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Collaboration for the Bioeconomy : Evidence from Innovation Output in Sweden, 1970–2021

Kreutzer, Philipp Jonas LU orcid and Taalbi, Josef LU (2026)
Abstract
Collaboration is expected to play a central role in the transition to a
bioeconomy—a central pillar of a green economy. Such collaboration is sup
posed to connect traditional biomass processing firms with diverse actors in
f
ields where biomass ought to substitute existing or create novel products
and processes. This study analyzes the network of technology collaborations
among innovating firms in Sweden between 1970 and 2021. The results reveal
generally positive associations between direct and indirect ties, with mean
ingful increases in innovation output for each additional direct collaboration
partner. Relationships between brokerage positions and innovation output
were statistically... (More)
Collaboration is expected to play a central role in the transition to a
bioeconomy—a central pillar of a green economy. Such collaboration is sup
posed to connect traditional biomass processing firms with diverse actors in
f
ields where biomass ought to substitute existing or create novel products
and processes. This study analyzes the network of technology collaborations
among innovating firms in Sweden between 1970 and 2021. The results reveal
generally positive associations between direct and indirect ties, with mean
ingful increases in innovation output for each additional direct collaboration
partner. Relationships between brokerage positions and innovation output
were statistically insignificant, and cognitive proximity—while following theo
retical expectations—materially insignificant. These associations are mostly
equal between actors heavily invested in the bioeconomy and those focusing
on other innovation areas, indicating that these actors operate under largely
similar mechanisms linking collaboration and subsequent innovation output.
These results suggest that stimulating collaboration broadly—rather than
attempting to optimize collaboration compositions—could result in higher
number of significant Swedish innovations, for bioeconomy and other sectors
alike. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
publisher
arXiv.org
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8a54e901-64d0-482c-816f-9e7bbf30b327
alternative location
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.05112
date added to LUP
2026-02-06 12:22:40
date last changed
2026-02-06 14:54:43
@misc{8a54e901-64d0-482c-816f-9e7bbf30b327,
  abstract     = {{Collaboration is expected to play a central role in the transition to a<br/>bioeconomy—a central pillar of a green economy. Such collaboration is sup<br/>posed to connect traditional biomass processing firms with diverse actors in<br/>f<br/>ields where biomass ought to substitute existing or create novel products<br/>and processes. This study analyzes the network of technology collaborations<br/>among innovating firms in Sweden between 1970 and 2021. The results reveal<br/>generally positive associations between direct and indirect ties, with mean<br/>ingful increases in innovation output for each additional direct collaboration<br/>partner. Relationships between brokerage positions and innovation output<br/>were statistically insignificant, and cognitive proximity—while following theo<br/>retical expectations—materially insignificant. These associations are mostly<br/>equal between actors heavily invested in the bioeconomy and those focusing<br/>on other innovation areas, indicating that these actors operate under largely<br/>similar mechanisms linking collaboration and subsequent innovation output.<br/>These results suggest that stimulating collaboration broadly—rather than<br/>attempting to optimize collaboration compositions—could result in higher<br/>number of significant Swedish innovations, for bioeconomy and other sectors<br/>alike.}},
  author       = {{Kreutzer, Philipp Jonas and Taalbi, Josef}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Preprint}},
  publisher    = {{arXiv.org}},
  title        = {{Collaboration for the Bioeconomy : Evidence from Innovation Output in Sweden, 1970–2021}},
  url          = {{https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.05112}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}