[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/lucirc/2023_001.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Directionality and Subsidiarity: A Regional Policy for People and Planet

Author

Listed:
  • Grillitsch, Markus

    (CIRCLE, Lund University)

  • Coenen, Lars

    (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)

  • Morgan, Kevin

    (Cardiff University)

Abstract
In this paper we consider if and how regional policy can be designed to foster sustainability (the wellbeing of people and planet) as well as being a catalyst for innovation and development. Focusing on the entrepreneurial discovery process, the paper explores its role and limitations in balancing directionality and subsidiarity in regional development. In its original conception, it was designed to direct regional development towards promising future opportunities building on existing strengths. We argue that while the rationale of the entrepreneurial discovery process serves innovation-driven competitiveness, it lacks sufficient sensitivity to the social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Rather than retrofitting the missing dimensions of sustainability, the logic needs to be rethought from the basics, which we do by asking if and under which conditions the entrepreneurial discovery process directs regional development to deliver on human wellbeing and environmental impact. We argue that this depends on the nature of existing opportunities, on how development is framed and on who is engaged in the discovery process. To this end we argue that regional policy needs to i) adopt a more capacious perspective to change processes and policy agency, taking action if needed to reconfigure the opportunity space, and ii) adopt a broader perspective on discovery processes, which goes beyond the realm of entrepreneurs and business alone and integrates the lessons learned from experimentation processes in and across a variety of domains. For this to happen, it is necessary to develop the institutional capacity for a regional development strategy that is sensitive to multiple (and sometimes conflicting) societal goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Grillitsch, Markus & Coenen, Lars & Morgan, Kevin, 2023. "Directionality and Subsidiarity: A Regional Policy for People and Planet," Papers in Innovation Studies 2023/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2023_001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.circle.lu.se/upload/CIRCLE/workingpapers/202301_grillitsch.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lars Coenen & Jerker Moodysson & Hanna Martin, 2015. "Path Renewal in Old Industrial Regions: Possibilities and Limitations for Regional Innovation Policy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 850-865, May.
    2. Mariana Mazzucato, 2018. "Mission-oriented innovation policies: challenges and opportunities," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(5), pages 803-815.
    3. Smith, Adrian & Raven, Rob, 2012. "What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1025-1036.
    4. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & Peter Karnøe, 2010. "Path Dependence or Path Creation?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 760-774, June.
    5. Christian Binz & Bernhard Truffer & Lars Coenen, 2016. "Path Creation as a Process of Resource Alignment and Anchoring: Industry Formation for On-Site Water Recycling in Beijing," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 92(2), pages 172-200, April.
    6. Markus Grillitsch & Bjørn Asheim & Michaela Trippl, 2018. "Unrelated knowledge combinations: the unexplored potential for regional industrial path development," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 11(2), pages 257-274.
    7. Hausmann, Ricardo & Rodrik, Dani, 2003. "Economic development as self-discovery," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 603-633, December.
    8. Markku Sotarauta, 2018. "Smart specialization and place leadership: dreaming about shared visions, falling into policy traps?," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 190-203, January.
    9. Teis Hansen, 2022. "The foundational economy and regional development," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 1033-1042, June.
    10. Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Joan Crespo & David L. Rigby, 2019. "Smart specialization policy in the European Union: relatedness, knowledge complexity and regional diversification," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(9), pages 1252-1268, September.
    11. Julie Battilana & Bernard Leca & Eva Boxenbaum, 2009. "How actors change institutions : Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship," Post-Print hal-00576509, HAL.
    12. AnnaLee Saxenian & Charles Sabel, 2008. "Roepke Lecture in Economic Geography Venture Capital in the “Periphery”: The New Argonauts, Global Search, and Local Institution Building," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(4), pages 379-394, October.
    13. Robert Hassink & Huiwen Gong, 2019. "Six critical questions about smart specialization," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(10), pages 2049-2065, October.
    14. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    15. Michal Miedzinski & Katerina Ciampi Stancova & Monika Matusiak & Lars Coenen, 2021. "Addressing sustainability challenges and Sustainable Development Goals via Smart Specialisation. Towards a theoretical and conceptual framework," JRC Research Reports JRC126448, Joint Research Centre.
    16. Maximilian Benner, 2020. "Six additional questions about smart specialization: implications for regional innovation policy 4.0," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(8), pages 1667-1684, August.
    17. Sanne A.M.J.V. Bours & Iris Wanzenböck & Koen Frenken, 2022. "Small wins for grand challenges. A bottom-up governance approach to regional innovation policy," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(11), pages 2245-2272, November.
