Innovation and Community Strength in Provincial Victoria (Australia ) (Report‪)‬

ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the emerging theoretical proposition that innovation is a 'place-based' activity supported by networks and governance mechanisms. It does so by analysing the relationship between innovation and community strength in provincial Victoria, Australia. Regression analysis is used to model innovation using patent registrations as a proxy measure. Various social and economic data sets are analysed, including the 'Indicators of Community Strength' collected by the Victorian government. The quantitative analysis in this paper shows that among non-metropolitan Local Government Areas in Victoria, community strength contributes significantly to an explanation of the variance in the rate of patent registrations. With the other variables held constant, the modelling also shows a significant relationship between patent registrations and several of the indicators of community strength. These findings lend weight to the proposition that networks and community strength underpin innovative activity. 1. INTRODUCTION