Knowledge Creation and Growth

Among the sources of economic growth in a globalized world economy knowledge is arguably the most important one. Moreover, new knowledge may be seen as a key driver of globalization itself: It is the interaction of extraordinary technological innovation combined with world-wide reach that gives today's change its particular complexion. Developments in the life sciences, in digital technology and the like, have opened up vast new possibilities for production and exchange. Innovations like the internet have made it possible to access information and resources across the world - and to coordinate activities in real time.

However, knowledge-intensive (and high income) economic activities such as R&D, headquarter functions or finance are not evenly distributed over geographic space, but show a high propensity to cluster, often at a supranational or even global scale. As these agglomerations tend to gain in importance as principal drivers of innovation and growth in national economies, there is growing concern that existing disparities in knowledge potential, income and growth may widen. Peripheral locations or even whole countries without an outstanding centre may lose competitiveness in knowledge-intensive activities and fall back in economic strength and welfare.

Against this background the RA which is primarily concerned with the determinants of growth and inequality in the world economy is strongly focussed on knowledge creation, diffusion and application as the presumably most important forces behind growth and inequality. However, as more traditional growth determinants remain important several projects deal with growth determinants other than knowledge such as institutions, infrastructure and economic policy.

Current Projects

(1) Knowledge Creation and Diffusion

(2) Sources of Growth

International Workshop

The research area Knowledge Creation and Growth organizes and hosts a high-ranked international workshop on “Agglomeration and Growth in Knowledge-based Societies”. Speakers include Zoltan Acs, Philipe Aghion, David Audretsch, Gilles Duranton, Vernon Henderson, Henry Overman, Michael Storper , William Strange, Bart Verspagen and many others. See http://www.ifw-kiel.de/events-1/2007/agglomeration-and-growth-in-knowledge-based-societies for details.

Research Network

The Kiel Institute’s research area Knowledge Creation and Growth is member of the EU-funded network of excellence "DIME" (= Dynamics of Institutions and Markets in Europe) which got approval in summer 2005 and will run for five years. The DIME NoE seeks to integrate three dimensions of economic analysis and social sciences, and in particular geography and economic geography to address:

1. the analysis of the generation, accumulation, and exchange of knowledge,
2. the study of governance, institutional frameworks and public policies,
3. the analysis of social and spatial proximity as influencing cohesion and the above.

DIME was established to create a research-oriented NoE involving economics and the governance of dynamic economic and social systems from the micro to the macro level and to begin a process of integration with a broader set of disciplines involving the study of spatiality, i.e. social, geographic, cognitive, and other ideas where distance and proximity can be meaningfully defined.

Link to DIME Homepage: http://www.dime-eu.org/