Innovation in symbolic industries: the geography and organisation of knowledge sourcing

Roman Martin and Jerker Moodysson

No 2010/7, Papers in Innovation Studies from Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research

Abstract: This paper deals with geographical and organisational patterns of knowledge flows in the media industry of southern Sweden, an industry that is characterised by a strong ‘symbolic’ knowledge base. Aim is to address the question of the local versus the non-local as the prime arena for knowledge exchange, and to examine the organisational patterns of knowledge sourcing with specific attention paid to the nature of the knowledge sourced. Symbolic industries draw heavily on creative production and a cultural awareness that is strongly embedded in the local context; thus knowledge flows and networks are expected to be most of all locally configured, and firms to rely on informal knowledge sources rather than scientific knowledge or principles. Based on structured and semi-structured interviews with firm representatives, these assumptions are empirically assessed through social network analysis and descriptive statistics. Our findings show that firms rely above all on knowledge that is generated in project work through learning-by-doing and by interaction with other firms in localised networks. The analysis contributes to transcending the binary arguments on the role of geography for knowledge exchange which tend to dominate the innovation studies literature.

Keywords: knowledge base; cultural industry; regional innovation system; network analysis; Sweden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2010-02-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-ino, nep-knm, nep-net, nep-sbm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Innovation in Symbolic Industries: The Geography and Organization of Knowledge Sourcing (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2010_007

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