Knowledge, learning, networks and performance of firms in knowledge-based economies

The paper examines the issue of knowledge as a public good, and, therefore, the question of open knowledge. Moreover, it analyses the crucial relationship between knowledge and learning and, more specifically, the relationship between technological knowledge, learning and the environment. Thus the construct of absorptive capacity is investigated and the related dynamic capability approach is also considered. Finally, the paper looks at the networks and investigate the rationale of networking. Therefore, in this context, the paper discusses the issue of competition/collaboration duality, since alliance is also a complex phenomenon, where collaborative behaviours and competitive relations coexist; a more eclectic view is, thus, offered on this issue with the aim to provide a new theoretical framework of inter-firm relations.