IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v33y2015i6p1432-1449.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge bases, regional innovation systems, and Korea's solar PV industry

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas R Gress

Abstract

In order to more firmly align the study of Korean regional innovation systems (RIS) with contemporary place-based inquiry into innovation processes, this research deploys a knowledge base and RIS perspective to explore firms’ motivations to innovate and spatial variability in firms’ use of innovation-supporting infrastructure and external technical support. Results, on the basis of a survey of Korean solar photovoltaic firms, parallel expectations of firms with a synthetic knowledge base and indicate that firms are active in multiple ‘regional networked innovation systems’. This suggests a move away from Korea's historically dirigiste system toward an approach which is more balanced among regions. Concerning RIS research, wider applications derived from the study include suggestions to further integrate firm-level analyses in order to unearth shortcomings associated with policy, to deploy knowledge base considerations to identify possible policy mismatch, and to include multispatial demand support considerations for innovative activity, particularly for nascent industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas R Gress, 2015. "Knowledge bases, regional innovation systems, and Korea's solar PV industry," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(6), pages 1432-1449, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:33:y:2015:i:6:p:1432-1449
    DOI: 10.1177/0263774X15614464
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0263774X15614464
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0263774X15614464?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip Cooke & Carla De Laurentis & Franz Tödtling & Michaela Trippl, 2007. "Regional Knowledge Economies," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3957.
    2. Cristina Chaminade, 2011. "Are Knowledge Bases Enough? A Comparative Study of the Geography of Knowledge Sources in China (Great Beijing) and India (Pune)," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(7), pages 1357-1373, July.
    3. Jong-Bok Park & Tae-Kyu Ryu & David Gibson, 2010. "Facilitating public-to-private technology transfer through consortia: initial evidence from Korea," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 237-252, April.
    4. Hobday, Michael & Rush, Howard & Bessant, John, 2004. "Approaching the innovation frontier in Korea: the transition phase to leadership," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1433-1457, December.
    5. Jiří Blažek & Pavla žížalová & Petr Rumpel & Karel Skokan, 2010. "Where Does the Knowledge for Knowledge-intensive Industries Come From? The Case of Biotech in Prague and ICT in Ostrava," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(7), pages 1277-1303, December.
    6. Sung-Young Kim, 2012. "Transitioning from fast-follower to innovator: The institutional foundations of the Korean telecommunications sector," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 140-168.
    7. Harald Bathelt & Nina Schuldt, 2008. "Between Luminaires and Meat Grinders: International Trade Fairs as Temporary Clusters," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 853-868.
    8. Ching-Yan Wu, 2014. "Comparisons of technological innovation capabilities in the solar photovoltaic industries of Taiwan, China, and Korea," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 429-446, January.
    9. Bjørn Asheim & Lars Coenen & Jan Vang, 2007. "Face-to-Face, Buzz, and Knowledge Bases: Sociospatial Implications for Learning, Innovation, and Innovation Policy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 25(5), pages 655-670, October.
    10. Bae‐Gyoon Park, 2008. "Uneven Development, Inter‐scalar Tensions, and the Politics of Decentralization in South Korea," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 40-59, March.
    11. Jacobsson, Staffan & Johnson, Anna, 2000. "The diffusion of renewable energy technology: an analytical framework and key issues for research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 625-640, July.
    12. Antje Klitkou & Lars Coenen, 2013. "The Emergence of the Norwegian Solar Photovoltaic Industry in a Regional Perspective," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(11), pages 1796-1819, November.
    13. Yong-Sook Lee, 2009. "Balanced Development in Globalizing Regional Development? Unpacking the New Regional Policy of South Korea," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 353-367.
    14. Euijune Kim & Kabsung Kim, 2002. "Impacts of regional development strategies on growth and equity of Korea: A multiregional CGE model," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 36(1), pages 165-180.
    15. Dieter Ernst, 2002. "Global production networks and the changing geography of innovation systems. Implications for developing countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(6), pages 497-523.
    16. Pablo D'Este & Frederick Guy & Simona Iammarino, 2013. "Shaping the formation of university--industry research collaborations: what type of proximity does really matter?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 537-558, July.
