LAUSR

This special issue addresses the dynamics of knowledge, innovation and learning, with a particular focus on the multi-faceted role of knowledge and learning in facilitating innovation processes. The important relationship between: (i) learning and innovation has long been acknowledged from Cohen and Levinthal’s (1989) seminal work on this relationship via its elevation to the DRUID conference and the publication of handbooks on Innovation Studies (e.g. Fagerberg, Mowery, and Nelson 2005), to recent new perspectives from Mazzacuto (2016) and Van de Ven (2017); and (ii) knowledge and innovation has also long been acknowledged from March’s (1991) seminal work on ‘exploration’ and ‘exploitation’, via Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) classic study to recent work connecting knowledge and innovation, such as Jensen et al. (2007). Moreover, much attention has been given in both fields of activity to the absorption of knowledge (e.g. Bogers and Lhuillery 2011; Cohen and Levinthal 1990) as well as innovation in knowledge networks (Bathelt, Malmberg, and Maskell 2004; Love and Roper 2009). Further evidence of the growing interest in pursuing interdisciplinary perspectives on dynamics of knowledge, innovation and learning is also provided by another conference, the Organisational Learning Knowledge and Capabilities gathering. This special edition seeks to contribute new insights to this increasing intersection of innovation, learning and knowledge in research, by providing a collection of cross-disciplinary papers that, in complementary ways, zero-in on the multi-faceted role that knowledge and learning play in facilitating open innovation processes in and between organisations and regions.