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287 case of Comra.de, the sanctions have been expressed in collective disapproval (Weber, 1922/1978) of the member who has broken a taboo. Although the network management board or its shareholders at first refrained from tangible sanctions such as formal cancellation of membership, the members practiced various forms of soft exclusion leading to the deviant member’s isolation from most forms of cooperation. That member ended up on the perimeter of the network for cooperative learning and finally resigned from the network. The new prevailing semiconvention in the rela- tionship with this member was legitimacy for both parties to pursue rival learning practices. This case illustrates that interfirm collaboration involves a tension between cooperation and competition, especially in situations of spatial colocation where the actions of others are relatively observable and rather easy to imitate even against their consent. The legitimacy of imitation is therefore highly institutionalized in terms of conventions and taboos. References Ahuja, G. (2000). Collaboration networks, structural holes, and innovation: A longitudinal study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45, 425–455. doi:10.2307/2667105 Akrich, M., Callon, M., Latour, B., & Monaghan, A. (2002). The key to success in innovation Part I: The art of interessement. International Journal of Innovation Management, 6, 187–206. doi:10.1142/S1363919602000550 Angelov, D. (2006). Wege der Kooperation von Darmstädter IKT-Betrieben. Eine Netzwerkanalyse [Cooperation between IT firms in Darmstadt: A network analysis]. Frankfurt am Main: Institute of Human Geography. Araujo, L., & Brito, C. (1997). Agency and constitutional ordering in networks: A case study of the Port wine industry. International Studies of Management and Organization, 27, 22–46. doi:10.1080/00208825.1997.11656717 Barry, A., & Thrift, N. (2007). Gabriel Tarde: Imitation, invention and economy. Economy and Society, 36, 509–525. doi:10.1080/03085140701589497 Bathelt, H. (1998). Regionales Wachstum in vernetzten Strukturen: Konzeptioneller Überblick und kritische Bewertung des Phänomens “Drittes Italien” [Regional growth through network- ing: A critical reassessment of the “Third Italy” phenomenon]. Die Erde, 129, 247–271. Retrieved from http://www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/resolveppn/?PID=GDZPPN003001822 Bathelt, H., Malmberg, A., & Maskell, P. (2004). Clusters and knowledge: Local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation. Progress in Human Geography, 28, 31–56. doi:10.1191/0309132504ph469oa Beck, S. (2011). Kooperation und Imitation in räumlich agglomerierten Unternehmensnetzwerken [Cooperation and imitation in spatially clustered interfirm networks]. Unpublished master’s thesis (Diplom), Department of Economic Geography, Heidelberg University. Belussi, F., & Pilotti, L. (2002). Knowledge creation, learning and innovation in Italian industrial districts. Geografiska Annaler B, Human Geography, 84, 125–139. doi:10.1111/j.0435- 3684.2002.00118.x Bolton, M. K. (1993). Imitation versus innovation: Lessons to be learned from the Japanese. Organizational Dynamics, 21(3), 30–45. doi:10.1016/0090-2616(93)90069-D Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M., & Freeman, L. (2002). Ucinet 6 for windows. Harvard: Analytic Technologies. Buchanan, J. M. (1965). An economic theory of clubs. Economica, New Series, 32, 1–14. doi:10.2307/2552442 13 Connectivity in Contiguity