Do Local Knowledge Spillovers Matter for Development? An Empirical Study of Uruguay’s Software Cluster

Abstract

In economically advanced countries, local knowledge spillovers (LKS) among agglomerated firms are seen as major drivers of regional innovation and growth. In contrast, innovation research focusing on developing countries has emphasized the importance of international linkages, while LKS have remained unstudied. This paper assesses the importance of LKS for the innovation performance of clustered firms in a developing country setting. An econometric analysis with new survey data from software firms in Montevideo, Uruguay, shows that LKS have a significantly positive impact on firms' innovation performance through labour mobility, company spin-offs and informal interactions among actors. LKS are also shown to be highly important relative to other sources of knowledge used by the firms.

Learning and technological capability building in emerging economies: The case of the biomass power equipment industry in Malaysia

“…First, as Kesidou and Romijn (2008) note, learning opportunities available from local knowledge systems may provide an important stimulus for technological capability building in latecomer firms (see also Bell and Albu, 1999). Among such learning sources, Chen (2009) particularly stresses the role of inter-firm interactions in the form of informal knowledge spill-over among local competitors.…”

“…Another source of externally mediated inter-firm learning may take place when firms interact with local competitors either through formalised ventures, such as project partnering, or from non-formal channels such as "learning by imitation and copying" and local labour turnover. Such knowledge spillovers across firms in a local industry or economy may constitute a key (external) learning source for latecomer firms (Kesidou and Romijn, 2008).…”

“…However, since it may be useful to consider these, at least potentially, as complementary (rather than alternative) sources of technological capability building, some recent studies have highlighted the importance of assessing how firms use different combinations of such learning mechanisms (see e.g. Giuliani et al, 2005;Kesidou and Romijn, 2008;Fu and Gong, 2011;Fu and Zhang 2011;and Li, 2011). Building on these studies, this paper examines which specific combinations of learning mechanisms firms utilise as complementary composites or bundles of learning mechanisms, thus providing a basis for examining the consequences of these firm-specific patterns for the levels of technological capability achieved.…”

E-Learning, Virtual Learning and Social Capital

“…The same phenomenon appears in the transfer of knowledge among firms: personal contacts are a very important component of this process, at least in developing countries, as the work of Kesidou and Romijn (2008) clearly shows.…”

How Does The Milk Processing Industry in Indonesia Develop Their Technological Capability?

“…Other sources of external learning that is mediated between companies can occur when a company interacts with local competitors-either through formal business, such as a partnership project, or from non-formal channels such as "learning through cheating and copying" as well as local labor turnover. Such spillover of knowledge in local companies or small companies may be the key sources of learning for new companies (Kesidou & Romijn, 2008). Viotti (2002) emphasizes that in a new company, learning technology is largely confined to the absorption of existing technology obtained from abroad, especially from companies that are technologically advanced.…”