Christopher RUSSELL, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Chia-Lin CHEN, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Chanyuan WONG, National Tsing-Hua University , Taiwan
Currently, there maintains conflict between the cost-benefit debate on whether high-speed rail (HSR) transport brings significant economic benefits to regional localities, despite high costs of implementation and usage. With the transmission of tacit knowledge relying heavily on face-to-face (F2F) interactions, HSR offers a unique opportunity for different clusters to extend their tacit knowledge bubbles (localized economies) and potentially enhance innovation and high-tech R&D productivity within and between cities/regions when previously such interactions were inefficient. There is the potential to remarkably reshape the economic geography and propel cluster innovation capabilities. Present HSR literature that discusses the wider economic benefits it may bring are largely limited at the aggregated/macro level and do not fully explore spill-over localized economies. Yet, the impacts of HSR on innovation and developing cluster economies are rarely explored. This paper aims to contribute to the HSR debate with a new perspective and some preliminary empirical findings. We address this gap by examining the relationship between HSR and clustering economies, developing a conceptual framework to test how the tacit knowledge flow has been induced by HSR between clusters and leads to technology convergence and innovation through economic output. Preliminary empirical findings from Taiwan will be presented, specifically from two high-tech science parks, the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan’s northern developed region and the southern Tainan Science park, a lesser developed region currently in catch-up. The developing relationship between the two, connected by HSR, will be investigated and potential opportunities of new knowledge transfer channels identified through analysis of patent data and economic indicators.
Mots clés : high-speed rail|high-tech industry|R&D innovation|cluster economies|Taiwan
A103129CC