The territorial dynamics of innovation: a Europe United States comparative analysis

Technological dynamics and social capability: US states and European nations

“…This article offers two extensions. Crescenzi et al (2007) find differences in the technological and territorial dynamics between the two continents. However, their conclusions are based on continent-specific regressions that employ different independent variables.…”

“…Factor analysis is used widely in the social sciences and more recently in research on innovation (Adelman and Morris, 1965;Temple and Johnson, 1998;Fagerberg et al, 2007;Crescenzi et al, 2007;Fagerberg and Srholec, 2008). This method constructs a composite variable based on the insight that different indicators reflecting the same social phenomenon are likely to be strongly correlated.…”

“…Although R&D is certainly important, supporting social, institutional and economic factors need to be in place to absorb R&D investments and ultimately lead to economic growth (Fagerberg et al, 2007). Myriad factors highlighted in Porter (1990)'s four-factor diamond model; the literature on national and regional systems of innovation (Lundvall, 1992;Nelson, 1993;Braczyk et al, 1998) and constructs such as social capability (Abramovitz, 1986), social capital (Coleman, 1988;Putnam, 1993) or the social filter (Rodrı´guez-Pose, 1999;Crescenzi et al, 2007) are demonstrated to affect technological capabilities. The analysis of technological growth, especially as it guides policy and investment decisions, would benefit from a wider perspective.…”

“…Consideration of spatial heterogeneity when analyzing technological and social dynamics provides a more nuanced understanding of the conditions for policy interventions. Crescenzi et al (2007) provides the only prior attempt to examine differences in technological capabilities by comparing US cities to European regions. This article offers two extensions.…”

“…Therefore, we analyze technological dynamics in the two continents using the same model and a set of identical indicators for European countries and US states. To measure innovation, Crescenzi et al (2007) use patent counts as their dependent variable in an innovation production function for the period of 1990-2002. However, patents primarily reflect invention, not innovation, and are much more widely used in some technological fields (e.g.…”