Social capital in building regional innovative capability

Abstract

Tura T. and Harmaakorpi V. (2005) Social capital in building regional innovative capability, Regional Studies 39 , 1111-1125. The paper focuses on the relation of social capital and regional innovative capability. It examines the social nature of the innovative processes placing demands on the regional innovation environment and underlining the importance of social capital. The paper analyses the concept of social capital and problems connected to it. It introduces a conception of social capital defining it functionally as a field-specific social resource of an actor. This conception is applied to analyse social capital as a central element in enhancing regional innovative capability. The relation between social capital and innovation capability is not, however, without problems. This still controversial relation is discussed.