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The 'KIBS Engine' of Regional Innovation Systems: Empirical Evidence from European Regions

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  • Nicoletta Corrocher
  • Lucia Cusmano

Abstract

Corrocher N. and Cusmano L. The 'KIBS engine' of regional innovation systems: empirical evidence from European regions, Regional Studies . Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) are key players in innovation systems, particularly in advanced regions where manufacturing competitiveness largely depends on knowledge contents provided by highly specialized suppliers. This paper investigates the relationship between KIBS and the structure and performance of regional innovation systems in Europe. It maps the co-evolution between KIBS and manufacturing in European regions, identifying emergent typologies of regional innovation systems. Results show that KIBS are a defining element of innovation-oriented regions, whereas their scarcity and slow growth distinctively characterize poor performing innovation systems. However, the analysis also identifies a set of core manufacturing regions in Europe, which are evolving along a different trajectory into knowledge-oriented service-manufacturing complexes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicoletta Corrocher & Lucia Cusmano, 2014. "The 'KIBS Engine' of Regional Innovation Systems: Empirical Evidence from European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(7), pages 1212-1226, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:48:y:2014:i:7:p:1212-1226
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2012.731045
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dirk Czarnitzki & Alfred Spielkamp, 2003. "Business services in Germany: bridges for innovation," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Muller, Emmanuel & Doloreux, David, 2007. "The key dimensions of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) analysis: a decade of evolution," Working Papers "Firms and Region" U1/2007, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    3. Valentina Meliciani & Maria Savona, 2015. "The determinants of regional specialisation in business services: agglomeration economies, vertical linkages and innovation," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 387-416.
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    1. Chen, Liang-Chih, 2015. "Building extra-regional networks for regional innovation systems: Taiwan's machine tool industry in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 107-117.
    2. Thomas Brenner & Marco Capasso & Matthias Duschl & Koen Frenken & Tania Treibich, 2018. "Causal relations between knowledge-intensive business services and regional employment growth," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 172-183, February.
    3. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2016. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 3: Zur Standortstruktur von wissensintensiven Unternehmensdiensten – Fakten, Bestimmungsgründe, regionalpo," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 59427.
    4. Seungil Yum, 2019. "The interaction between knowledge-intensive business services and urban economy," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 63(1), pages 53-83, August.
    5. Krzysztof BORODAKO & Jadwiga BERBEKA & Michał RUDNICKI & Mariusz ŠAPCZYŃSKI, 2021. "Online Visibility and Knowledge-Intensive Business Services Performance: The Scope of Interrelatedness," Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 157-173, August.
    6. Pintera, Jan, 2024. "Regional convergence in the European Union – Factors of growth between the great recession and the COVID crisis," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(1).
    7. Bustinza, Oscar F. & Opazo-Basaez, Marco & Tarba, Shlomo, 2022. "Exploring the interplay between Smart Manufacturing and KIBS firms in configuring product-service innovation performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    8. Mingyu Zhao & Jianguo Liu, 2021. "Study on Spatial Structure Characteristics of the Tourism and Leisure Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    9. Apostolos Vetsikas & Yeoryios Stamboulis & Vasiliki Georgatzi, 2024. "Exploring the coevolution of heterogeneous actors in national innovation systems: a system dynamics analysis of Finland," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 581-610, October.
    10. Honggang Qi & Shenghe Liu & Wei Qi & Zhen Liu, 2019. "Geographical Concentration of Knowledge- and Technology-Intensive Industries and City Innovation in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    11. Ling Zhang, 2024. "Spatial agglomeration of information services industry and its evolution: Evidence from the Pearl River Delta, China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), March.

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