Raummuster unterschiedlicher Wissensformen. Der Einfluss von Transaktionskosten auf Konzentrationsprozesse wissensintensiver Dienstleister im deutschen Städtesystem

Abstract

The increasing importance of knowledge as factor in economic processes leads to a reappraisal of economic locations. In this paper spatial consequences of this reappraisal are discussed using the example of the German urban system. Key functions in processes of knowledge production and knowledge use are knowledge-based services. Their locations as well as changes of their locations are of major interest from a geographic perspective. As theory supports assumptions about concentration processes as well as assumptions about processes of de-concentration, empirical evidence is crucial in this context. In this paper it is asked whether the use of different forms of knowledge leads to different spatial patterns of knowledge-based services, depending on the height of transaction costs. It is assumed that the more location specific and the harder to codify the used knowledge form, the more concentrated knowledge-based services that use the respective knowledge form will be.