"While a Storm is Raging on the Open Sea": Regional Development in a Knowledge-Based Economy

Abstract

Theorizing about knowledge-based economies has shiftedfrom focusing on science policy to innovation policy. A "triple helix"model is elaborated as an indicator specifically suited for measuring the knowledge base of an economy. This model goes beyond the systems-of-innovationapproach that looks at institutional units of analysis, and beyond the"Mode 2" model that defines innovations in terms of reconstructions ofcommunication. In the Triple Helix model, the knowledge-based system is composed ofuniversity, industry, and government relations. The micro-foundations of themodel are both agent-based and communication based; there are positions (persons, firms, countries), information value of the networks, and exchange relations (media of communications), andthree dimensions: knowledge,economy, and geography. These dimensions yield interaction terms: innovation,political economy, and knowledge infrastructure. The knowledge base of an economy can be considered a second-order interaction effect among thefirst-order bilateral interactions. This model identifies the university as the carrier of knowledge production; industry as representing the economic function; and the government level is responsible for interfacing and organizing at the system level the other two elements. The three-dimensional system can be operationalized by measuring each dimension's variation and the co-variation between them.(TNM)

Keywords: Mode 2 innovation system, Economic models, Innovation process, Knowledge base, Knowledge economies, Knowledge production, University-industry relations, Triple helix model, Social networks, Regional development, Information dissemination, Economic indicators