Geert Vissers

Vissers G. and Dankbaar B. Spatial aspects of interfirm collaboration: an exploration of firm-level knowledge dynamics, Regional Studies. The days of vertical integration are over. Product development, manufacturing and other activities once done by single firms are now fields of collaboration. This raises questions about the spatial aspects of interfirm collaboration. Firms have partners in their direct environment, at a distance or in between, which means that traditional views on regional economic development no longer apply. It also means that a local–global dichotomy does not adequately describe today's economic landscape. This paper distinguishes four spatial scales – local, regional, national and international – and explores the distribution of interfirm collaboration across them, while taking project development over time into account.

James L., Vissers G., Larsson A. and Dahlström M. Territorial knowledge dynamics and knowledge anchoring through localized networks: the automotive sector in Västra Götaland, Regional Studies. Innovative firms often engage in knowledge interactions across regional boundaries, which is difficult to account for by territorial innovation models. The territorial knowledge dynamics perspective directs attention to the ways in which firms and other actors combine regional and extra-regional relations. It deals with the spatial aspects of innovation, emphasizing constantly evolving knowledge networks that are not confined to regional boundaries, which implies a new view on regional knowledge anchoring. The paper presents a case of innovation in the automotive sector in the Västra Götaland region of Sweden to show how a spatial pattern of knowledge interactions develops over time.

Concentrating on three Dutch cities that once had an important textile industry, this study discusses the reasons for the decline of the industry and the responses by firms and other relevant actors. Reasons and responses differed between cities. Therefore, general explanations of the decline of the Dutch textile industry must be supplemented with city-specific accounts. We do not deny that the industry had to deal with path dependence, and lock-in was looming large, but we argue that the demise of the textile industry was not inevitable. The notion of path plasticity helps to direct attention to options that could have been chosen.

Mit Innovationsbiographien wird dem prozesshaften und vernetzten Charakter von Innovationen Rechnung getragen. Sie erfassen Innovationsprozesse von den Anfängen bis zur Umsetzung methodisch durch Interviews mit den jeweiligen zentralen Personen und daran anknüpfende Netzwerkanalysen. Diese „Rekonstruktion des Innovationsgeschehens“ ermöglicht es, Meilensteine, Hemmnisse und Treiber sowie spezifische Innovationsprobleme zu erkennen, und sie liefert Erkenntnisse über die Entstehung und die Diffusion von Innovationen. Das Innovationsgeschehen kann so wesentlich differenzierter dargestellt werden als es generalisierende Konzepte, wie etwa ‚regionale Innovationssysteme‘ vermuten lassen, weil sich die Arbeits- und Wissensteilung im Innovationsprozess auf sektoraler und regionaler Ebene äußerst unterschiedlich darstellt. Mit Beiträgen von: Dr. Antje Blöcker, Anna Butzin, Prof. Dr. Phil Cooke, Prof. Dr. Ben Dankbaar, Prof. Dr. Ernst Helmstädter, PD, Dr. Robert Kaiser, PD Dr. Dieter Rehfeld, Prof. Dr. Franz Tödtling, Associate Prof. Dr. Michaela Trippl, Dr. Geert Vissers und Brigitta Widmaier.