Clusters as vehicles for entrepreneurial innovation and new idea generation

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Clusters as vehicles for entrepreneurial
innovation and new idea generation a critical
assessment
Marc Bahlmann and Marleen Huysman VU University
Amsterdam DIME workshop Reconcidering the
Regional Knowledge Economy, Newcastle, 4-5
september 2008
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Contribution

• Points for reflection
• What is really happening within clusters when
  using a knowledge perspective?
• Does it make sense to apply the cluster concept
  when studying knowledge flows among
  entrepreneurs?
• Social construction of clusters?

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Content of presentation

• Introducing the problem
• Contextual background
• Results
• Conclusion

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Introducing the problem

• Some key assumptions on clusters
• Local knowledge exchange is different from
  inter-local counterpart
• Tacit knowledge is spatially sticky due to its
  context-specific nature. This social context is
  primarily defined locally
• Intra-local ties dense interaction strong ties
  tacit knowledge exchange, whereas Inter-local
  ties sparse interaction weak ties codified
  knowledge exchange
• Source e.g. Asheim 2002 Elfring 2008 Gertler
  2003
• Maskell and Malmberg 1999 2002.

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Introducing the problem

• However
• Clusters can benefit from ties to other hotspots
  around the globe (Bathelt et al., 2004)
• New Argonauts (Saxenian, 2006)
• Varieties of knowing exhibit different
  geographies of interaction (Amin Roberts, 2008)

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Introducing the problem

• What is needed our contribution
• Beyond the conceptual
• Beyond the anecdotal
• Social Network Data micro-level

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Introducing the problem

• Therefore we ask
• What do entrepreneurs learn through inter-cluster
  knowledge linkages?
• What are the characteristics of these linkages?
• How are these ties created and maintained?

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Contextual background the Amsterdam New
Media-cluster
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Immovator, Cross Media Monitor 2006
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Contextual background the Amsterdam New
Media-cluster
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Den Hertog et al., 2000
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Methods

• 32 respondents
• Divided in two phases
• First phase 24 interviews
• Second phase qualitative SNA by means of 8
  additional interviews
• Resulting in 8 ego-networks

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Methods

• Qualitative SNA
• Some people are particularly useful in helping
  you to be creative as an entrepreneur, such as
  helping you to generate new ideas. Who are the
  key people that help you the most to formulate
  and generate new ideas?
• Entrepreneurs draw primarily on inter-cluster ties

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Results ego networks
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Results ego-networks
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Results ego-networks
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Results ego-networks

• Tacit knowledge flows among entrepreneurs take
  place both within and across cluster boundaries
  over different types of ties
• Conferences, trade fairs, etc.
• So what is the role of geographic proximity?
• And what is the role of social proximity?

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Results knowledge exchange

• 3 basic categories
• Local buzz who knows what and who does what with
  whom
• Market frontier latest techn. developments and
  business prop.
• Ideological/ visionary debate

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Results knowledge exchange

• Example of such a debate
• The future of the semantic web

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Results knowledge exchange

• Ideological/ visionary debate
• Interactive
• Normative
• Global
• Ideological
• The debate creates a context independent from
  clusters
• Epistemic proximity?

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Conclusion

• tacit knowledge flows among entrepreneurs take
  place both within and across cluster boundaries
  over different types of ties
• Inter-cluster knowledge ties facilitate an
  ideological debate
• Does the concept of epistemic proximity explain
  the transfer of tacit knowledge across different
  types of inter-cluster ties?

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Conclusion

• A KBV on clusters zooming in at micro-level of
  (tacit) knowledge flows
• Knowledge crosses formally defined cluster
  boundaries Social construction of clusters?
• We need to reassess the role of
• Geographical proximity
• Social proximity
• Epistemic proximity

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Questions and remarks

• Marc Bahlmann mbahlmann_at_feweb.vu.nl
• Marleen Huysman mhuysman_at_feweb.vu.nl

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