Regional and Organizational Determinants and Effects of Radical Innovations

• Holger Graf – Jena University
• Stefano Basilico – Jena University, University of Bremen – stefano.basilico@uni-jena.de
• Louis Knüpling – Leibniz University Hannover
• Colin Weßendorf – University of Bremen

Radical innovation and related concepts on “exceptional” innovations have recently gained much prominence in the scientific literature. Policy makers at various spatial scales become increasingly aware of the importance of radical innovations to gain competitive advantage and to shape technological change. The growing body of literature deals with organizational and geographical determinants of radical innovation and their subsequent effects for regional economic development. However, a more fine-grained view on the various processes that determine the emergence and the diffusion of radical innovation is clearly necessary.

We invite scholars from various disciplines to engage in discussions about the micro- and macro-level determinants and effects of exceptional innovations as well as novel approaches to measure them empirically. The special session particularly welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions related to the following questions:

• Which regional characteristics spur the emergence of radical innovations?
• In which organizational settings are radical innovations more likely to emerge?
• How can lagging regions benefit from radical innovation to cope with structural change?
• What is the role of research collaboration and networks for radical innovations?
• How can regional and national policy improve conditions for the emergence of radical innovation?
• How can regional and national policies improve the diffusion, i.e. economic and societal benefits, of radical innovation?
• What is the role of international embeddedness (mobility, migration) for radical innovation?