Innovation networks for regional development - An agent-based simulation approach

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Pyka
• Co-Applicant: Dr. Matthias Weber
• Subject Area: Economic Theory
• Term: from 2012 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 214145179

Innovation networks have been recognized as a persistent organizational phenomenon in industrial innovation and are considered as the locus where knowledge is created. They are considered as an effective target as well as a tool for regional innovation policy. Methodologically we adopt agent-based modelling to address the complexity of innovation in a regional context. The main objective is to build a comprehensive model of how organizations - firms, public research organizations and other relevant organizations - create and exchange knowledge, how they form innovation networks, and how they contribute to successful and sustainable regional development. By developing a computational laboratory for comparative analysis of innovation dynamics in geographical space, for the first time agent-based models of innovation networks are applied to specific regions and sectors. Experiments for various sectors will be performed in selected regions, namely in a classical “high-tech region” (Stuttgart) and a “metropolitan knowledge intensive services region” (Vienna). The significance of our research is to be seen in the advancement of theories of regional innovation based on micro-processes, and the improvement of agent-based simulation methodology in the regional innovation context. Fine-grained and thorough empirical calibration and validation will improve the credibility of the model both in the scientific and the policy context.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria