On industrial knowledge bases, commercial opportunities and global innovation network linkages

It is commonly argued that we are witnessing a shift from global production networks, driven by the search for markets and lower cost production sites, to global innovation networks (GINs), driven by the search for knowledge. This paper explores how sources of behavioural differentiation derived from the literature on industrial knowledge bases and technological regimes condition the degree of involvement in international innovation collaboration. We find this to be significantly influenced by the nature of knowledge and the cumulativeness of knowledge development, the active use of measures to protect intellectual property, the inherent need to innovate and the opportunity to generate sales from this activity. The likelihood that the firm establishes and maintains a truly global network configuration is influenced accordingly.