Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation,
Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies

No 166: Metropolitan Regions and Product Innovation

Lina Bjerke () and Charlie Karlsson ()
Additional contact information
Lina Bjerke: CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, Postal: CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Charlie Karlsson: CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, Postal: CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: In smaller countries, the non-metropolitan regions are to a substantial degree linked together with the metropolitan regions through various networks. The national infrastructure and transport networks are often organised with the metropolitan region as the central hub. This creates a number of dependencies between the metropolitan region and the non-metropolitan regions in a small country. In this paper we focus on the role that metropolitan regions play for the renewal of the export base in the non-metropolitan regions in a small country. The analytical part can be divided into three main parts: i) the role of the Stockholm metropolitan region for the renewal of the export base in the rest of Sweden between 1997 and 2003; ii) which non-metropolitan regions gain renewal of their export base; and iii) what factors can explain the spatial distribution of these gains. The results show that distance has little to do with the potential success of an export products diffused from Stockholm. Instead, regional characteristics such as a large manufacturing sector, educational level, size of public and/or agricultural sector, and access to producer services have a larger influential potential.

Keywords: metropolitan regions; exports; product innovation; networks; diffusion

JEL-codes: D85; F10; R10; R11; R12

31 pages, January 28, 2009

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