Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
uses and the set of agents carrying out market and non-market interac-
tions for the creation, production and sale of those products' (Malerba
2002 p. 248). In line with the NIS and RIS structures, the main compo-
nents of a sectoral system are: products; agents such as individuals, firms,
universities, financial institutions, central and local government, and firm
consortia; knowledge and learning processes; basic technologies, input
demand conditions and their related links, evolution and complementari-
ties; mechanisms of interactions both within and between firms; processes
of competition and selection; institutions, including industry standards,
regulations and labour relations. Major differences have been highlighted
between the type and structure of SIS in terms of links and relationships
between firms, and among firms and other organizations in generating
and diffusing knowledge; in terms of the innovative process, and particu-
larly with regard to the objectives and sources of innovation; and in terms
of the organization of production and distribution. Some of these differ-
ences, as seen above, are clearly related to the type of technological regime
which governs innovation processes in each sector.
Along the same lines, a technological innovation system (TIS) is defined
as 'a network (or set of networks) of interacting actors that functions in a
specific techno-economic area and that is involved in the generation, diffu-
sion and utilisation of technology' (Carlsson and Stankiewicz 1991, p. 111).
The central features of technological systems are economic competencies
and the ability to exploit new business opportunities, and the clustering of
resources and institutional infrastructure (Carlsson and Stankiewicz 1991;
Metcalfe 1995). The TIS notion is very similar to that of a SIS, although
the TIS can include more than one industry under different technological
regimes. A TIS, as the other innovation systems, is a multi-dimensional
concept and in many cases, its constituent elements such as its knowledge
or competence networks, its industrial networks and development blocks,
and its institutional infrastructure, are spatially correlated. However,
the SIS and TIS analytical frameworks are both basically agnostic with
respect to the role of space, with the primary focus being on explaining
the coherence of both horizontal and vertical industrial 'filières' and of
identifying new technological opportunities. The SIS and TIS concepts
are largely motivated by the limited explanatory power of the national
systems of innovation approach when dealing with institutional settings
regarding technological and sectoral exchanges of knowledge across
national boundaries. The basic problem here is that nation states are often
considered to be the natural 'containers' of many sectoral and technologi-
cal systems, whereas sectoral and technological systems may also be essen-
tially regional or local in nature, with local/regional systems being both
multi-technological and/or multisectoral. In some other cases sectoral
