Measuring the knowledge base of regional innovation systems in Germany in terms of a Triple Helix dynamics

TL;DR

This paper measures the knowledge base of regional innovation systems in Germany using a Triple Helix model, analyzing how economic exchange, innovation, and institutional control interact to reduce uncertainty and foster regional development.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized Triple Helix-based indicator of system synergy and applies it to German regional data, challenging previous assumptions about East-West divides.

Findings

Medium-tech manufacturing drives regional knowledge configurations.

Knowledge-intensive services tend to decouple the economy from regional configurations.

The medium-tech manufacturing configuration is a better indicator of the knowledge-based economy.

Abstract

The interaction among the three sub-dynamics of economic exchange, technological innovation, and institutional control can be captured with a generalized Triple Helix model. We propose to use the information contained in the configuration among the three sub-dynamics as an indicator of the synergy in a configuration. This measure indicates the reduction of the uncertainty which prevails at the level of an innovation system. On the basis of data at the district level in Germany, the conclusions of a previous study about the Netherlands are tested: medium-tech manufacturing is the main driver of the knowledge-based configuration in a regional economy, while knowledge-intensive services tend to uncouple the economy from the regional configuration. At the level of regions (NUTS-2) Germany's knowledge-based economy is no longer structured in terms of the previous East-West divide of the country, while this divide has prevailed at the level of the states (NUTS-1) that constitute the Federal Republic. However, the effects of high and medium-tech are not specific for the western or eastern parts of the country. The configuration of medium-tech manufacturing can be considered a better indicator of the knowledge-based economy than that of high-tech manufacturing.