The Performance of Places of Knowledge Co-creation

Although FabLabs (Fabrication Laboratories) have become a huge phenomenon, their performance based on their socio-economic embeddedness is still an open research question. Drawing on an original world database (N=48), the author shows that the production of documented projects and the transformation of those projects into a new company stems from interactions between the FabLab and its innovative eco-system. In particular, all other things being equal, interactions with peripheral and explorative actors lead to higher levels of creativity and documented projects. New company creation appears to be significantly greater when the FabLab is an intermediary platform or a middle ground between these peripheral actors and a core of bigger companies that are more oriented towards exploitation and that seem to harvest the FabLab’s creativity.