The innovativeness of the Turkish textile industry within similar knowledge bases across different regional innovation systems

Rapid technological and economic development in the world economy and the systematic and complex nature of innovation processes require specific innovation policy activities, such as having access to new knowledge. Through networking, individuals and organizations can become aware of new technologies and information by engaging in boundary-extending activities. Because there are dissimilarities between knowledge bases, each industrial activity is assumed to have specific types of innovation logics, innovative processes and innovation outcomes. In addition, the generation, diffusion, application and exploitation of knowledge are closely related to a region's ability to undertake innovations. The objective and contribution of this paper is to compare the innovativeness of two textile-related industries in two cities (Denizli and AdA +/- yaman) in Turkey with similar knowledge bases but differences in regional innovation systems. Denizli is a networked region, but it also shows properties of lock-in deficiency, whereas AdA +/- yaman is an organizationally thin and peripheral region. The results reveal that there are significant differences in the knowledge generation and exploitation structures of the two regions, although they have similar knowledge bases. Such dissimilarities between the regions are explained by their respective knowledge-generating subsystems. The network maps of the Denizli and AdA +/- yaman textile firms show that firms in Denizli have denser regional network ties than those in AdA +/- yaman. The strong network ties of textile firms in Denizli allow the firms to be superior in innovative performance to AdA +/- yaman firms, albeit with the danger of technological lock-in in the Denizli region. AdA +/- yaman, being an organizationally thin region, lacks the necessary institutional structure for networking. Policy tools that are unique to each region are needed to enhance innovativeness.