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H. Kramar:
"Innovation and Space: The Concept of Regional Knowledge Production";
Vortrag: 49th European Congress of the Regional Science Association International, Lodz, Poland; 25.08.2009 - 29.08.2009; in: "Territial Cohesion of Europe and Integrative Planning", ERSA: European Regional Science Association, (2009).

In the early stages location theory mainly concentrated on the spatial pattern of industrial activities.
Although the focal point of theoretical considerations and empirical analysis has shifted towards the service
sector in the meantime, the location of knowledge-based activities has not yet been explained in a satisfying way.
Especially the spatial dimension of innovation processes needs further examination. Thus, the article will deal
with spatial patterns of patent applications trying to reveal the key location factors of inventive activities. Based
on macroeconomic production theory a regional knowledge production function will be developed and
empirically tested by statistical data for the Austrian regions. In this approach regional patent densities are not
only explained by "classical" production factors such as human and real capital but also by the accessibility and
the availability of relevant information and knowledge. On the one hand, recent studies have shown that due to
the crucial role of "tacit knowledge" proximity still matters even in activities, which were commonly considered
to be "footloose". On the other hand, since spatial proximity to competent persons does not guarantee
knowledge-spillovers, the institutional conditions in a region, which determine the transaction costs for acquiring
knowledge, also have to be regarded. These soft location factors, which are often referred to as "institutional
thickness" or "embeddeness" in literature, will therefore play an important role in the regional knowledge
production function to be developed.

invention, innovation, regional knowledge production function, institutional conditions, transaction

http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/PubDat_186633.pdf