Technological clusters and sources of knowledge for innovation.

摘要

A body of knowledge has evolved around the agglomeration of firms and the effect of knowledge spillovers on innovation. While the existing literature indicates that clustering results in increased innovation output, little is known about the specific mechanisms by which knowledge is exchanged in these areas that in turn accelerate the innovation process. A comparative study between 'inventors' located in technological clusters and those not located in technological clusters is carried out. The study measures the influence of particular types and sources of knowledge available to telecom inventors, and how that influence is affected by the inventors' location in telecommunication related clusters. It also examines the relative importance of the different knowledge types and how the organization size affects interaction with the local environment. A survey is used to collect data from inventors filing for telecommunication patents in the United States. A binary logistic regression model is used to analyze the data. The results confirm that local knowledge sources found in technological clusters influence inventors and that localization does matter when accessing the tacit types of knowledge. The author recognizes the fact that not all inventions become innovations and that some of the clustering and spillover dynamics can only be understood at the firm level. These issues are discussed as part of the limitations of the study.