Innovative culture in district innovation systems of European ceramics SMEs

Abstract

We need to understand the dynamics of current local production systems in the form of industrial districts and, particularly, how culture and innovation are interlinked. In this paper, we argue that the district innovation system approach, which covers the innovation systems and industrial district literatures, provides a set of ideas useful for understanding the role of culture in innovation in industrial districts. We study the role of innovation culture in two of the most important European ceramics industrial districts in Italy and Spain. Specifically, we analyse how, within a given district system, the innovation culture, networks and social structure, and their inter-relations, influence the interactions among those agents actively participating in the development, diffusion or adoption of innovation. We identify the cultural elements that are decisive in these innovation systems and whether these elements are substantially equal between the two countries or whether there are differences in their cultures, processes and innovation systems. Our main finding is that the cultural dynamics in district innovation systems differs among countries.