Ex-Ante Evaluation of Investments in Knowledge, Learning, and Innovation

An Application Example

Abstract

Knowledge diffusion in regional innovation systems is considered as a necessary prerequisite to spur innovation and the economic performance of the actors involved. Yet, the conditions under which actors exchange knowledge in an efficient way are still not fully understood. In this paper we apply an agent-based simulation approach designed for ex-ante policy evaluation. The simulation approach and the application example are based on the VISIBLE simulation environment (“Virtual Simulation Lab for the Analysis of Investments in Learning and Education”). We investigate how presumably positive interventions affect the diffusion performance within an empirical network. Our results indicate that policy interventions can even hamper the diffusion properties of some network structures.