While concurring with the new streams of literature in geography that highlight the importance of face-to-face and buzz in the globalizing learning economy, the article argues that this literature is misleading on three interrelated accounts. Firstly, it conflates face-to-face and buzz;...

The point of departure for this paper is that in developing countries SMEs are responsible for the largest part of employment and a significant share of added value. And that innovation policy supporting the particularities of SMEs has been widely ignored (occasionally SMEs have even been...

The main objective of this chapter is to discuss the implications of the adoption of the Systems of Innovation (SI) Approach in innovation policymaking. One of the main criticisms of the SI approach is the difficulty in translating it into real policymaking. This paper proposes a way of dealing...

In order to advance the understanding of which types of regional innovation system represent effective innovation support for what kinds of industry in different regions analyses must be contextualised by reference to the actual knowledge base of various industries as well as to the regional and...

This paper discusses the implications of the adoption of the National Innovation Systems approach for innovation policy. It starts by positioning the systemic approach against other theoretical approaches, such as neoclassical theories. The authors argue that the adoption of one or the other...

Informal networks are often emphasized as facilitating knowledge transfer. However, we find that formal networks also contribute significantly to knowledge transfer, and in fact contribute more than informal networks. This is particularly the case when knowledge is transferred between units....

A focus on constructing regional advantage requires an unpacking of what makes territorial agglomerations important for innovation and growth by disclosing and revealing the contingencies, particularities and specificities of the various contexts and environments where knowledge creation,...

The Varieties of Capitalism literature has drawn little attention to industrial renewal and diversification, while the related diversification literature has neglected the institutional dimension of industrial change. Bringing together both literatures, the paper proposes that institutions have...

We review and assess the role local institutional framework conditions play in fostering local entrepreneurship. The basic premise is that entrepreneurship is a central driver of economic renewal and change, and that institutions affect both the supply and direction of entrepreneurship. While...

This paper argues that obstruction of agency, intention and interest is a weakness in institutional studies in geography. There is a need to systematically anchor a role for agency in institutionally oriented combinatorial knowledge dynamics studies, and thus to reach beyond snapshots of...