Analyzing the evolution of conceptual linkages between Innovation Systems and Global Value Chain

Co-citation analysis as a powerful tool is used in order to find the evolution of conceptual linkages between two important streams of the literature: Innovation Systems (IS) and Global Value Chains (GVC) since 1990s. Their initial connection was the importance of industrial clusters both in improving innovation and in their role in the GVC. The literature evolved to consider the role of tacit knowledge as well as global factors in enhancing the performance of industrial clusters. While the first points to the importance of geographical agglomeration, the second emphasizes the benefits from becoming global. The emergence of Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) paved the way for new conceptual linkages by considering sustainable development as a main target as well as the importance of space in technological development and the role of technology in geographical diversification. Recent trends are rooted in new insights from evolutionary economics as well as catching-up that calls for more structured interactions in the future.