Nothing is in the air

Rune Fitjar and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

No 1602, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: It has often been argued that ‘there is something in the air’ which makes firms in high-density environments – such as cities or clusters – more innovative. The co-location of firms facilitates the emergence of serendipity and casual encounters which promote innovation in firms. We assess this hypothesis using data from a survey of Norwegian firms engaged in innovation partnerships. The results indicate that there may be ‘much less in the air’ than is generally assumed in the literature. The relationships conducive to innovation by Norwegian firms emerged as a consequence of purpose-built searches and had little to do with chance, serendipity, or ‘being there’.

Keywords: Innovation; tacit knowledge; agglomeration; externalities; spillovers; firms; Norway. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-01, Revised 2016-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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http://econ.geo.uu.nl/peeg/peeg1602.pdf Version February 2016 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Nothing is in the Air (2017)
Working Paper: Nothing is in the air (2017)
Working Paper: Nothing is in the air (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egu:wpaper:1602

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