Collective learning, tacit knowledge and regional innovative capacity

The paper reviews key ideas in the firm capabilities literature and shows h ow they can be usefully extended to develop a conception of collective lear ning among regionally clustered enterprises. The paper also explores the re lationship between codifiable and tacit knowledge in the innovation process , and investigates the claim that tacit knowledge, because it is difficult to transfer in the absence of labour mobility, may constitute a basis for s ustained regional competitive advantage. The closing section uses case stud y material based on Minneapolis and Cambridge to illustrate the importance for innovation of a regional capability for combining and integrating diver se knowledge, and of the sources of such capabilities as pre-conditions for successful high technology regions.