The role of innovations in local economic development dates back to the late 1800s, when Marshall introduced the concept of industrial district. However, not until hundred years later Marshall’s thoughts saw a revival and refined into concepts of learning regions, innovative milieux, the triple helix model, innovation clusters and regional innovation systems.
One of the key elements in Marshall’s industrial districts and late followers is the role of skilled labor in innovative growth. Few studies have recognized the importance of skilled workforce in regional innovation systems (e.g. Zucker et al., Henry & Pinch, Florida, Boschma et al, Lawton Smith, Makkonen & Inkinen). The concept of regional innovation system has some advantages as it recognizes the role of the active networks between different actors from regional to global level (Asheim). However, in comparison to innovation clusters (Porter), regional innovation systems are a-spatial in nature (Asheim). The role of skilled workforce in spatially more locally defined innovative growth, i.e. in innovation clusters, hasn’t been studied yet. The following statistics includes different indicators of human capital and creative class from the literature as well as some new introductions. Also the concept of examining both the relative and the absolute level of human capital is somewhat new to the subject. In addition, the effect of human capital in area's or region's innovativeness hasn't been studied before in regard to the neighbor areas as well. Significant human capital indicators predicting intra-metropolitan innovativeness are the following:
Findings are based on spatial regression models. I classified variables into absolute and relative sets and the result showed that absolute human capital indicators predict 83 % of the innovative output of the area as relative human capital indicators explain only 51 % of the innovativeness of the area. Examining absolute human capital indicators is something that can be implemented to the subject. Also new introduction, popularity of the immigration critical political parties, is something that can be used in other studies as a indicator of area's tolerance. Introducing the effect of not only the examined area itself but also the neighbor areas, i.e. spatial regression, didn't bring much to the subject.
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July 2018
AuthorJuho Kiuru, geographer living in Helsinki, Finland. |