1st Edition

The Social Dynamics of Innovation Networks

    312 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    310 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The social dynamics of innovation networks captures the important role of trust, social capital, institutions and norms and values in the creation of knowledge in innovation networks. In doing so, this book connects to a long-standing debate on the socio-spatial context of innovation in economic geography, which is usually referred to as the Territorial Models of Innovation (TIMs) literature.

    This present volume breaks with the TIM literature in several important ways. In the first place, this book emphasizes the role of individual agency because individuals and their networks are increasingly recognized as the principal agents of knowledge creation. Secondly, this volume looks at space as a continuous field of opportunity rather than as bounded territory with a set of endowments, such as knowledge base and social capital. Although individually these elements are not new to the TIM literature, it has thus far failed to grasp their critical implication for studying the social dynamics of innovation networks.

    The approach to the socio-spatial context of innovation in this volume is summarized as Knowledge Economy 2.0. It emphasizes that human creativity is now the main source of economic value and that human creativity and knowledge creation is not an organized process within organizations, but happens bottom up in formal and informal professional and social networks of individuals that cut across multiple organizations.

    1.Introduction (Roel Rutten, Paul Benneworth, Dessy Irawati and Frans Boekema)  2. Part One: Places  1. Innovation and its sources in Swedish cities and towns (Hans Westlund)  2. The Socio-cultural context of small innovative and enterprising regions (Martin Andersson and Johan Klaesson)  3. Territorial market Construction and socio-economic valuation (Olivier Crevoisier)  4. Where have all the people gone? (Markku Sotarauta)  Part Two: Networks  5. Globalization of cluster supply networks (Lise Lillebrygfjeld Halse and Ove Bjarnar)  6. The comet tail’s profile (Veronique Schutjens)  7. Tracing the social dimension in innovation networks  (Martina Fromhold-Eisebith, Claudia Werker and Marcel Vojnic)  Networks and the Knowledge Economy (Arnoud Lagendijk)  Part Three: Communities  8. Exploring the social in innovation networks (David Charles)  9. Community and spatially distributed production of knowledge (Joanne Roberts)  10. Professional proximity in research collaborations (Kristin Kronenberg and Marjolein Caniëls)  11. Academic and vernacular communities in an entrepreneurial region (Paul Benneworth)  Part Four: Discussion and Conclusion  12. Discussion  13. Conclusion

    Biography

    Roel Rutten is Assistant Professor at Tilburg University, The Netherlands.

    Paul Benneworth is Senior Researcher at Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, The Netherlands.

    Dessy Irawati is Managing Director at EduPrime.

    Frans Boekema is Full Professor at Nijmegen University, The Netherlands.