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Principles and Practices of Knowledge Creation: On the Organization of "Buzz" and "Pipelines" in Life Science Communities

Moodysson, Jerker LU (2008) In Economic Geography 84(4). p.449-469
Abstract
This article links up with the debate in economic geography on "local buzz" and "global pipelines" as two distinct forms of interactive knowledge creation among firms and related actors and argues for a rethinking of the way social scientists should approach interactive knowledge creation. It highlights the importance of combining the insights from studies of clusters and innovation systems with an activity-oriented approach in which more attention is paid to the specific characteristics of the innovation processes and the conditions underpinning their organization. To illustrate the applicability and added value of such an alternative approach, the notion of embeddedness is linked with some basic ideas adopted from the literature on... (More)
This article links up with the debate in economic geography on "local buzz" and "global pipelines" as two distinct forms of interactive knowledge creation among firms and related actors and argues for a rethinking of the way social scientists should approach interactive knowledge creation. It highlights the importance of combining the insights from studies of clusters and innovation systems with an activity-oriented approach in which more attention is paid to the specific characteristics of the innovation processes and the conditions underpinning their organization. To illustrate the applicability and added value of such an alternative approach, the notion of embeddedness is linked with some basic ideas adopted from the literature on knowledge communities. The framework is then applied to a study of innovation activities conducted by firms and academic research groups working with biotechnology-related applications in the Swedish part of the Medicon Valley life science region. The findings reveal that local buzz is largely absent in these types of activities. Most interactive knowledge creation, which appears to be spontaneous and unregulated, is, on closer examination, found safely embedded in globally configured professional knowledge communities and attainable only by those who qualify. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Medicon Valley, embeddedness, proximity, biotechnology, innovation
in
Economic Geography
volume
84
issue
4
pages
449 - 469
publisher
Economic Geography
external identifiers
  • wos:000261791100004
  • scopus:58149472605
ISSN
0013-0095
DOI
10.1111/j.1944-8287.2008.00004.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
70cd8839-ef8c-4aed-8024-050c0eb375c5 (old id 1383932)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:40:38
date last changed
2024-01-07 16:18:46
@article{70cd8839-ef8c-4aed-8024-050c0eb375c5,
  abstract     = {{This article links up with the debate in economic geography on "local buzz" and "global pipelines" as two distinct forms of interactive knowledge creation among firms and related actors and argues for a rethinking of the way social scientists should approach interactive knowledge creation. It highlights the importance of combining the insights from studies of clusters and innovation systems with an activity-oriented approach in which more attention is paid to the specific characteristics of the innovation processes and the conditions underpinning their organization. To illustrate the applicability and added value of such an alternative approach, the notion of embeddedness is linked with some basic ideas adopted from the literature on knowledge communities. The framework is then applied to a study of innovation activities conducted by firms and academic research groups working with biotechnology-related applications in the Swedish part of the Medicon Valley life science region. The findings reveal that local buzz is largely absent in these types of activities. Most interactive knowledge creation, which appears to be spontaneous and unregulated, is, on closer examination, found safely embedded in globally configured professional knowledge communities and attainable only by those who qualify.}},
  author       = {{Moodysson, Jerker}},
  issn         = {{0013-0095}},
  keywords     = {{Medicon Valley; embeddedness; proximity; biotechnology; innovation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{449--469}},
  publisher    = {{Economic Geography}},
  series       = {{Economic Geography}},
  title        = {{Principles and Practices of Knowledge Creation: On the Organization of "Buzz" and "Pipelines" in Life Science Communities}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2008.00004.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1944-8287.2008.00004.x}},
  volume       = {{84}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}