The Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs seeks to use knowledge and innovation in thecontext of the European Research Area (ERA). To build the ERA the European Union(EU) implements – amongst others - regional innovation policy. Ample scientificpublications have investigated how innovation...

This paper discusses how the results of simulation models can be made more reliable and the method of simulating therefore more widely applicable. We suggested to calibrate simulation models empirically and developed a methodology based on Critical Realism in order to so. We suggested combining...

Local industrial clusters have attracted much attention in the recenteconomic and geographical literature. A huge number of case studies have beenconducted. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the case studies of 159 localindustrial clusters in various countries and industries. Based on an...

A stochastic model of the evolution of the firm population in a regionand industry is developed. This model is used to make predictions about theexpected probability distribution of the firm number in regions and their dynamics.Data on the spatial distribution of firms in Germany is used to...

This paper studies the frequency of observing a certain number offirms or employees in a region for a given industry. Various predictions for thesefrequencies are deduced from theoretical considerations. Then, the empirical distri-butions of 198 industries in Germany are analysed. It is found...

A growing body of work emphasizes the role that the spatial component plays in the in the innovationprocess. These perspectives brought the region’s infrastructure and its endowment withcrucial factors into the focus of research. Given that these factors do significantly influence...

This paper analyzes how the qualitative change in human labor occurs in mutualdependence with the advancement of the epistemic base of technology. Historically, arecurrent pattern can be identified: humans learned to successively transfer laborqualities to machines. The subsequent release of...

Studies of knowledge and innovation as driving forces of regional development and growth offer a myriad of approaches. Here, questions asked, methods used and answers given are manifold. In our overview, we cover recent developments in this research area. Moreover, we explore the question as to...