Innovation and Production Ecosystems

1The Process of Institutionalization of Innovation and Production Ecosystems

Innovation and production ecosystems are emerging forms of the organization of economic activities. The abundance of research dedicated to this topic evidently shows that this is a relevant theme supposed to provide suitable answers for the issues faced by present-day societies in terms of innovation, growth and employment. The main feature of the analysis of localized innovation lies in the contributions made by several knowledge domains: geographic economics emphasizes the benefits of agglomeration economies, institutional economics outlines the path of local learning, studies focusing on governance underline the need to share responsibilities between private and public actors, and approaches based on social capital rely on proximity and the communication channels of tacit knowledge. Finally, the knowledge economy models the interactions required by the innovation process, whose intrinsic nature is prominently collective, open and built on dialog.

This chapter is situated at the interface of these different contributions. The process that leads to the institutionalization and sustainability of these types of organization relies on learning paths that may be hindered by several elements. In particular, the constraints that limit actors in the context of globalization and the impact of the choices made in terms of location immediately reveal the existence of obstacles and the flexible and adaptable ...