J.Geogr.Sci.2023,33(4):705-718DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2102-1©2023SciencePressSpringer-VerlagCombinatorialknowledgedynamics,innovativeperformance,andtransitionstudiesXUEShuaijun1,*LIUChengliang2,3,41.DepartmentofGeography,KielUniversity,Kiel24118,Germany;2.SchoolofUrbanandRegionalSciences,EastChinaNormalUniversity,Shanghai200241,China;3.InstituteforGlobalInnovationandDevelopment,EastChinaNormalUniversity,Shanghai200062,China;4.CenterofWorldGeographyandGeo-strategicalStudies,EastChinaNormalUniversity,Shanghai200062,ChinaAbstract:Cross-domainresearchanddevelopmenthasprevailedinregionaltransformationanddisruptiveinnovationinthelast15years.Recently,anewconcept,termedcombinatorialknowledgebases(CKBs),offersinsightsintocombiningknowledgedynamicsandisconsid-eredagoodapproachtoexplorerecombinantinnovativeactivities.Here,wereviewtheliter-atureonCKBsinWesterneconomicgeography,andweintroducearesearchagendaforCKBsinChina’seconomicgeography.Concerningthelatter,fouraspectsareelaborated:theco-evolutionoftheinnovationchainandindustrialchain,thegeographyofinnovativeactivi-innovativeentrepreneurshipandnewpathdevelopment,andinnovationsystemreconfigura-tion.ThispapercontributestotheoreticalstudiesofChina’sgeographybylinkingCKBstoChinese-specificphenomena.Keywords:combinatorialknowledgebases;innovation;China’stransformation1IntroductionTheconceptofknowledgebases(KBs)wasfirstputforwardbyAsheimandhiscolleagues(2005;2007;2011)andemphasizesthreekindsofknowledgecreation,analytical,synthetic,andsymbolicKBs,thatcontributetoanewknowledgedistinction.Incomparisontoolddis-tinctions,suchastacitversuscodifiedknowledge(Gertler,2003),whichareonlyweaklylinkedtoknowledgegenerationdynamics,KBsareparticularlyrelatedtothesethreekindsofinnovationprocesses,providingabetterunderstandingofthenatureofknowledgesharingandinnovativeactivities(Boschma,2018).Amongthese,analyticalKBs,characterizedbyformalmodels,usuallycharacterizeinnovativescience-basedprojects(Asheimetal.,2011;DavidsandFrenken,2...
