Regional Knowledge and the Emergence of an Industry: Laser Systems Production in West Germany, 1975Ð2005

Guido Buenstorf, Michael Fritsch () and Luis Medrano ()

No 1016, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: We analyze the emergence and spatial evolution of the German laser systems industry. Regional knowledge in the related field of laser sources, as well as the presence of universities with physics or engineering departments, is conducive to the emergence of laser systems suppliers. The regional presence of source producers is also positively related to entry into laser systems. One important mechanism behind regional entry is the diversification of upstream laser source producers into the downstream systems market. Entry into the materials processing submarket appears to be unrelated to academic knowledge in the region, but the presence of laser source producers and the regional stock of laser knowledge are still highly predictive in this submarket.

Keywords: Innovation; regional knowledge; laser technology; emerging industries; diversification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L22 L69 O52 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2010-11, Revised 2010-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-geo, nep-knm, nep-tid and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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http://econ.geo.uu.nl/peeg/peeg1016.pdf Version November 2010 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Regional Knowledge and the Emergence of an Industry: Laser Systems Production in West Germany, 1975-2005 (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egu:wpaper:1016

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