Policy agents as catalysts of knowledge links in the biotechnology sector

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of public policy in promoting interorganisational knowledge links in the biotechnology sector. Despite the significance of such interactions and the policy efforts devoted to them, there is a limited understanding of how different initiatives from various policy levels contribute to the formation of specific knowledge linkages within the biotechnology industry. The paper identifies four main types of knowledge exchange, including market relations, spillovers, formal co-operations and informal networking. Drawing on evidence from the Vienna biotechnology cluster we intend to show how national and regional policy programmes and government actions function as mechanisms to stimulate the establishment of such interactions. (author's abstract)