Spatiality of innovativeness (un)rooted in knowledge transfer mechanisms: Bangalore’s new media activities

The central theme of this research is built around the research question of how regions develop sectors employing knowledge bases and institutions that diverge from existing regional specialization and institutional arrangements. The motivation stems from the observation that newer industrial activities—relying on a combinatorial knowledge base distinct from the locally rooted dominant arrangements—support innovation through varying institutional mechanisms that defy the conventional dichotomy of endogenous versus exogenous institutional structures. We focus on how firms adopt various mechanisms to access critical knowledge and address the “mismatch” with regional institutions. We apply a qualitative research methodology to examine the phenomenon of industrial “branching” using the case of Bangalore-based new media industry. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to nineteen sample firms, capturing responses on firm innovativeness, including the application of knowledge bases, the significance of regional institutions, and the entrepreneurial experiences of the founders. A four-dimensional schema grounded on the literature review is used to interpret firms’ choices of knowledge transfer mechanisms and to summarize the survey findings. We found that regional factorsheavily influence firms’ choices of knowledge transfer mechanisms, specifically, the degree of cognitive proximity with regional specialization and the perceived significance of regional institutions in shaping firm innovativeness. The results support our understanding of the intricate nature of firms rooted in local routines while simultaneously relying on agency-driven extra-regional channels that contribute to the spatiality of innovativeness.