Territory’s Absorptive Capacity

Abstract In the paper, the concept of absorptive capacity, already successfully applied to firms, is extended to territories. Territory’s Absorptive Capacity is here defined as the ability of a Region to identify, assimilate, and exploit external knowledge. From a theoretical point of view, the concept of Territory’s Absorptive Capacity integrates two fields of studies, those of innovation systems and regional science. Three propositions are developed starting from the consideration that territory’s absorptive capacity is dependent on increasing investments in human resource learning in a Region, promoting R&D activities and, above all, integrating knowledge flows through the action of territorial knowledge gatekeepers.

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