The growth dynamic and assets of knowledge locations

To create an economically successful city and/or region, a knowledge-based economy could be the underlying mechanism to fulfil this goal. To put this type of economy into practice, policymakers focus on knowledge locations. The question that rises is whether firms on geographically defined knowledge locations have stronger employment growth compared to firms at other locations. The outcomes in this research show that knowledge location based firms do not have stronger employment growth than firms somewhere else. However, it’s suggested that firms on knowledge locations undergo a specific growth dynamic. During economically vital and stable periods, firms on knowledge locations grow faster than firms located elsewhere, but during economic downturn periods, these firms decline faster than firms at other locations. To establish a knowledge location, it has been examined which type of assets (economic, physical and/or networking) and their elements are required to let the knowledge location be successful. The results indicate that physical elements, consumer amenities and local networking apart from each other foster stronger employment growth for firms at knowledge locations. A combination of these assets show that only physical elements and consumer amenities contribute to the strength of knowledge locations, which could suggest that knowledge locations foster higher employment growth due to the increased quality of working conditions and environment.