Rights statement: “The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Urban Studies, 50 (9), 2013, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2013 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Urban Studies page: http://usj.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/
Submitted manuscript, 317 KB, PDF document
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Original innovation, learnt innovation and cities
T2 - evidence from UK SMEs
AU - Lee, Neil
AU - Rodriguez-Pose, Andres
N1 - “The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Urban Studies, 50 (9), 2013, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2013 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Urban Studies page: http://usj.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - One of the key benefits of cities is that they allow the exchange of knowledge and information between economic actors. This may have two effects: it may create the conditions for entirely new innovations to emerge; and, it may allow firms to learn innovations from those nearby. Yet few studies have considered the impact of an urban location on whether innovations are original or learnt. This paper tests these hypotheses using survey evidence for over 1600 UK SMEs. It is shown that, while urban firms tend to be both product and process innovators, urban firms are disproportionately likely to introduce process innovations which are only new to the firm, rather than entirely original. Instead, the urban advantage in product innovation appears to come from a combination of the effects. The results highlight a need for a nuanced view of the link between cities and innovation.
AB - One of the key benefits of cities is that they allow the exchange of knowledge and information between economic actors. This may have two effects: it may create the conditions for entirely new innovations to emerge; and, it may allow firms to learn innovations from those nearby. Yet few studies have considered the impact of an urban location on whether innovations are original or learnt. This paper tests these hypotheses using survey evidence for over 1600 UK SMEs. It is shown that, while urban firms tend to be both product and process innovators, urban firms are disproportionately likely to introduce process innovations which are only new to the firm, rather than entirely original. Instead, the urban advantage in product innovation appears to come from a combination of the effects. The results highlight a need for a nuanced view of the link between cities and innovation.
U2 - 10.1177/0042098012470395
DO - 10.1177/0042098012470395
M3 - Journal article
VL - 50
SP - 1742
EP - 1759
JO - Urban Studies
JF - Urban Studies
SN - 0042-0980
IS - 9
ER -