    17. John Mathews & Mei-Chih Hu & Ching-Yan Wu, 2011. "Fast-Follower Industrial Dynamics: The Case of Taiwan's Emergent Solar Photovoltaic Industry," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 177-202.
    18. Ulrich Dewald & Bernhard Truffer, 2011. "Market Formation in Technological Innovation Systems—Diffusion of Photovoltaic Applications in Germany," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 285-300.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cristina Chaminade & Claudia De Fuentes & Gouya Harirchi & Monica Plechero, 2016. "The geography and structure of global innovation networks: global scope and regional embeddedness," Chapters, in: Richard Shearmu & Christophe Carrincazeaux & David Doloreux (ed.), Handbook on the Geographies of Innovation, chapter 22, pages 370-381, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Strupeit, Lars, 2017. "An innovation system perspective on the drivers of soft cost reduction for photovoltaic deployment: The case of Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 273-286.
    3. Franz Tödtling & Markus Grillitsch, 2014. "Types of Innovation, Competencies of Firms, and External Knowledge Sourcing—Findings from Selected Sectors and Regions of Europe," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 5(2), pages 330-356, June.
    4. Binz, Christian & Truffer, Bernhard, 2017. "Global Innovation Systems—A conceptual framework for innovation dynamics in transnational contexts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1284-1298.
    5. Binz, Christian & Tang, Tian & Huenteler, Joern, 2017. "Spatial lifecycles of cleantech industries – The global development history of solar photovoltaics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 386-402.
    6. Marcel Bednarz & Tom Broekel, 2020. "Pulled or pushed? The spatial diffusion of wind energy between local demand and supply," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(4), pages 893-916.
    7. Cristina Chaminade & Monica Plechero, 2015. "Do Regions Make a Difference? Regional Innovation Systems and Global Innovation Networks in the ICT Industry," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 215-237, February.
    8. Neij, Lena & Heiskanen, Eva & Strupeit, Lars, 2017. "The deployment of new energy technologies and the need for local learning," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 274-283.
    9. Jiří Blažek & Pavla Žížalová, 2010. "The Biotechnology Industry in the Prague Metropolitan Region: A Cluster within a Fragmented Innovation System?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(5), pages 887-904, October.
    10. Marina Van Geenhuizen & Pieter Stek, 2015. "Mapping innovation in the global photovoltaic industry: a bibliometric approach to cluster identification and analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa15p697, European Regional Science Association.
    11. McMahon, Dominique & Thorsteinsdóttir, Halla, 2013. "Pursuing endogenous high-tech innovation in developing countries: A look at regenerative medicine innovation in Brazil, China and India," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 965-974.
    12. Karakaya, Emrah & Nuur, Cali & Hidalgo, Antonio, 2016. "Business model challenge: Lessons from a local solar company," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1026-1035.
    13. Franz Tödtling & Markus Grillitsch, 2015. "Does Combinatorial Knowledge Lead to a Better Innovation Performance of Firms?," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1741-1758, September.
    14. Karakaya, Emrah & Sriwannawit, Pranpreya, 2015. "Barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems: The state of the art," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 60-66.
    15. Choung, Jae-Yong & Hwang, Hye-Ran & Song, Wichin, 2014. "Transitions of Innovation Activities in Latecomer Countries: An Exploratory Case Study of South Korea," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 156-167.
    16. Yongli Tang & Kazuyuki Motohashi & Xinyue Hu & Angeles Montoro-Sanchez, 2020. "University-industry interaction and product innovation performance of Guangdong manufacturing firms: the roles of regional proximity and research quality of universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 578-618, April.
    17. Grzegorz Micek, 2019. "Geographical Proximity Paradox Revisited: The Case of IT Service SMEs in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    18. Bossink, Bart, 2020. "Learning strategies in sustainable energy demonstration projects: What organizations learn from sustainable energy demonstrations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    19. Andersson, Johnn & Hellsmark, Hans & Sandén, Björn A., 2018. "Shaping factors in the emergence of technological innovations: The case of tidal kite technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 191-208.
    20. Breul Moritz & Broekel Tom & Brachert Matthias, 2015. "Die Treiber der räumlichen Emergenz und Konzentration der Photovoltaik- Industrie in Deutschland," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 59(3), pages 133-150, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:33:y:2015:i:6:p:1432-1449. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.