Existing research has emphasised various mechanisms for knowledge exchange in industry clusters, including inter-firm collaboration, labour mobility, and monitoring of other firms. However, these mechanisms are normally studied in isolation, and we know little about how they interrelate. This paper examines which firms collaborate within a cluster. We ask whether knowledge exchanges through other channels, specifically monitoring and labour mobility, are positively or negatively associated with collaboration. We use data from interviews with 30 firms in the subsea sector in Rogaland, Norway, representing nearly the entire population of the cluster, to examine the association between the different forms of linkages. The results from Social Network Analysis reveal an overall high degree of knowledge exchange among the organisations making up the subsea cluster. Furthermore, using Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) regression analysis, we find that collaborative linkages are significantly more likely to exist between firms which share recruitment and/or monitoring linkages.

With combined insights from evolutionary economic geography and transition studies, the article examines the engagement of different regions in Norway in the innovation networks created within the European Union's environmental programmes. The aim is to explore the programmes' potential for supporting green economy and economic restructuring through branching and new path creation. The authors assess which regions participate in the programmes, which international networks they build, and which organisations participate in different regions. They compare three regions with different restructuring needs and research capacitythe counties of Rogaland, Hordaland, and Sør-Trøndelag (now part of the county of Trøndelag). They find that overall, Norwegian organisations participate relatively frequently in the programmes, but private firms play a marginal role. Their partners are mainly in core EU regions. Regional participation in the programmes is a function of research capacity as well as oil dependence. The authors conclude that in research-oriented regions, research establishments tend to dominate participation, creating potential for restructuring mainly through path creation. In oil-dependent regions, private firms account for a higher share of participants, enhancing the potential for branching. As the former regions participate more, the programme can mainly stimulate path creation.

No abstract