Geography of Knowledge-based Collaboration in a Post-communist Country: Specific Experience or Generalized Pattern?

Abstract

This article addresses the role of geographical proximity for knowledge and innovation collaboration patterns in the Czech Republic and assesses the factors which determine the spatial distribution of innovation co-operation. The article uses alternative sources of empirical data to map collaboration patterns of innovating companies, research institutes and universities and to find basic regularities. By this, the article aims to fill in the gap in current research focused rather on most advanced regions by adding new knowledge from a transformation, post-communist economy. Also, it aims to shed light on the issue of the role of proximity between actors involved in collaboration in the sphere of knowledge and innovation creation which still remains rather elusive. The findings indicate that even though co-location and intra-regional knowledge and innovation collaboration exist, it cannot be regarded as a decisive characteristic. Geographical proximity is not a crucial condition in knowledge and innovation collaboration as all actors are involved to an important degree in international linkages. Yet, the role of the specific institutional context and factors at micro-level influence the innovation co-operation pattern.

Acknowledgements

The paper was elaborated with financial support of research grant no. CRP/07/E005 provided by the Grant Agency of The Czech Republic as a part of international project of European Science Foundation “Constructing Regional Advantage: Towards State-of-the-Art Regional Innovation System Policies in Europe?” and of Research Programme No. MSM 0021620831 sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. The author wishes to thank to all the participants in the e-mail questionnaire as well as in the interviews carried out. Acknowledgement is also given to Jiří Blažek for his comments on the paper.

Notes

This argument is supported, for instance, by Simmie (2006, p. 166) who mentions the OECD study estimating that between 1975 and 1995 about half of the total growth in output of the developed world resulted from innovation, and this study also argues that between 25% and 50% of economic growth comes from technological progress.

In terms of WEF (2007).

There are 14 self-governing regions in the Czech Republic at the NUTS III level.

Czech IPO was chosen due to considerably higher number of patents registered than in the case of European Patent Office (EPO).

The Fourth Community Innovation Survey cover the period 2003–2005 and 2004–2006, respectively, as the same questionnaire has been used twice for the survey carried out by the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO).

By innovative enterprise is meant the enterprise that has implemented at least one of the innovations within the observation period, i.e. product, process, marketing and/or organizational innovation.

Unfortunately, CIS does not include the regional level and therefore data only for the whole Czech Republic are presented.

For instance, Prague concentrates about 40% and Jihomoravský region, the second largest town's region, about 16% of the scientific and research employment of the Czech Republic.

Among foreign co-applicants, there were 10 from Slovakia, 4 from Belgium, 4 from Ukraine, 3 from Germany and 1 from the Netherlands, Italy, Russia and UK.