Page - (000272) - in Knowledge and Networks

269© The Author(s) 2017 J. Glückler et al. (eds.), Knowledge and Networks, Knowledge and Space 11, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-45023-0_13 Chapter 13 Connectivity in Contiguity: Conventions and Taboos of Imitation in Colocated Networks Johannes Glückler and Ingmar Hammer People and organizations learn from others. Cultures, traditions, opinions, behav- iors, and technologies spread through imitation. Tarde (1903) was among the first to appreciate imitation as a key learning mechanism for inventions in social life to be diffused among society (Kinnunen, 1996; Rogers, 1995). Imitation, however, is not confined to the mere replication of existing knowledge. The process of imitation always implies potential deviation into invention (Barry & Thrift, 2007; Djellal & Gallouj, 2014) because the absorption of new knowledge requires learning and, hence, conscious recombination of knowledge, an activity that may lead to new ideas and new knowledge. Imitation is thus a crucial learning mechanism and a valuable source of innovation. If imitation is such an economic advantage, then what are the conditions that favor learning by imitation? Essentially, two powerful perspectives—social net- works and geography—have been proposed and used to unpack mechanisms of learning. Social networks focus on the quality of social relations and the effect of connectivity on knowledge outcomes. Geography focuses on the spatial dimension of social relations and facilitates theory development on the role that physical con- tiguity has in knowledge creation and innovation. Both these bodies of literature have contributed greatly to the understanding of the interorganizational production of knowledge, but few studies have integrated these viewpoints to capture the inter- dependencies of networks and space (Glückler, 2013a). In this chapter we combine the network and geographical perspectives to theo- rize on the interactive effect of connectivity and spatial proximity on mechanisms of learning. We specifically examine social tensions generated by imitation among firms that are simultaneously in processes of colocation and organizational integra- tion. This tension arises from the potential conduciveness of different spatial and J. Glückler (*) • I. Hammer Department of Geography, Heidelberg University, Berliner Straße 48, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: glueckler@uni-heidelberg.de; hammer@uni-heidelberg.de