Innovation in Clusters: Effects of Absorptive Capacity and Environmental Moderators

Firms in business clusters have been hypothesized to possess performance advantages due to superior access to knowledge spillovers as a consequence of geographic proximity. By using data from 257 firms operating in twelve different European clusters, we examine how absorptive capacity impacts explor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inISPIM Conference Proceedings p. 1
Main Authors Kohlbacher, Markus, Weitlaner, Doris, Hollosi, Arno, Grünwald, Stefan, Grahsl, Hans-Peter
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published Manchester The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) 01.01.2012
Subjects
Absorptive capacity
Business community
Cluster analysis
Competitive advantage
Distribution channels
Exploitation
Externality
Innovations
Knowledge
Knowledge management
Strategic management
Studies
Technological change
Europe
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Summary:Firms in business clusters have been hypothesized to possess performance advantages due to superior access to knowledge spillovers as a consequence of geographic proximity. By using data from 257 firms operating in twelve different European clusters, we examine how absorptive capacity impacts explorative and exploitative innovation in business cluster settings. We further investigate the moderating role of the environment on the relationship between absorptive capacity and innovation performance. We find that absorptive capacity impacts both, explorative and exploitative innovation, and that the strength of the impact depends on the level of dynamism and competitiveness in the business cluster. Specifically, we found that environmental dynamism and competitiveness positively moderate the effect of absorptive capacity on explorative innovation, and negatively moderate the effect of absorptive capacity on exploitative innovation. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]