innovation Systems and Global Flows of Knowledge," Papers in Innovation Studies 2017/7, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Lars Coenen & Bjørn Asheim & Markus M Bugge & Sverre J Herstad, 2017. "Advancing regional innovation systems: What does evolutionary economic geography bring to the policy table?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(4), pages 600-620, June.
    9. Marte C.W. Solheim & Ron Boschma & Sverre Herstad, 2018. "Related variety, unrelated variety and the novelty content of firm innovation in urban and non-urban locations," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1836, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2018.
    10. Martijn J. Smit, 2017. "Innovation through new blood," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 58(3), pages 543-578, May.
    11. Asheim, Bjørn & M. Bugge, Markus & Coenen, Lars & Herstad, Sverre, 2013. "What Does Evolutionary Economic Geography Bring To The Policy Table? Reconceptualising regional innovation systems," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/5, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    12. Solheim, Marte C.W. & Boschma, Ron & Herstad, Sverre J., 2020. "Collected worker experiences and the novelty content of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    13. Ron Boschma & Rikard H. Eriksson & Urban Lindgren, 2014. "Labour Market Externalities and Regional Growth in Sweden: The Importance of Labour Mobility between Skill-Related Industries," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(10), pages 1669-1690, October.
    14. Owusu Sarpong & Peter Teirlinck, 2018. "The influence of functional and geographical diversity in collaboration on product innovation performance in SMEs," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1667-1695, December.
    15. Herstad , Sverre J. & Sandven , Tore, 2015. "Innovation and corporate employment growth revisited," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/3, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    16. Parrilli, Mario Davide & Alcalde Heras, Henar, 2016. "STI and DUI innovation modes: Scientific-technological and context-specific nuances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 747-756.
    17. Henar Alcalde & Maribel Guerrero, 2016. "Open business models in entrepreneurial stages: evidence from young Spanish firms during expansionary and recessionary periods," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 393-413, June.
    18. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Manuela Gussoni, 2009. "The determinants of inter-firms R&D cooperation and partner selection. A literature overview," Discussion Papers 2009/86, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    20. Spyros Arvanitis, 2009. "How do different motives for R&D cooperation affect firm performance?," KOF Working papers 09-233, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    urbanization; innovation; collaboration; knowledge dynamics; Norway;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_008. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Torben Schubert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/circlse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.