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Table 2 Most influential studies in RIS research

From: Regional innovation system research trends: toward knowledge management and entrepreneurial ecosystems

RTC

TC

C/Y

RCY

Article

Aims and scope

Conclusions

1

874

36.4

5

Freeman [21]

To explore the importance of national and regional education systems, industrial relations, technical and scientific institutions, government policies, and cultural traditions for firms to innovate, even in a globalized economy where external international relationships are increasingly important.

Nations, national economies, and national innovation systems are still essential for economic and political development, despite the globalization of the economy. Nevertheless, the interaction of national innovation systems with regional innovation systems and with transnational corporations will become increasingly important.

2

840

38.2

4

Cooke et al. [7]

To verify that most of the scale and complexity problems of national innovation systems regarding the institutional and organizational dimensions may be mitigated by a subnational focus, advocating that regional level capabilities are useful for promoting both systemic learning and interactive innovation.

Learning, which is a key strategic element in any innovative process, has important specific and local characteristics. It can therefore be improved through certain regional institutional changes and properly oriented regional policies.

3

696

49.7

2

Todtling and Trippl [24]

To demonstrate that there is no ideal model for innovation policy but rather that innovation policy depends on each region’s characteristics. Three kinds of regions are analyzed: central regions, peripheral regions, and old industrial regions.

Different kinds of regions require different innovation policies and strategies because the conditions for innovation and networking and the innovation barriers differ greatly from one type of region to another.

4

581

34.2

6

Acs et al. [49]

To address the problem of measuring innovation because the innovation process is a crucial aspect of economic growth. Regional analysis of the innovations introduced in the US in 1982 and US patent data from 1982 is performed to demonstrate how patents and innovation counts can be used to measure economically useful new knowledge creation.

The measure of patented inventions provides a fairly reliable measure of innovative activity. This finding supports the use of patent and innovation counts in studies examining technological change.

5

559

39.9

3

Asheim and Coenen [11]

To demonstrate that regional innovation systems must consider the knowledge base of the industries in the area because the innovation processes of firms are determined by their specific knowledge base. Five empirical illustrations from a Nordic comparative project on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and regional innovation systems are used.

The regionalization of innovation policy enables more accurate consideration of the region’s specific context and characteristics in terms of industrial structure, institutional setup, and knowledge base. However, regionalization should not be understood as regionalism by neglecting the embeddedness of regions in a national and transnational framework.

6

376

20.9

8

Muller and Zenker [50]

To study the role and function of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in innovation systems because KIBS produce and diffuse knowledge that is crucial for innovation processes. The results of a postal innovation survey in different French and German regions are used to empirically analyze the role of innovation interactions between KIBS and SMEs for the benefit of their respective knowledge bases and innovation activities.

Interactions between KIBS and SMEs affect innovation processes and activities. The interregional comparison shows that regional differences concerning interactions between SMEs and KIBS lead to differences in innovation capabilities and performance. Besides interregional differences, the French and German innovation systems have a perceptible influence on the interactions between SMEs and KIBS, their knowledge-related activities, and their innovation capabilities.

7

346

12.8

15

Cooke [8]

To examine the role of regulation as a form of proactive support for industry by focusing on three approaches to regional innovation: (1) Japan, Germany, and France, (2) regional innovation in the UK, particularly in reference to Wales, and (3) changes in the regulatory structure in Wales to improve its regional innovation system.

The key elements of a successfully regulated, networked region include a major network of public and private industrial support institutions, high-grade labor market intelligence and training, rapid diffusion of technology transfer, a high degree of inter-firm networking, and, above all, firms that are receptive to innovation.

8

243

22.1

7

Rodriguez-Pose and Crescenzi [51]

To measure the impact of innovation on regional economic performance in 25 European Union countries by considering the relationships between investment in R&D, patents, and economic growth, the efficiency of regional innovation systems, and the geographical diffusion of regional knowledge spillovers.

Proximity is important for the transmission of economically productive knowledge because spillovers are affected by strong distance decay effects. A region can rely on both internal and external sources of innovation, but the socioeconomic conditions to maximize the innovation potential of each region are necessarily internal.

9

212

10.1

24

Cooke et al. [5]

To analyze the processes and conditions that characterize the institutional and organizational dimensions, the infrastructures, and the cultural superstructure for the specification of strong regional innovation systems.

Regional innovation systems where firms and other organizations are systematically engaged in interactive learning through an institutional context provide the strongest potential for regions to innovate.

