Where is Synergy Indicated in the Norwegian Innovation System? Triple-Helix Relations among Technology, Organization, and Geography

TL;DR

This study uses information theory to analyze Norwegian innovation systems, revealing regional differences in synergy among technology, organization, and geography, with insights on FDI and government influence.

Contribution

It introduces a triple-helix mutual information measure to quantify regional innovation synergy in Norway, highlighting spatial and sectoral variations.

Findings

11.7% synergy at regional level

West coast counties more knowledge-based

FDI has larger spill-overs than universities

Abstract

Using information theory and data for all (0.5 million) Norwegian firms, the national and regional innovation systems are decomposed into three subdynamics: (i) economic wealth generation, (ii) technological novelty production, and (iii) government interventions and administrative control. The mutual information in three dimensions can then be used as an indicator of potential synergy, that is, reduction of uncertainty. We aggregate the data at the NUTS3 level for 19 counties, the NUTS2 level for seven regions, and the single NUTS1 level for the nation. Measured as in-between group reduction of uncertainty, 11.7 % of the synergy was found at the regional level, whereas only another 2.7% was added by aggregation at the national level. Using this triple-helix indicator, the counties along the west coast are indicated as more knowledge-based than the metropolitan area of Oslo or the geographical environment of the Technical University in Trondheim. Foreign direct investment seems to have larger knowledge spill-overs in Norway (oil, gas, offshore, chemistry, and marine) than the institutional knowledge infrastructure in established universities. The northern part of the country, which receives large government subsidies, shows a deviant pattern.