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Cognitive social capital for knowledge absorption in specialized environments: The path to innovation
Eduardo Sánchez-García1, Bartolomé Marco-Lajara1, Javier Martínez-Falcó1
1Department of Management, Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, University of Alicante, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain.
Regional specialization boosts firm innovation, with absorptive capacity and social capital acting as key knowledge diffusion pathways. Proximity enhances resource access for innovation and knowledge upgrading.
Area of Science:
- Business and Management
- Regional Economics
- Innovation Studies
Background:
- Regional specialization is a key factor in economic development.
- Understanding knowledge diffusion mechanisms is crucial for firm innovation.
- Absorptive capacity and social capital are recognized mediators in knowledge transfer.
Purpose of the Study:
- To empirically analyze the influence of regional specialization on enterprise innovation.
- To investigate the mediating roles of absorptive capacity and cognitive social capital in knowledge diffusion.
- To explore the impact of proximity on firms' innovation performance.
Main Methods:
- Survey research with a sample of 197 energy firms in Spain.
- Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) for data analysis.
- Multivariate analytical approach to assess direct and mediation effects.
Main Results:
- A significant positive direct effect of regional specialization on firm innovative performance was found.
- Absorptive capacity and cognitive social capital demonstrated significant positive mediation effects.
- A double mediation pathway was established, highlighting their roles in knowledge diffusion.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive and geographical proximity are vital for firms to access resources for knowledge upgrading and innovation.
- Developing absorptive capacity is essential for firms to leverage contextual opportunities.
- The findings contribute to the debate on regional development strategies, emphasizing specialization and knowledge diffusion mechanisms.
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