Sites and Modes of Knowledge Creation: On the Spatial Organization of Biotechnology Innovation
(2007)- Abstract
- The accelerated speed and intensity of global interconnections in all segments of society during the last couple of decades have had a profound impact on the workings of contemporary capitalism. Increased pressure is put on national and regional economies to continuously upgrade their competitive advantages, at the same time as new learning opportunities occur at a faster rate than ever. For reasons like these, knowledge is described as the most important resource, and learning the most important process, for firms and organizations, as well as nations and regions, to become and remain competitive. In parallel with the forces of globalization there are however also strong forces of localization. Empirical studies reveal that knowledge... (More)
- The accelerated speed and intensity of global interconnections in all segments of society during the last couple of decades have had a profound impact on the workings of contemporary capitalism. Increased pressure is put on national and regional economies to continuously upgrade their competitive advantages, at the same time as new learning opportunities occur at a faster rate than ever. For reasons like these, knowledge is described as the most important resource, and learning the most important process, for firms and organizations, as well as nations and regions, to become and remain competitive. In parallel with the forces of globalization there are however also strong forces of localization. Empirical studies reveal that knowledge intensive industries tend to agglomerate in space, often in proximity to leading universities and research institutes, and several policy initiatives raised in attempts to meet the challenges of globalization are focused on promoting local knowledge spillovers between industry and academia. Observations like these intrigue geographers interested in the spatial organization of innovation and raises important questions about what is local and what is global in "the globalizing learning economy".
This study takes these observations as point of departure and develops a conceptual framework used to analyze the spatial organization of innovation in biotechnology. Biotechnology is a suitable case for such analysis since it represents a set of activities in the intersection of science and industry which displays both globalization and localization. By combining a system perspective with in-depth focus on concrete knowledge creation activities the study explains how and why knowledge interaction between firms and related actors varies with different activities embedded in the innovation processes. Empirical focus is put the Swedish-Danish bioregion Medicon Valley. The study is reported in five articles which can also be read separately. Two of the articles focus on the aggregate of dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs) composing the bioregion, while the remaining three focus on a selection of DBFs and academic research groups involved in innovation projects spanning from basic science with not yet fully identified commercial applications to more applied product development in different subfields of biotechnology related industries. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Två observationer tjänar som utgångspunkt för denna avhandling: (1) globaliseringens allt snabbare och mer eller mindre gränslösa flöde av information har medfört ökad press på företag och organisationer, liksom stater och regioner, att ständigt förnya sig för att kunna behålla sin konkurrenskraft. (2) kunskapsintensiv industri tenderar att samlas i geografisk närhet till relaterad verksamhet, ofta i direkt anslutning till universitet och andra forskningsinstitutioner. Många näringslivspolitiska satsningar med syfte att möta globaliseringens utmaningar är starkt fokuserade på att stimulera lokalt kunskapsutbyte mellan företag och universitet. Dessa båda observationer, som vid en första anblick... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Två observationer tjänar som utgångspunkt för denna avhandling: (1) globaliseringens allt snabbare och mer eller mindre gränslösa flöde av information har medfört ökad press på företag och organisationer, liksom stater och regioner, att ständigt förnya sig för att kunna behålla sin konkurrenskraft. (2) kunskapsintensiv industri tenderar att samlas i geografisk närhet till relaterad verksamhet, ofta i direkt anslutning till universitet och andra forskningsinstitutioner. Många näringslivspolitiska satsningar med syfte att möta globaliseringens utmaningar är starkt fokuserade på att stimulera lokalt kunskapsutbyte mellan företag och universitet. Dessa båda observationer, som vid en första anblick kan verka motsägelsefulla, har gett upphov till en stor mängd studier inom ekonomisk geografi med syfte att förstå hur innovationsprocesser organiseras i rummet och vilken betydelse avstånd mellan företag och relaterade aktörer har för dessa processer. De flesta av dessa studier har dock varit utpräglat teoretiskt inriktade och slutsatserna har sällan prövats empiriskt.
