Dirk Fornahl – författare

The purpose of this volume is to analyze the microfoundations of knowledge spillovers. The microeconomic analysis of spillovers leads to the insight that the spillover and flow of knowledge is not at all automatic. Instead, this volume suggests that a filter exists between knowledge and its economic application. The focus of this volume is on several key mechanisms that serve to reduce this filter and facilitate the flow of knowledge. In particular, the volume draws on an emerging literature identifying the role of knowledge spillovers to investigate significance of labor mobility and informal networks as mechanisms facilitating the flow of knowledge.

No field in economics has dealt extensively with the microeconomics of knowledge spillovers. This volume brings together scholars from a broad spectrum of fields including labor economics, regional economics, the economics of innovation and technological change, and sociology to introduce new insights yielded from the microfoundations of knowledge spillovers.

Bringing together a team of skilled contributors, Beyond Innovation Hotspots demonstrates the importance of context-specific policy responses and effective institutional frameworks to enhance regional development. Chapters examine key case studies from Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany and Central Europe, to illustrate the complexity and diversity of challenges faced by different regions and the strategies used to address them. Particular attention is paid to the question of how clusters and cluster policies can help these regions to maintain or regain their competitiveness in the face of the twin changes of digitalisation and sustainability.

Scholars and students of cluster policy research, economic geography, entrepreneurship, urban and regional economics, and technological change and innovation will find the book a crucial resource. It is also beneficial to regional policymakers and practitioners looking to design, implement and evaluate their own strategies. Additionally, local stakeholders in clusters can use the lessons in this book for the development of their own organisations.

Although clusters are regarded as important elements in economic development, the strong focus in the literature on the way clusters function is contrasted with a disregard for their evolutionary development: how clusters actually become clusters, how and why they decline, and how they shift into new fields and transform over time. Although recently new cluster life cycle approaches emerged, both empirical evidence and theoretical contributions on this topic are still limited. This book therefore contributes to broadening our knowledge on the life cycle and evolution of clusters both empirically and theoretically. It contains chapters on inter-firm relations as drivers of cluster transformation, as well as chapters on the heterogeneity of firms and firm capabilities during cluster evolution and on the role of institutions in stimulating the emergence and growth of clusters. Case-studies stem from different industries and technologies, such as biogas, film and television, new media and medical technologies, and from different countries, such as Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and South Korea. All chapters underline that cluster evolution does not only depend on internal dynamics, but that external relations are an integral part of cluster dynamics. This book was previously published as a special issue of European Planning Studies.

Although clusters are regarded as important elements in economic development, the strong focus in the literature on the way clusters function is contrasted with a disregard for their evolutionary development: how clusters actually become clusters, how and why they decline, and how they shift into new fields and transform over time. Although recently new cluster life cycle approaches emerged, both empirical evidence and theoretical contributions on this topic are still limited. This book therefore contributes to broadening our knowledge on the life cycle and evolution of clusters both empirically and theoretically. It contains chapters on inter-firm relations as drivers of cluster transformation, as well as chapters on the heterogeneity of firms and firm capabilities during cluster evolution and on the role of institutions in stimulating the emergence and growth of clusters. Case-studies stem from different industries and technologies, such as biogas, film and television, new media and medical technologies, and from different countries, such as Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and South Korea. All chapters underline that cluster evolution does not only depend on internal dynamics, but that external relations are an integral part of cluster dynamics. This book was previously published as a special issue of European Planning Studies.

This state-of-the-art exploration of smart specialization from a cluster life cycle perspective is an invaluable book for academics in the fields of economic geography, entrepreneurship, innovation, industrial economics, regional studies and cluster research. It will also appeal to regional policy makers and practitioners dealing with public policy.

Contributors include: Y. Al-Saleh, B.T. Asheim, A. Auer, M. Benner, P. Cooke, D. Fornahl, J.K. Fosse, M. Fromhold-Eisebith, M. Grillitsch, R. Hassink, A. Isaksen, K. Koschatzky, H. Kroll, T. Lämmer-Gamp, B. Lageman, S. Mahroum, R. Martin, G. Meier zu Köcker, J. Nordhause-Janz, R. Normann, R. Ramlogan, D. Rehfeld, M. Rothgang, E. Schnab, T. Stahlecker, F. Tödtling, M. Trippl, E. Uyarra, J. Vicente

Chapters discuss the link between localization in a regional cluster in a transition economy and firms’ internationalization, the internal/external relationships of clusters and radical innovations, and internationally organized resilience capacities of industries and regional clusters. The book highlights the role of clusters in wider networks including global value chains and the specific role of migrants in the internationalization patterns of regional clusters.

Innovative and forward-looking, this book will be a helpful read for scholars and students of economic geography and innovation. The critical case studies examined will also help public policy and regional policy-makers.

The contributors offer a broad spectrum of conceptual perspectives and empirical case studies on the regional factors and policies required for economic growth. They discuss the link between new clusters and established regional paths, the generation of institutions and endogenous dynamics, and the patterns of emergence and growth of successful clusters. A number of important questions are addressed, including: •

Filling a gap in the literature on the actual genesis of clusters, this path-breaking book will prove a fascinating read for academics focusing on economics, geography, entrepreneurship, technological change and innovation, and regional studies.