When local interaction does not suffice: Sources of firm innovation in urban Norway

Rune Fitjar and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

No 2011-05, Working Papers from Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales

Abstract: The geographical sources of innovation of firms have been hotly debated. While the traditional view is that physical proximity within city-regions is key for the innovative capacity of firms, the literature on 'global pipelines' has been stressing the importance of establishing communication channels to the outside world. This paper uses a specifically tailored survey of the level of innovation of 1604 firms of more than 10 employees located in the five largest Norwegian city-regions (Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, and Kristiansand) in order to determine a) the geographical dimension of the sources of innovation and b) the factors behind the propensity to innovate in Norwegian firms. The results stress that while interaction with a multitude of partners within Norwegian city-regions or with other national partners has a negligible effect on firm innovation, those firms with a greater diversity of international partners tend to innovate more and introduce more radical innovations. The results also highlight that the roots of this greater innovative capacity lie in a combination of firm – size of firms, share of foreign ownership, and sector – and cultural – the level of open-mindedness of managers – characteristics.

Keywords: Innovation; radical innovation; interaction; pipelines; partnerships; firms; city-regions; Norway (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-02-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-ino, nep-sbm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (102)

Published in Environment and Planning A 43(6), June 2011: 1248-1267

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Related works:
Chapter: When local interaction does not suffice: sources of firm innovation in urban Norway (2014)
Journal Article: When Local Interaction Does Not Suffice: Sources of Firm Innovation in Urban Norway (2011)
Working Paper: When local interaction does not suffice: Sources of firm innovation in urban Norway (2011)
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