This paper analyses the geographical implications of having different types of knowledge bases—synthetic and symbolic—involved in one single but complex innovation process: car design. To do so, we investigated three contrasting car design strategies (Audi, Renault, and SAIC-GM) with the aim of exploring empirical regularities and the reasons underlying the links between knowledge bases, knowledge sourcing mechanisms, and resulting spatial configurations. Evidence suggests that when the synthetic knowledge base is dominant, formal collaboration and mobility are prime knowledge sourcing mechanisms. Moreover, knowledge creation and exchange is likely to occur between actors permanently located within the same region or through the temporary colocation of globally spread innovation partners. On the other hand, when symbolic knowledge is dominant, mobility, monitoring, and buzz turn to be the most relevant sourcing mechanisms, and knowledge creation and exchange are likely to occur within a more strictly local dimension (eg, in cities), through temporary colocation configurations (eg, presence in fairs and via temporary staff exchange), and by global scanning of competitors and trends.
AsheimBGertlerM S, 2005, “The geography of innovation: Regional innovation systems”, in The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Eds FagerbergJMoweryDNelsonR, (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 291–317
5.
AsheimBCoenenLMoodyssonJVangJ, 2007a, “Constructing knowledge-based regional advantage: Implications for regional innovation policy”International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management7140–155
6.
AsheimBCoenenLVangJ, 2007b, “Face-to-face, buzz, and knowledge bases: Socio-spatial implications for learning, innovation, and innovation policy”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy25655–670
7.
Audi, 2008Annual Report 2008Audi, Ingolstadt
8.
BatheltHMalmbergAMaskellP, 2004, “Clusters and knowledge: Local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation”Progress in Human Geography2831–56
9.
BeckerH, 2006High Noon in the Automotive Industry (Springer, Berlin)
10.
BunnellT GCoeN M, 2001, “Spaces and scales of innovation”Progress in Human Geography25569–589
11.
DrakeG, 2003, “‘This place gives me space’: Place and creativity in the creative industries”Geoforum34511–524
12.
FaulconbridgeJ R, 2010, “Global architects: Learning and innovation through communities and constellations of practice”Environment and Planning A422842–2858
13.
GeorgeA LBennettA, 2005Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
14.
GertlerM, 2008, “Buzz without being there? Communities of practice in context”, in Community, Economic Creativity and Organisation Eds AminARobertsJ, (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 203–226
15.
GrabherG, 2001, “Ecologies of creativity: The village, the group, and the heterarchic organisation of the British advertising industry”Environment and Planning A33351–374
16.
IbertO, 2010, “Relational distance: Sociocultural and time–spatial tensions in innovation practices”Environment and Planning A42187–204
17.
JonesA, 2007, “More than ‘managing across borders?’ The complex role of face-to-face interaction in globalizing law firms”Journal of Economic Geography7223–246
LeamerE EStorperM, 2001, “The economic geography of the Internet age”Journal of International Business Studies32641–655
20.
LiuWDickenP, 2006, “Transnational corporations and ‘obligated embeddedness’: Foreign direct investment in China's automobile industry”Environment and Planning A381229–1247
21.
MairA, 1997, “Strategic localization: The myth of the postnational enterprise”, in Spaces of Globalization: Reasserting the Power of the Local Ed. CoxK R, (Guilford Press, New York) pp 66–88
22.
MaleckiE J, 2010, “Global knowledge and creativity: New challenges for firms and regions”Regional Studies431–20
23.
MartinR, 2012Knowledge Bases and the Geography of InnovationCentre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE), Lund University
24.
MartinRMoodyssonJ, 2011, “Comparing knowledge bases: On the geography and organization of knowledge sourcing in the regional innovation system of Scania, Sweden”European Urban and Regional Studies181–18
25.
MaskellPBatheltHMalmbergA, 2006, “Building global knowledge pipelines: The role of temporary clusters”European Planning Studies14997–1013
26.
MolotchH, 2002, “Place in product”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research26665–688
27.
MoodyssonJ, 2008, “Principles and practices of knowledge creation: On the organization of ‘buzz’ and ‘pipelines’ in life science communities”Economic Geography84449–469
28.
MoodyssonJCoenenLAsheimB, 2008, “Explaining spatial patterns of innovation: Analytical and synthetic modes of knowledge creation in the Medicon Valley life-science cluster”Environment and Planning A401040–1056
29.
MoulaertFSekiaF, 2003, “Territorial innovation models: A critical survey”Regional Studies37289–302
30.
PlumOHassinkR, 2011, “Comparing knowledge networking in different knowledge bases in Germany”Papers in Regional Science90355–372
31.
PlumOHassinkR, 2013, “Analysing the knowledge base configuration that drives southwest Saxony's automotive firms”European Urban and Regional Studies20206–226
32.
SalernoM SDiasA V Carneiro, 2005, “The development of modularity and niche product design in Brazil”, in Company Strategies and Organisational Evolution in the Automotive Sector: A Worldwide Perspective Eds GaribaldoFBardiA, (Peter Lang, Berlin) pp 443–459
33.
StarkP, 2011The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
34.
StorperMVenablesA J, 2004, “Buzz: Face-to-face contact and the urban economy”Journal of Economic Geography4351–370
35.
SturgeonTVan BiesebroeckJGereffiG, 2008, “Value chains, networks and clusters: Reframing the global automotive industry”Journal of Economic Geography8297–321
36.
SunleyPPinchSReimerSMacmillenJ, 2008, “Innovation in a creative production system: The case of design”Journal of Economic Geography8675–698
37.
TorreA, 2008, “On the role played by temporary geographical proximity in knowledge transmission”Regional Studies42869–889
38.
ToveyMPorterSNewmanR, 2003, “Sketching, concept development and automotive design”Design Studies24135–153
39.
Van WindenWVan den BergLCarvalhoLVan TuijlE, 2010Manufacturing in the New Urban Economy (Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon)
40.
VinodraiT, 2006, “Reproducing Toronto's design ecology: Career paths, intermediaries, and local labor markets”Economic Geography82237–263
41.
Von HippelE, 1994, “‘Sticky information’ and the locus of problem solving: Implications for innovation”Management Science40429–439
42.
WellerS, 2008, “Beyond ‘global production networks’: Australian Fashion Week's trans-sectoral synergies”Growth and Change39101–122
