Regional systems of innovation in Canada: A comparative perspective

This thesis examines the processes that generate regional systems of innovation (RSI) and foster their development. It will use a systematic and comparative research approach to investigate whether small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) display similar innovation dynamics in metropolitan locations as they do in more remote areas. It will also shed light on policy implications.;Since the late 1980s, learning and innovation have caught the attention of an increasing number of researchers and policy makers: the interest, fueled in part by the advent of the ‘knowledge-based economy’ or the ‘learning economy’ has led to some pragmatic questions. One of them concerns the policy implications of learning and innovation in regional development matters. These concepts—whilst attractive and marketable—are neither clear nor readily operational, and their relationship with space is still a matter of debate.;The RSI is one of the most persistent themes in regional development research. This approach offers important insights for the investigation of the relation between innovation and territory. The central idea behind this approach is that innovation performance does not depend only on the stock of knowledge created by firms and institutions, but is also dependent on the way these organizations interact with each other and with their environment. Of particular interest in this approach is the importance of geographical proximity in the process of innovation.;This research predominantly aims to explore the process of innovation activities in the manufacturing industry of two different regions, in particular to investigate the characteristics of innovation in metropolitan (Ottawa) and more remote regions (Beauce). The interregional comparison of areas with different preconditions to innovation should reveal the extent to which a region influences innovation dynamics, and thus the extent to which innovation is related to space.;The study shows some striking results: the innovativeness of firms in both regions, highly contrasted in terms of preconditions to innovation, converges into similar behaviors related to innovation practices. There are also similarities regarding sources of information and the role of geography. Networks were important to gain information, which supports the view associated with the systems of innovation literature. However, the study also shows that innovation partners outside the value chain are of less importance in the process of innovation than hypothesized by the RSI approach. In addition, the importance of the regional scale was not substantiated: firms make use of local/regional, national and even global knowledge sources. Thus, this observation motivates the consideration of different spaces of innovation through which learning trajectories take place. Findings suggest that innovation processes combine many locations that are relevant for the development of a particular technological trajectory. Finally, the study shows that innovation is a holistic process and the different elements within a region function as a complex system: attempts to isolate ‘factors’ of development may therefore only be able to capture the process in a very partial way. Accordingly, the region cannot capture all of these complexities. In terms of policy implications, this conclusion offers little reassurance to policymakers in that there is no general solution, even if learning and innovation are fully integrated into the policymaking process.