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Journal ArticleDOI

Knowledge networks in local and global space

Anne Lorentzen
- 20 Nov 2008 - 
- Vol. 20, Iss: 6, pp 533-545
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors discuss the space and scale of knowledge networks for innovation, and show that the territorialised innovation theories rest on simplistic perceptions of embeddedness and space, and on functional notions of proximity which treat the firms as black box.
Abstract
The objective of the paper is to discuss the space and scale of knowledge networks for innovation. The point of departure is a critical review of territorialised innovation theories according to which the source of growth and competitiveness is to be found in the innovative interplay among local actors and institutions. The region is believed to play a particular role as incubator or mediator for small firms. On this background the question raised is what globalisation and the emergence of time and space shrinking technologies imply to the spatial scale of knowledge networks. It is shown that the territorialised innovation theories rest on simplistic perceptions of embeddedness and space, and on functional notions of proximity which treat the firms as black box. The result is a considerable regional determinism. On the basis of recent network theory and empirical results, it is argued that firms do find knowledge sources on different spatial scales. Global networks or distant knowledge sources are particu...

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Network Capital, Social Capital and Knowledge Flow: How the Nature of Inter-organizational Networks Impacts on Innovation

TL;DR: In this article, the role of inter-organizational networks as facilitators of knowledge flow and innovation is discussed, and the authors introduce the concepts of network capital and network space to complement existing notions of social capital and geographic space as explanatory factors underpinning the impact of networks.
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References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The Strength of Weak Ties

TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another, and the impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored.
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Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness

TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which economic action is embedded in structures of social relations, in modern industrial society, is examined, and it is argued that reformist economists who attempt to bring social structure back in do so in the "oversocialized" way criticized by Dennis Wrong.
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The Knowledge Creating Company

TL;DR: The Japanese companies, masters of manufacturing, have also been leaders in the creation, management, and use of knowledge-especially the tacit and often subjective insights, intuitions, and ideas of employees as discussed by the authors.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the key to the institutional system of the 19 century lay in the laws governing market economy, which was the fount and matrix of the system was the self-regulating market, and it was this innovation which gave rise to a specific civilization.
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Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment

TL;DR: Boschma et al. as discussed by the authors argue that the importance of geographical proximity cannot be assessed in isolation, but should always be examined in relation to other dimensions of proximity that may provide alternative solutions to the problem of coordination.
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