TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of knowledge-intense high-impact firms in city innovation systems
AU - Burström, Thommie
AU - Peltonen, Juhana
PY - 2018/10/2
Y1 - 2018/10/2
N2 - Past studies on city innovation systems acknowledge the important role of firms, but rarely study them explicitly. This paper shifts attention to the firm level, and proposes that knowledge-intensive high-impact firms are especially important in shaping the economic development of local economies by creating industry-specific micro pathways. This argument follows from their central role in city innovation systems: we propose that knowledge-intense high-impact firms (KIHIFs) have a relatively high absorptive capacity and therefore make better use of knowledge spillover, but also play a role in distributing international knowledge spillover in return. To empirically investigate this thesis, we examine firms operating in the computer-programming activities, and engineering and technical consultancy industries in the capital area surrounding Helsinki, Finland. In line with our theoretical arguments, we find that the relative within-industry concentrations and rates of internationalisation of KIHIFs vary greatly over small geographic distances. Future research and implications for policy-makers are discussed.
AB - Past studies on city innovation systems acknowledge the important role of firms, but rarely study them explicitly. This paper shifts attention to the firm level, and proposes that knowledge-intensive high-impact firms are especially important in shaping the economic development of local economies by creating industry-specific micro pathways. This argument follows from their central role in city innovation systems: we propose that knowledge-intense high-impact firms (KIHIFs) have a relatively high absorptive capacity and therefore make better use of knowledge spillover, but also play a role in distributing international knowledge spillover in return. To empirically investigate this thesis, we examine firms operating in the computer-programming activities, and engineering and technical consultancy industries in the capital area surrounding Helsinki, Finland. In line with our theoretical arguments, we find that the relative within-industry concentrations and rates of internationalisation of KIHIFs vary greatly over small geographic distances. Future research and implications for policy-makers are discussed.
KW - 512 Business and Management
KW - City innovation systems
KW - high-impact firms
KW - pathway
KW - knowledge intensive
KW - knowledge spillover
KW - absorptive capacity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85048542599&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14479338.2018.1478734
DO - 10.1080/14479338.2018.1478734
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85048542599
SN - 1447-9338
VL - 20
SP - 377
EP - 392
JO - Innovation: Management, Policy and Practice
JF - Innovation: Management, Policy and Practice
IS - 4
ER -