Networks in the Innovation Process

Local and Regional Interactions

Holger Graf, Research Associate, Economics Department, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany

Innovation has long been regarded as an interactive process between heterogeneous actors and as a crucial factor in local and regional development. This timely and significant book focuses on the interactions existing within local networks, providing a theoretical foundation to interactive processes as well as a methodological toolkit for the analysis of innovation from a regional perspective.

‘The book is a valuable contribution to the field of local innovation studies and it will inspire particularly scholars who are interested in exploring the innovation dynamics of cities and regions by applying social network analysis.’
– Michaela Trippl, Journal of Regional Science

‘This book will form part of a new and promising field of research on clustering and innovation. It not only addresses innovative research questions about the evolution of networks in regional settings and how (local) network positions of firms determine their performance, but also applies advanced quantitative methodologies, such as co-patenting analysis and the use of social network analysis. With the assistance of a number of sophisticated analytical tools, Holger Graf presents an interesting and thorough examination of the Jena region at different spatial levels, which will appeal to academics around the world.’
– Ron A. Boschma, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

“Holger伯爵提供了一个非常有趣和性病mulating approach to local innovation systems, the analyses of which, until now, have tended to be of a rather descriptive and often static nature. Starting with a birds-eye view on the local innovation system of Jena and investigating its comparative performance within the German regions, he then narrows down the lens and focuses step-by-step on the bilateral interaction structures within the system. The respective analyses – applying network analysis and network regression – are primarily oriented towards the dynamics and evolution of the system and the interaction structures therein. The results contribute in an innovative way to the current literature on innovation systems and will stimulate future research in this area.’
– Uwe Cantner, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany