Title: Knowledge links in high-technology industries: markets, networks or milieu? The case of the Vienna biotechnology cluster

Authors: Franz Todtling, Michaela Trippl

Addresses: Institute for Regional Development and Environment, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, UZA 4, Nordbergstrasse 15, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. ' Institute for Regional Development and Environment, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, UZA 4, Nordbergstrasse 15, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

Abstract: In recent years, the innovation process in biotechnology has become a subject of major interest to scholars from different disciplines. Despite an ever growing body of work, the nature of knowledge links and their particular geography remain a highly disputed issue. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on this topic. We will develop a model of knowledge interactions distinguishing between market relations, formal networks, spillovers and informal links. This model will then be used as a conceptual framework for an analysis of various types of knowledge flows in the emerging Vienna biotechnology cluster. We will show that knowledge exchange is a multifaceted phenomenon and that each type of knowledge interaction exhibits a specific geography.

Keywords: high technology industries; biotechnology clusters; knowledge links; Austria; high tech; innovation management; knowledge flows.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2007.012888

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2007 Vol.7 No.2/3/4/5, pp.345 - 365

Published online: 21 Mar 2007 *

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