Scaling Innovation in South East Asia: Empirical Evidence from Singapore, Penang (Malaysia) and Bangkok

Abstract

Diez J. R. and Kiese M. (2006) Scaling innovation in South East Asia: empirical evidence from Singapore, Penang (Malaysia) and Bangkok, Regional Studies 40, 1–19. Our survey of 1600 manufacturing firms in Singapore, Penang (Malaysia) and Bangkok shows that the breadth and efficiency of innovative activities still lag considerably behind those found in 11 European regions. Cooperations are virtually indispensable for corporate innovation processes in the region. Their strong orientation towards headquarters or research and development centres of multinational corporations and lead users in technologically advanced countries yields a discontinuous territorial pattern of linkages in which firms ‘leapfrog’ neighbouring South East Asian countries (ASEAN), contrasting sharply with the distance–decay pattern found in Europe. Further research should employ multidimensional concepts of space to accommodate the territorial, techno-economic, organizational, relational and temporal dimensions of innovation networks.

Diez J. R. et Kiese M. (2006) L'innovation en Asie du Sud: des preuves empiriques provenant du Singapour, de Penang (en Malaysie) et de Bangkok, Regional Studies 40, 1–19. Une enquête auprès de 1600 entreprises industrielles situées au Singapour, en Penang et à Bangkok, montre que l'étendue et l'efficacité des activités innovatrices sont manifestement en retard par rapport à celles des activités situées dans onze régions européennes. La coopération est quasi-indispensable pour les processus d'innovation des entreprises dans la région. Privilégiant les sièges sociaux ou les centres de R et D des sociétés multinationales et des entreprises-phares des pays à la pointe de la technologie fournit une distribution territoriale discontinue des liens o[ugrave] les entreprises devancent les pays de l'ASEAN (Association des nations du Sud-Est asiatique) limitrophes, ce qui contraste avec la distribution en Europe qui indique le déclin en fonction de la distance. De plus amples recherches devraient employer des notions multidimensionnelles de l'espace qui s'adaptent aux dimensions territoriales, techno-économiques, organisationnelles, relationnelles et temporelles des réseaux d'innovation.

Systèmes d'innovation régionaux

Diez J. R. und Kiese M. (2006) Umfang der Innovation in SO Asien: empirische Evidenz aus Singapur, Penang (Malaysia) und Bangkok, Regional Studies 40, 1–19. Die Untersuchung von 1600 Unternehmen des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes in Singapur, Penang und Bangkok zeigt, daß die Breite und Effizienz industrieller Innovationsaktivitäten immer noch beträchtlich hinter den in elf europäischen Regionen angetroffenen zurückbleibt. Kooperation ist für betriebliche Innovations prozesse in der Region nahezu unentbehrlich. Ihre starke Ausrichtung auf die Headquarters oder Forschungs-und Entwicklungszentren multiregionaler Korporationen und führende Anwender in technologisch fortschrittlichen Ländern ergibt ein unregelmäßiges räumliches Muster von Kooperationen, in denen die Unternehmen benachbarte ASEAN‐Länder überspringen, was in scharfem Gegensatz zu dem in Europa anzutreffenden mit der Entfernung abnehmenden Muster steht. Weiteren Forschungsarbeiten würde ein multidimensionales Raumkonzept dienlich sein, um die Einbeziehung territorialer, techno-ökonomischer, organisatorischer, relationaler und zeitlicher Dimensionen der Innovationsnetzwerke zu gestatten.

Regionale Innovationssysteme

Diez J. R. y Kiese M. (2006) Mejorando la innovación en el sureste de Asia: Pruebas empíricas de Singapur, Penang (Malaisia) y Bangkok, Regional Studies 40, 1–19. Nuestro estudio, que abarca 1.600 empresas de fabricación de Singapur, Penang y Bangkok, indica que el volumen y la eficacia de las actividades de innovación todavía se sitúan muy por detrás de los que se observan en once regiones europeas. La cooperación es totalmente indispensable en la región para los procesos corporativos de innovación. Su orientación sólida hacia las sedes o centros de I + D de sociedades multinacionales y usuarios líderes en países avanzados tecnológicamente produce un modelo territorial descontinuado de vínculos en el que las empresas se pasan por alto a los países vecinos de la ASEAN, contrastando marcadamente con el modelo de la disminución de distancia que se observa en Europa. Para profundizar este estudio se deberían emplear conceptos multidimensionales del espacio para dar cabida a dimensiones de carácter territorial, tecnoeconómico, organizativo, relacional y temporal de las redes de innovación.

Sistemas de innovación regionales

Keywords:

• Regional innovation system

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank two anonymous referees for their constructive comments. The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

1. The analyses presented are the result of research projects funded by the German Research Society (DFG) (‘The Development of Regional Innovation Potential and Innovative Networks in Asia’, DFG-Code SCHA 198/38-1), as well as of numerous projects within the framework of the DFG priority programme, ‘Technological Change and Regional Development in Europe’, summarized by Schätzl and Revilla Diez (2002).

2. Starting from the standard Oslo Manual definition of TPP innovations given in the Introduction, manufacturing firms are traditionally seen as the core actors within an NSI as they generate new technological knowledge through formal R&D and informal processes of learning, which they subsequently introduce to the market. Furthermore, they are also seen as prime users and adaptors of new technology. More recently, service firms have also been discovered as major sources of innovation provided that a broader concept of innovation is applied (Miles, 1994; Ducatel and Miles, 1995; Howells, 2001).

3. More recently, the notion of proximity has spawned an increasing number of other writings, of which see Blanc and Sierra (1999), Hassink (2001), Morgan (2004), as well as Boschma (2005) and Torre and Rallet (2005) in a recent issue of this journal. As this emerging literature shows, the number and definition of relevant dimensions has not yet been fully agreed upon.

4. Major adaptations relate to ownership structure, technological capabilities, absorptive capacity, innovation activities other than R&D, and firms' internal environment for innovation. While a detailed discussion would exceed the scope of this paper, the full questionnaires can be viewed in the appendices of Kiese (2004) for Singapore and Stracke (2003) for Penang.

5. In Thailand the firms were selected through random sampling stratified by size and industry. In Singapore and Penang follow-up telephone calls to increase the response rate have been guided to make the structure of the sample reflect that of the total population (Stracke, 2003; Kiese, 2004).

6. Beyond this vital political support the authors would like to thank their local partners for smooth collaboration, namely Professor Wong Poh Kam's Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship (now the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre) at the National University of Singapore; the Penang State Government's think tank Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI); and Bangkok-based consultancy The Brooker Group Plc. Lastly, the authors are indebted to the German Research Council DFG for funding the fieldwork (Project No. DFG SCHA 198/38-1).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Javier Revilla Diez

Email: [email protected]

Matthias Kiese

Email: [email protected]