Spatiality of Innovation and Duration of Industrial Agglomerations

Abstract

This paper focuses on the spatial dimensions of innovation (local, national, and supranational). By reviewing the debates about innovation in economic geography, the following findings are obtained. First, we adopt the "milieu" - external environment, which facilitates an informal knowledge flow - as a spatial unit, in order to elucidate local innovation systems. The existing study of national innovation systems emphasizes the framework of the national state. The concepts of proximity and the knowledge pipeline are important for investigating nonlocal and external inter-organizational relations. On the other hand, institutional settings, such as own national history and culture, play a critical role in knowledge transfer in the supranational or global systems of innovation. Second, this paper discusses the forms of knowledge base (analytical, synthetic, and symbolic) and the period of duration of industrial agglomerations (temporary or permanent), in order to present an analytical framework of the knowledge types that lead innovation. We suggest that innovation process in each industry depends on the characteristics of its own knowledge base. In addition, both local knowledge sources, such as highly skilled labor, and the non-local knowledge flow support the durable development of industrial agglomerations.