Knowledge mobility after tourism entrepreneurial failure: Life after death?

Abstract

There has been limited conceptualization in tourism of the knowledge consequences of firm failure despite overall high failure rates. There is no simple dichotomy between the lost knowledge of failed firms and knowledge survival in successful firms. This paper therefore elaborates a three-stage conceptual model of the post-failure trajectories of knowledge. The model focusses on the distinctive combination of tacit and codified knowledge in context of impure public goods, their distribution within and beyond the firm, and their micro and macro determinants. Three main post-failure trajectories are identified: cold storage/black hole of knowledge, knowledge recovery, and knowledge recombination. A research agenda is outlined for this neglected aspect of tourism knowledge research which has significant implications for innovation.