What is Knowledge (& Innovation)? What is Political Economy? Possible Conceptual Approaches

David F. J. CampbellUniversität Klagenfurt / iff Fakultät /

Institut für Wissenschaftskommunikation und

Hochschulforschung (WIHO)david.campbell@uni-klu.ac.at

March 17, 2010

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What is Knowledge? General (not specifically indicated) sources

and references: Carayannis, Elias G. / David F. J. Campbell (2009).

“Mode 3” and “Quadruple Helix”: Toward a 21st Century Fractal Innovation Ecosystem. International Journal of Technology Management 46 (3/4), 201-234.

Carayannis, Elias G. / David F. J. Campbell (2006). “Mode 3”: Meaning and Implications from a Knowledge Systems Perspective, 1-25, in: Elias G. Carayannis / David F. J. Campbell (eds.): Knowledge Creation, Diffusion and Use in Innovation Networks and Knowledge Clusters. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.

Campbell, David F. J. / Wolfgang H. Güttel (2005). Knowledge Production of Firms: Research Networks and the “Scientification” of Business R&D. International Journal of Technology Management 31 (1/2), 152-175.

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What is Knowledge? Wikipedia definition/entry (“knowledge”, retrieved March

17, 2010: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge): “Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary

as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through

experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject;

(ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information; or

(iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation of knowledge as "justified true belief." There is however no single agreed definition of knowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories.”

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What is Knowledge?

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What is Knowledge?

Information

Competences

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What is Knowledge?

Information

Competences

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Is there a differencebetween “knowledge”production and “knowledge” creation?

R&D: research &experimental development:R = basic research,applied research;D = experimentaldevelopment.

S&T: science &technology.

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What is Knowledge?

Source:Carayannis & Campbell (2009)

Comment: Vannevar Bush (“Science: The Endless Frontier”, 1945) never explicitly mentioned the concept/word “innovation”.

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What is Knowledge?

Source:Carayannis & Campbell (2009)

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What is Knowledge?

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What is Knowledge?

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What is Knowledge?

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What is Knowledge?

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What is Knowledge?Conventionalunderstanding

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What is Knowledge?

Governance and“political steering”(“politische Steuerung”) through the innovationsystem?

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What is Political Economy? “Political economy is the study of how

communities pursue collective economic goals and deal with conflicts over resources and other economic factors in an authoritative way by means of government.”

Michael J. Sodaro (2004). Comparative Politics. A Global Introduction. Boston: McGraw Hill. Page 297.

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What is Political Economy? “The most widely adopted economic

system in the world today is neither laissez-faire capitalism nor full-scale socialism but something in between: the mixed economy. A mixed economy combines both private enterprise and state involvement in the country’s economic affairs.”

Sodaro (2004), p. 305.

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What is Political Economy? “Broadly defined, the welfare state is a

form of political economy in which the state assumes responsibility for the general welfare of its population, especially its most vulnerable elements, through spending on such items as education, housing, health care, pensions, unemployment compensation, food subsidies, family allowances, and other programs.”

Sodaro (2004), p. 308.

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What is Political Economy? Political Economy in the knowledge-

based society and economy: the state (government) supports and leverages knowledge (including research and education) and innovation for the welfare of society and the performance of the economy.

Campbell (2009/2010) – unpublished.