Innovative Milieux and Regional Competitiveness: The Role of Associations and Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Germany (formerly: "Third sector, innovative milieux, and regional competitiveness")

Innovation is regarded as a spatially embedded process, in which the social and economic interactive relationships of the actors are an important factor for success. This paper is one of the first to empirically examine the role of organizations such as associations, clubs, societies and chambers of commerce and industry in innovative milieux. We find a limited effect of these actors on the regional competitiveness of the 60 largest German cities