10

206

20.6

9

Ter Wal and Boschma [52]

To demonstrate that social network analysis has a huge potential to enrich the literature on clusters, regional innovation systems, and knowledge spillovers. Network analysis techniques using primary (survey) and secondary (patent) data are described.

Social network analysis is a valuable tool in economic geography to empirically investigate the structure and evolution of interorganizational interactions and knowledge flows within and across regions.

11

193

13.8

12

Cooke [53]

To assess social scientific debate about the origins and nature of innovation at a regional level. The following models are reviewed: (1) the triple helix model, which focuses on the role of entrepreneurial universities in innovation in relation to industry and government, (2) new regionalism, which stresses the importance of institutions, industry, and science in regional economic development, and (3) globalization 2, which is a newer theory of economic geography in the knowledge economy based on regional knowledge capabilities.

In the knowledge economy based on regional knowledge capabilities, globalization has evolved from the globalization 1 model, which was directed by multinational corporations and multilateral trade institutions, to the globalization 2 model, which is driven by multinationals’ quest for exploitable knowledge in knowledgeable regions, often depending on public research funding. Therefore, the globalization 2 model is a ground-up knowledge-driven evolution of the earlier top-down globalization 1 model.

12

166

11,1

18

Fritsch and Franke [54]

To investigate the impact of knowledge spillovers and R&D cooperation on innovation activities in three German regions.

The article concludes that R&D cooperation plays a minor role as a medium for knowledge spillovers, but it cannot explain how innovation-relevant knowledge spillover occurs within a region.

14

132

13.2

13

Hansen and Niedomysl [55]

To analyze the migration of the creative class because talented people are a potential source of knowledge creation and exploitation. The paper is focused on the migration of the creative class in Sweden.

The creative class tends to migrate more than non-creatives, but the difference is marginal. Therefore, there is no empirical support for the influential creative class theory, which posits that talent is highly mobile.

16

127

15.9

11

Yam et al. [56]

To explore the relationship between the RIS and the firm’s innovation system because firms that better utilize sources of information available in their RIS achieve superior performance. The available sources of information within a given RIS include external sources and external expert organizations, also known as knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Data on a region of Hong Kong were obtained through a mailed survey using a self-administered questionnaire.

External sources supported by KIBS have a positive relationship with all firms’ technological innovation capabilities. This finding provides empirical evidence of the bridging function of KIBS in facilitating the use of sources of information for the enhancement of technological innovation capabilities. Also, KIBS have a positive relationship with external sources because better use of KIBS helps firms use external sources of information. This finding highlights the source of innovation role of KIBS.

21

106

53.0

1

Spigel [57]

To theoretically develop the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems to understand the processes through which ecosystems emerge, change, and influence the activities of entrepreneurial actors. The illustrative cases of the Canadian cities of Waterloo (Ontario) and Calgary (Alberta) are used to explore different possible configurations of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems can be defined as a composition of cultural (supportive culture, and histories of entrepreneurship), social (worker talent, investment capital, networks, and mentors and role models), and material (policy and governance, universities, support services, physical infrastructure, and open markets) attributes that provide benefits and resources to entrepreneurs, where the relationships between these attributes reproduce the ecosystem.

75

48

16.0

10

Oh et al. [58]

To review the recently emerged concept of innovation ecosystems, which has quickly spread among policymakers.

The concept of the innovation ecosystem adds little to the traditional concept of the innovation system. Moreover, the innovation ecosystem is not yet a clearly defined concept and much less a theory.

140

26

13.0

14

Audretsch and Belitski [59]

To investigate variation in entrepreneurial activity in 70 European cities using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling for regional systems of entrepreneurship. The survey data capture individual perceptions based on the Eurostat statistical database and the Regional Entrepreneurship and Development Index (REDI). A complex model is developed based on the number of start-ups in a city as the dependent variable; culture and norms, physical infrastructure and amenities, formal institutions, information technologies and Internet access, the Melting Pot index, and the demand and workforce as six explanatory variables; and the REDI as the main control variable.

The regional context, proxied by the REDI, and local context, proxied by the framework conditions (the local socioeconomic, informational, and institutional aspects) of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, are complementary and influence the startup rate in cities. Adding information technologies and Internet access to existing models of regional entrepreneurship systems reveals the strong association between information and communications technologies and entrepreneurship. New policies for developing urban entrepreneurial ecosystem models can exploit both the REDI at a regional level and the framework conditions of entrepreneurial ecosystems at a local level.