Potentials and Obstacles for Cross-Border Knowledge Interactions. Perception of Local Health Business Firms in the Southern-Denmark - Northern Schleswig-Holstein Region.
(2014) SGEM04 20141Department of Human Geography
- Abstract
- Nowadays, innovation and technological development are considered as crucial for the development and economic growth of regions and nations. Knowledge interactions hold a central position in the innovation process. In line with this, researchers as well as politicians emphasize that knowledge interactions need to be facilitated. This approach has been adapted to the cross-border regional context against the background of European integration and territorial cohesion ambitions in recent centuries. Several studies on cross-border networking and knowledge linkages, but also practical observations of cross-border project managers indicate that the promotion of cross-border knowledge interactions encounters difficulties.
In this thesis,... (More) - Nowadays, innovation and technological development are considered as crucial for the development and economic growth of regions and nations. Knowledge interactions hold a central position in the innovation process. In line with this, researchers as well as politicians emphasize that knowledge interactions need to be facilitated. This approach has been adapted to the cross-border regional context against the background of European integration and territorial cohesion ambitions in recent centuries. Several studies on cross-border networking and knowledge linkages, but also practical observations of cross-border project managers indicate that the promotion of cross-border knowledge interactions encounters difficulties.
In this thesis, potentials and obstacles for cross-border knowledge interactions of small-sized health business firms in the Southern-Denmark – Northern Schles-wig-Holstein region have been investigated. The theoretical conceptualisations on ‘proximity’ and ‘knowledge interactions’ form the analytical foundation for this study. Against the background of a critical realist perspective, a perception approach is applied.
In-depth interviews with three Danish and four German health business firms enabled both the inquiry of these firm’s existing and aspired knowledge linkages to actors across the border, as well as the investigation of the firm’s perception of differences of the cross-border region. On the basis of single case and comprehensive analyses, varying types and levels of proximities that favour, respectively inhibit the development of different kinds of cross-border knowledge interactions, have been identified. The results show that a high functional proximity and related/high level of cognitive proximity are crucial for the initiation of all kinds of knowledge interactions. If this condition is fulfilled, cross-border knowledge interactions are probable. The kind of existing cross-border knowledge interactions seem to depend on the perceived level of knowledge about the cross-border region and the perceived level of relative geographical, formal and informal institutional proximity.
The results of this thesis are highly case study dependent. Consequently, this paper does not provide generalisable insights. Instead, the presented cases and results need to be understood as first attempt to gather knowledge about health business firm’s perception and cross-border knowledge linkages in the Southern-Denmark – Northern Schleswig-Holstein region. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4623065
- author
- Eggert, Astrid LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SGEM04 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- knowledge interaction, knowledge linkage, cross-border region, perception approach, spatial proximity, non-spatial proximity, Southern-Denmark, Northern Schleswig-Holstein, health business firms
- language
- English
- id
- 4623065
- date added to LUP
- 2014-09-05 17:01:08
- date last changed
- 2014-09-05 17:01:08
@misc{4623065,
abstract = {{Nowadays, innovation and technological development are considered as crucial for the development and economic growth of regions and nations. Knowledge interactions hold a central position in the innovation process. In line with this, researchers as well as politicians emphasize that knowledge interactions need to be facilitated. This approach has been adapted to the cross-border regional context against the background of European integration and territorial cohesion ambitions in recent centuries. Several studies on cross-border networking and knowledge linkages, but also practical observations of cross-border project managers indicate that the promotion of cross-border knowledge interactions encounters difficulties.
In this thesis, potentials and obstacles for cross-border knowledge interactions of small-sized health business firms in the Southern-Denmark – Northern Schles-wig-Holstein region have been investigated. The theoretical conceptualisations on ‘proximity’ and ‘knowledge interactions’ form the analytical foundation for this study. Against the background of a critical realist perspective, a perception approach is applied.
In-depth interviews with three Danish and four German health business firms enabled both the inquiry of these firm’s existing and aspired knowledge linkages to actors across the border, as well as the investigation of the firm’s perception of differences of the cross-border region. On the basis of single case and comprehensive analyses, varying types and levels of proximities that favour, respectively inhibit the development of different kinds of cross-border knowledge interactions, have been identified. The results show that a high functional proximity and related/high level of cognitive proximity are crucial for the initiation of all kinds of knowledge interactions. If this condition is fulfilled, cross-border knowledge interactions are probable. The kind of existing cross-border knowledge interactions seem to depend on the perceived level of knowledge about the cross-border region and the perceived level of relative geographical, formal and informal institutional proximity.
The results of this thesis are highly case study dependent. Consequently, this paper does not provide generalisable insights. Instead, the presented cases and results need to be understood as first attempt to gather knowledge about health business firm’s perception and cross-border knowledge linkages in the Southern-Denmark – Northern Schleswig-Holstein region.}},
author = {{Eggert, Astrid}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Potentials and Obstacles for Cross-Border Knowledge Interactions. Perception of Local Health Business Firms in the Southern-Denmark - Northern Schleswig-Holstein Region.}},
year = {{2014}},
}