Knowledge Management in Advanced Technology Industries: An Examination of International Agricultural Biotechnology Clusters

Innovation—the social process of developing, adapting, and adopting new technologies and products into the economy and society—is being driven by increasingly intensive use of knowledge. Although knowledge is often considered inherently nonrival and nonexcludable, increasing complexity has combined with new private property rights mechanisms to erect barriers to use. One approach to overcoming the challenge of accessing and using knowledge has been for firms and other actors to cluster geographically in a few locations around the world, in order to capture scale and scope economies. This paper offers a theoretical explanation for this agglomeration, examines the extent of clustering in the agricultural biotechnology industry, and investigates one specific cluster—in Saskatoon, Canada—that has sustained success in generating successive innovation. Preliminary results indicate that clusters appear to be prevalent in areas where knowledge is diffuse, complicated, and actively protected. Finally, our results also suggest that regional knowledge management is enhanced through an optimal number of actors operating within the parameters of seven defined cluster-based functions: three primary (science, technology and collective) and four mixed or hybrid activities.