Spatial Mobility of Knowledge: A Proposal for a More Realistic Communication Model

Abstract

The recurring erroneous predictions about the impact of the Internet on the spatial distribution and “mobility” of codified knowledge, most deficits in research about knowledge spillovers, and knowledge sharing in clusters, organizations and networks can be traced back to an oversimplification of the communication process between a producer of knowledge and the recipients of information, a missing distinction between knowledge and information, and insufficient categorizations of various types and grades of knowledge. The categories of implicit and explicit or tacit and codified knowledge are not sufficient; they must be supplemented by categories focusing on the grades and carriers of knowledge. The main part of this paper focuses on the communication process between two individuals—a communicator and a recipient of information. An extended and more realistic communicator/recipient model is the basic cornerstone of any research about the mobility of knowledge and will also influence studies on business ecologies, knowledge spillovers and networks. The paper first discusses some of the assumptions that lead to erroneous conclusions about the mobility of knowledge and then proposes a communication model between a communicator and a recipient of information that could more adequately fulfil this need.

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