Knowledge Creation and Innovation Beyond Agglomeration: the Case of Hidden Champions in Germany
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Knowledge creation and innovation beyond agglomeration: The case of Hidden Champions in Germany Von der Fakultät für Physik und Geowissenschaften der Universität Leipzig genehmigte D I S S E R T A T I O N zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor philosophiae Dr. phil. vorgelegt von M.A. Lukas Vonnahme geboren am 12.04.1987 in Salzkotten Gutachter: Dr. Thilo Lang, Universität Leipzig und Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde Prof. Dr. Reinhard Wießner, Universität Leipzig Tag der Verleihung: 19. Juli 2021 Bibliographische Beschreibung Vonnahme, Lukas Knowledge creation and innovation beyond agglomeration: The case of Hidden Champions in Germany Universität Leipzig, Dissertation 236 Seiten, 295 Literaturangaben, 31 Abbildungen, 32 Tabellen, 2 Anlagen Referat Diese Dissertation bezieht sich auf ein Schlüsselthema der Wirtschaftsgeographie: das Verhältnis zwischen Innovation und Raum. Während vielfältige Belege für die Vorteile von Agglomerationen für Innovation existieren, werden periphere Regionen und ihre Akteure in theoretischen und empirischen Arbeiten nicht ausreichend berücksichtigt. Aufbauend auf zunehmende Kritik an Stadt-zentrierten Ansätzen und der Rolle, die geographischer Nähe zugeschrieben wird, zielt diese Forschung darauf ab, die Merkmale und Hauptfaktoren von Innovation außerhalb von Agglomerationen zu identifizieren und nachzuvollziehen, inwiefern sich diese von denen innerhalb von Agglomerationen unterscheiden. Dazu werden die Innovationsaktivitäten von Hidden Champions in Deutschland empirisch untersucht. Auf Grundlage einer quantitativen Umfrage und qualitativer Interviews mit Unternehmensvertretern zeigen die Analysen, dass diese Unternehmen unabhängig von ihren regionalen Kontexten und weitgehend den gleichen Prinzipien folgend Innovationsaktivitäten vorantreiben. Lokale Interaktionen mit externen Akteuren sind nur eine von vielen Möglichkeiten für Unternehmen, Wissen zu erlangen. Nicht-interaktive und informelle Formen interaktiver Wissensgenerierung in verschiedenen sozialräumlichen Kontexten wurden als bedeutende Bestandteile von Innovationsaktivitäten identifiziert. Die Ergebnisse legen eine differenziertere Sicht auf die Bedeutung und Ausgestaltung von Offenheit für externes Wissen aus räumlicher Perspektive nahe und tragen zu einem ganzheitlichen Verständnis von Innovations- geographien bei. Abstract This dissertation relates to a key topic in economic geography: the relationship between innovation and space. While there is evidence of the multiple benefits of agglomerations for innovation, peripheral regions and their actors are not sufficiently reflected in theoretical and empirical accounts. By building on growing debates around the unease with urban-biased perspectives and the role ascribed to geographical proximity, this research aims to understand the characteristics and main drivers of innovation occurring outside of agglomerations and in how far these differ from those inside agglomerations. Empirically, this dissertation explores the innovation activities of Hidden Champions in Germany. Drawing on data derived from a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews with firm representatives, the analyses reveal that such firms largely follow the same principles to innovate independently from their regional contexts. Intense interaction with externals is only one out of many options for firms to gain knowledge. Non- interactive and more informal modes of knowledge creation in diverse socio-spatial contexts have been identified as integral parts of firms’ innovation activities. Results suggest a more differentiated view on openness for innovation from a geographical perspective and support a more holistic understanding of the geographies of innovation. 2 Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 9 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 11 1.1. Research objectives and questions ...................................................................................... 13 1.2. Hidden Champions in Germany ............................................................................................. 16 1.3. Structure of the dissertation ................................................................................................... 18 2. Re-thinking the geographies of firm innovation .......................................................................... 21 2.1. Firms and innovation ................................................................................................................ 22 2.1.1. Understanding firm innovation .................................................................................... 24 2.1.2. Coordination of internal and external knowledge for innovation .................. 25 2.1.3. Varieties of open innovation .......................................................................................... 29 2.2. Geographies and innovation ................................................................................................... 33 2.2.1. Beyond territorial innovation ....................................................................................... 34 2.2.2. Questioning the status quo: urban bias and the periphery label ..................... 41 2.2.3. Current understandings of innovation outside of agglomerations ................. 45 2.3. Conceptual framework ............................................................................................................. 51 2.3.1. Positioning the own research ........................................................................................ 51 2.3.2. A relational perspective on economic processes in space ................................. 55 2.3.3. Beyond dualistic conceptualisations of innovation and space ......................... 59 3. Methodological approach ..................................................................................................................... 66 3.1. Critical realism as the basic ontological and epistemological perspective .......... 66 3.1.1. Basics notions of critical realism .................................................................................. 67 3.1.2. Implications for research methodologies ................................................................. 68 3.2. Research design ........................................................................................................................... 69 3.2.1. Multi-dimensional comparative approach ............................................................... 70 3.2.2. Triangulation ....................................................................................................................... 72 3.2.3. Comparison ........................................................................................................................... 73 3 3.3. Empirical and analytical methods and proceedings ..................................................... 75 3.3.1. Development of a database of Hidden Champions in Germany ....................... 75 3.3.2. Quantitative survey ........................................................................................................... 81 3.3.3. Semi-structured interviews ........................................................................................... 85 4. Patterns and socio-spatial contexts of firm innovation – Quantitative results ................................................................................................................................. 90 4.1. The spatial distribution of Hidden Champions in Germany ....................................... 90 4.2. Firm characteristics and innovation patterns ................................................................. 93 4.2.1. Organisational and spatial aspects of firm structures ......................................... 93 4.2.2. Innovation activities .......................................................................................................... 94 4.2.3. Information sources and collaboration ..................................................................... 96 4.3. Comparison of the firms by location ................................................................................... 98 4.4. Types of innovative firms ......................................................................................................101 4.4.1. Approach, implementation and results of the cluster analysis ......................102 4.4.2. Types of innovators and their locations ..................................................................107 4.5. Interim results and arising questions ...............................................................................110 5. Strategies and practices towards knowledge creation and innovation – Qualitative results ..................................................................................................................................113 5.1. Firm profiles................................................................................................................................116 5.1.1. Firms located outside of agglomerations ................................................................116 5.1.2. Firms located inside agglomerations........................................................................120 5.2. The global integration of firms ............................................................................................124