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a b s t r a c tThis paper analyzes the persistency in innovation behavior of firms. Using five waves of the Community Innovation Survey in Sweden, we have traced the innovative behavior of firms over a ten-year period, i.e., between 2002 and 2012. We distinguish between four types of innovations: process, product, marketing, and organizational innovations. First, using transition probability matrix, we found evidence of (unconditional) state dependence in all types of innovation, with product innovators having the strongest persistent behavior. Second, using a dynamic probit model, we found evidence of "true" state dependency among all types of innovations, except marketing innovators. Once again, the strongest persistency was found for product innovators.

R12,

We study the structure of the interregional inventor networks in Sweden by examining the residence of inventors and coinventors involved in Swedish patent applications to the European Patent O¢ ce. Several factors are found to in ‡uence the spatial a¢ nity of regions. We …nd that spatial a¢ nity extends beyond the region if it has less own R&D-related resources (business R&D, university R&D and patenting); if it is close to the other region and if it is relatively small. The resources of that other region plays a positive role if, in analogue fashion, that region has more R&D-related resources.

This paper analyzes the role of knowledge in regional economic growth by focusing on knowledge accessibility. The research question is the following: can the variation in knowledge accessibility between regions in a given period explain the variation in growth performance of regions in subsequent periods? A main assumption in the paper is that knowledge accessibility transforms into potential knowledge flows. Our results show that differences in growth of value-added per employee across regions can be explained by differences in knowledge accessibility. Intra-municipal and intra-regional knowledge accessibilities are significant and capable of explaining a significant share of the variation in growth of value-added per employee between Swedish municipalities. However, inter-regional knowledge accessibility turned out to be insignificant. This is interpreted as a clear indication of spatial dependence in the sense that the knowledge resources in a given municipality tend to have a positive effect on the growth of other municipalities, conditional on that the municipalities belong to the same functional region. Thus, the results of the analysis indicate that knowledge flows transcend municipal borders, but that they tend to be bound within functional regions.Knowledge, spillovers, endogenous growth, region, accessibility, Sweden,

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High-speed trains could be used to solve two different accessibility problems. In the first case, where a point to point link is dominant, they are a potential substitute for air travelling. In the second case it links together many cities and, hence, creates a new type of region or corridor with a high interregional accessibility. One important hypothesis for the discussion in this paper is the degree to which cities that are linked together into a band of cities by means of a high-speed train connection are transformed to an extended functional region or in other words an integrated corridor economy. This paper particularly examines economic integration in a corridor economy in the short, medium and long term. In considering the short-term perspective we discuss not only the integration of goods and service markets but also the integration of labour markets and markets for shopping, private services and leisure activities. The discussion of the medium term perspective is concentrated on the relocation of households and firms within a high-speed train corridor. To study the long-term integration effects of a high-speed train corridor we maintain that the analysis must be conducted using a genuinely dynamic model for the specialisation of production and, hence, for trade with and transport of goods and services and consequently transport of people.

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