Denna studie syftar till att förklara hur innovationsprocesser organiseras i rummet, med särskilt fokus på kunskapsområdet bioteknologi. Genom att kombinera ett systemperspektiv med detaljerat fokus på konkreta aktiviteter analyseras hur olika delar av innovationsprocesserna ställer olika krav på aktörers lokalisering i förhållande till varandra. Bioteknologi är ett kunskapsområde som lämpar sig väl för denna typ av analys eftersom det representerar skärningspunkten mellan industri och akademi och dessutom uppvisar tydliga drag av såväl globalt beroende som lokal förankring. Avhandlingen består av fem artiklar som också kan läsas separat. De första två fokuserar på det aggregat av företag som utgör den svensk-danska bioteknologiregionen Medicon Valley, medan övriga tre fokuserar på ett urval av företag och akademiska forskargrupper involverade i innovationsprojekt med olika inriktning, alltifrån renodlad grundforskning utan identifierade kommersiella applikationer till utveckling av nya bioteknologibaserade läkemedel. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/599092
- author
- Moodysson, Jerker LU
- supervisor
-
- Ola Jonsson LU
- Björn Asheim LU
- opponent
-
- Professor Cooke, Philip, Cardiff University
- organization
- publishing date
- 2007
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- epistemic communities, biotechnology, communities of practice, geography, proximity, knowledge, localization, globalization, innovation systems, Innovation, Samhällsvetenskaper, Social sciences
- pages
- 237 pages
- publisher
- Department of Social and Economic Geography, Lund University
- defense location
- Geocentrum 1, Sölvegatan 10, Sal 128 (Flygeln)
- defense date
- 2007-11-07 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:35748962323
- ISBN
- 978-91-976521-1-7
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 57d36c32-639a-4cc3-96d8-6b7acb34fa0f (old id 599092)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:07:42
- date last changed
- 2024-01-11 02:01:09
@phdthesis{57d36c32-639a-4cc3-96d8-6b7acb34fa0f,
abstract = {{The accelerated speed and intensity of global interconnections in all segments of society during the last couple of decades have had a profound impact on the workings of contemporary capitalism. Increased pressure is put on national and regional economies to continuously upgrade their competitive advantages, at the same time as new learning opportunities occur at a faster rate than ever. For reasons like these, knowledge is described as the most important resource, and learning the most important process, for firms and organizations, as well as nations and regions, to become and remain competitive. In parallel with the forces of globalization there are however also strong forces of localization. Empirical studies reveal that knowledge intensive industries tend to agglomerate in space, often in proximity to leading universities and research institutes, and several policy initiatives raised in attempts to meet the challenges of globalization are focused on promoting local knowledge spillovers between industry and academia. Observations like these intrigue geographers interested in the spatial organization of innovation and raises important questions about what is local and what is global in "the globalizing learning economy".<br/><br>
<br/><br>
This study takes these observations as point of departure and develops a conceptual framework used to analyze the spatial organization of innovation in biotechnology. Biotechnology is a suitable case for such analysis since it represents a set of activities in the intersection of science and industry which displays both globalization and localization. By combining a system perspective with in-depth focus on concrete knowledge creation activities the study explains how and why knowledge interaction between firms and related actors varies with different activities embedded in the innovation processes. Empirical focus is put the Swedish-Danish bioregion Medicon Valley. The study is reported in five articles which can also be read separately. Two of the articles focus on the aggregate of dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs) composing the bioregion, while the remaining three focus on a selection of DBFs and academic research groups involved in innovation projects spanning from basic science with not yet fully identified commercial applications to more applied product development in different subfields of biotechnology related industries.}},
author = {{Moodysson, Jerker}},
isbn = {{978-91-976521-1-7}},
keywords = {{epistemic communities; biotechnology; communities of practice; geography; proximity; knowledge; localization; globalization; innovation systems; Innovation; Samhällsvetenskaper; Social sciences}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Department of Social and Economic Geography, Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Sites and Modes of Knowledge Creation: On the Spatial Organization of Biotechnology Innovation}},
year = {{2007}},
}