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This paper aims to explain how the evolution of knowledge networks and firms’ strategic choices affect innovation. Endogenous factors associated with a path-dependent evolution of the knowledge network are jointly considered with a firm’s development of international relationships and increasing internal absorptive capacity over time.

In a biotech cluster, the authors gathered data on the firms’ characteristics and network relationships by asking about the technological knowledge they received in the cluster in 2007 and 2012 – “roster-recall” method. Estimation results were obtained using moderated regression analysis.

Firms that increase their involvement in knowledge networks over time also tend to increase their innovative capacity. However, efforts devoted to building international links or absorptive capacity negatively moderate the impact of network growth on innovation.

Practitioners have two alternative ways of increasing innovation inside knowledge networks: they can increase their centrality by developing their knowledge network interactions or invest in developing their internal absorptive capacity and new international sources of knowledge. Investing in both of these simultaneously does not seem to improve a firm’s innovative capacity.

Coupling firms’ strategic options with knowledge network dynamics provide a more complete way of explaining how firms can improve their innovative capacity.

Despite the sizable amount of previous research on this topic, little is known about the reasons why firms decide to start collaboration projects with innovation advanced service providers, such as universities and technological institutes. This paper aims to investigate which factors at an individual firm level are involved in these collaborative strategies on supporting product and management improvements offered by local institutions to innovative firms.

The research is contextualized in the Valencian region and applies the resource based view and the regional innovation system approach as theoretical frameworks. Methodologically, the paper adopts a cross‐sectional analysis and employs ordered regression models on a sample of innovative firms during 2009.

Firstly, this paper endorses previous research suggesting the crucial role of cooperation and external knowledge on SME innovation. Secondly, it evidences how internal resources and capabilities determine a firm's use of public supported innovation. Thirdly, previous experience appears to be extremely relevant in explaining successful engagement in both technological and managerial innovation programs.

Because the case study approach and qualitative methodologies are used, the authors advise readers not to generalize their findings. The research on the subject matter is offered as a means to substantiate or refute the latest research premises, and provide empirical evidence on the selected region.

Although this paper corroborates recent contributions, it does provide some novel findings. High‐level managerial capabilities seem to discourage the use of public programs supporting innovation practices (either in technological or managerial aspects), while engagement in university programs relies heavily on the firm's technological capabilities or exposure to global competition, and less on other characteristics. Policy makers should pay particular attention to both pieces of evidence when designing programs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree to which absorptive capacity and previous innovative performance affect network dynamics, specifically in the creation or destruction of inter-business relationships.

The empirical study has drawn on the data collected in an industrial cluster located in the Valencian Community in Spain. This population of firms allowed us to test various roles played by network endogenous forces, absorptive capacity and former performance in the creation and dissolution of inter-organisational linkages. The authors followed an evolutionary approach and applied network analysis techniques.

Empirical evidences suggest that absorptive capacity and previous innovative performance are predictors of inter-business relationships. Absorptive capacity affects the emergence of linkages in the technological network, due to the tacit nature of technological knowledge. On the other hand, previous innovative performance is an indicator to identify leaders companies. These companies tend to increase the reception of request for advice from local firms. Moreover, prestigious companies tend to be more selective in choosing collaborators.

This study helps researchers and managers better understand network dynamics. The generation of inter-organisational relationships in clusters can be determined by cognitive proximity and prestigious status in the network. These evidences are relevant in a mature cluster where knowledge is asymmetrically distributed.

Over the last few decades, studies on industrial clusters have evolved from the “canonical” standpoint. Nowadays, researchers usually take a more sophisticated and richer view of this reality, mainly as a consequence of the inclusion the proximity concept, intra-cluster heterogeneity and advanced analysis of overlapping between networks and territory. Thus, the authors try to add some empirical evidence along these lines.

This paper aims to address a central question in strategy: how do internal resources firms mediate the effect of the external resources on the firms' performance?

The research was conducted in a sample of 173 Spanish innovative firms located in the Valencia region. Following the literature, the growth of the firm has been used as the main performance indicator. The paper considers the application in this context of the particular and new analysis techniques to combine mediator and moderator effects.

The research shows firms with higher internal resources exploit better external resources. The results confirm that knowledge intensive business services providers, as a form of external resources, exercise a positive influence on innovative firms' performance through the mediating effect of firms' internal assets.

First, the study uses only two well‐known internal resources and capabilities indicators. Second, the paper applies a strict and simple measure to the growth of innovative firms. Third, another limitation of this research relates to the sample and population of companies.

The study shows that the partial mediating effect exercised by internal resources and capabilities on growth, becomes more intense when new firms benefit from cluster location.

This study represents a new step toward closing the analytical gap in the existing literature on the potential interactions between external resources and new firm's internal attributes, and their combined effects on performance.