Industry 4.0 Ecosystems: Structure, Value Creation and Impact on Regional Innovation

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution shifts the technological focus of firms towards greater automation and cyber-physical integration, firms increasingly participate in multiple initiatives fostered by governments, universities, or private entities to access new technological knowledge and resources. This thesis conceptualizes and analyses a specific type of Industry 4.0 ecosystems (I4ESes) - their structure, value creation, and effect on regional innovation, building on strategy, innovation, and regional innovation literature. First, the thesis conceptualizes I4ESes as collaborations of diverse, non-hierarchical actors that bring nongeneric Industry 4.0 technologies, knowledge, and funding to the ecosystem and aim to support Industry 4.0 technological adoption or innovation. In the second paper, the thesis empirically examines which combinations of structural features of the I4ESes including the type of orchestrator, funding source and knowledge diversity- create high ecosystem value. A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 114 I4ESes across European regions shows that the highest I4ESes value is created when the combination of public orchestrator and high knowledge diversity exists. Finally, drawing on economic geography literature, specifically knowledge relatedness and regional innovation, the third paper looks at how I4ESes affects regional innovation, assuming it will have the highest effect in regions with the highest preconditions such as high level of digitalization, high level of educational attainment and investment in research and development. The analysis specifically looks at how the presence and different types of I4ESes affect the average annual growth rate of patenting and new product launches during 2014 -2021, concluding that I4ES presence positively affects the average annual growth rate of launching innovation-related products, and patenting only in highly advanced regions. The results are confirmed in the subsequent panel data analysis of 226 European NUTS2 regions during 2014-2021.
Overall, this thesis presents the first systematic comparative analysis of a large number of Industry 4.0 ecosystems from a comparative perspective. It suggests that I4ESes cannot be designed as a size-fit-all approach but should distinguish their design depending on what kind of innovation they exactly try to support in firms, as well as depending on the existing regional context: are they trying to foster patenting, innovative products launch to market, support adoption of technology, or simply share knowledge. The thesis contributes to strategy and innovation literature by grasping complex collaborations of multiple actors around specific technologies, their impact, and value creation by specifying the ecosystem concept to Industry 4.0 collaborations. Furthermore, it contributes to regional innovation literature by showcasing that policy interventions such as establishing Industry 4.0 ecosystems affect the innovative growth of regions by supporting the launching of new innovative products. Finally, the thesis is relevant for policymakers, mainly dealing with designing smart specialization strategies or innovation ecosystems aiming to support firm and regional technological development and competitiveness.