    18. Haarstad, Håvard & Sareen, Siddharth & Kandt, Jens & Coenen, Lars & Cook, Matthew, 2022. "Beyond automobility? Lock-in of past failures in low-carbon urban mobility innovations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    19. César Hidalgo & Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Mercedes Delgado & Maryann Feldma & Koen Frenken & Edward Glaeser & Canfei He & Dieter F. Kogler & Andrea Morrison & Frank Neffke & David Rigby, 2018. "The Principle of Relatedness," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1830, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jul 2018.
    20. Oughton, Christine & Landabaso, Mikel & Morgan, Kevin, 2002. "The Regional Innovation Paradox: Innovation Policy and Industrial Policy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 97-110, January.
    21. Sebastian Fastenrath & Lars Coenen, 2021. "Future-proof cities through governance experiments? Insights from the Resilient Melbourne Strategy (RMS)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(1), pages 138-149, January.
    22. Schot, Johan & Steinmueller, W. Edward, 2018. "Three frames for innovation policy: R&D, systems of innovation and transformative change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1554-1567.
    23. Andres RODRIGUEZ-POSE & Marco DI CATALDO & Alessandro RAINOLDI, 2014. "The Role of Government Institutions for Smart Specialisation and Regional Development," JRC Research Reports JRC88935, Joint Research Centre.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Designing Smart Specialization Policy: relatedness, unrelatedness, or what?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2128, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2021.
    2. Ron Boschma, 2022. "Evolutionary Economic Geography and Policy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2220, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2022.
    3. Michaela Trippl & Simon Baumgartinger-Seiringer & Alexandra Frangenheim & Arne Isaksen & Jan Ole Rypestøl, 2019. "Green path development, asset modification and agency: towards a systemic integrative approach," PEGIS geo-disc-2019_01, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    4. Shvets, Nataliia & Shevtsova, Hanna & Pidorycheva, Iryna & Prokopenko, Olha & Maslosh, Olha, 2023. "Sustainable development of agriculture based on the smart specialisation approach: cases of the Central and Eastern European countries," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 9(1), March.
    5. Uyarra, Elvira & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Flanagan, Kieron & Magro, Edurne, 2020. "Public procurement, innovation and industrial policy: Rationales, roles, capabilities and implementation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    6. Robert Hassink & Matthias Kiese, 2021. "Solving the restructuring problems of (former) old industrial regions with smart specialization? Conceptual thoughts and evidence from the Ruhr," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 41(2), pages 131-155, October.
    7. Maximilian Benner, 2021. "System-level agency and its many shades: How to shape the system for path development?," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_10, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    8. Maximilian Benner, 2023. "Making spatial evolution work for all? A framework for inclusive path development," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 445-462.
    9. Janssen, Matthijs J. & Abbasiharofteh, Milad, 2022. "Boundary spanning R&D collaboration: Key enabling technologies and missions as alleviators of proximity effects?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    10. Maximilian Benner, 2022. "Legitimizing path development by interlinking institutional logics: The case of Israel's desert tourism," PEGIS geo-disc-2022_01, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    11. László Szerb & Raquel Ortega‐Argilés & Zoltan J. Acs & Éva Komlósi, 2020. "Optimizing entrepreneurial development processes for smart specialization in the European Union," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1413-1457, October.
    12. Lars Mewes & Tom Broekel, 2020. "Subsidized to change? The impact of R&D policy on regional technological diversification," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(1), pages 221-252, August.
    13. Christopher Meyer & Laima Gerlitz & Monika Klein, 2022. "Creativity as a Key Constituent for Smart Specialization Strategies (S3), What Is in It for Peripheral Regions? Co-creating Sustainable and Resilient Tourism with Cultural and Creative Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-31, March.
    14. Ricard Esparza-Masana, 2022. "Towards Smart Specialisation 2.0. Main Challenges When Updating Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 635-655, March.
    15. Janssen, Matthijs J. & Abbasiharofteh, Milad, 2022. "Boundary spanning R&D collaboration: Key enabling technologies and missions as alleviators of proximity effects?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 180.
    16. Robert Hassink & Arne Isaksen & Michaela Trippl, 2019. "Towards a comprehensive understanding of new regional industrial path development," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 1636-1645, November.
    17. Grillitsch, Markus & Asheim, Bjørn & Nielsen, Hjalti, 2019. "Does long-term proactive agency matter for regional development?," Papers in Innovation Studies 2019/16, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    18. Danny Mackinnon & Stuart Dawley & Andy Pike & Andrew Cumbers, 2018. "Rethinking Path Creation: A Geographical Political Economy Approach," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1825, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2018.
    19. Maximilian Benner, 2021. "Revisiting path-as-process: A railroad track model of path development, transformation, and agency," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_09, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    20. Grillitsch, Markus & Sotarauta, Markku, 2018. "Regional Growth Paths: From Structure to Agency and Back," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    regional innovation policy; smart specialisation; partnerships for regional innovation; sustainability transitions; discovery process; opportunity space;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2023_001. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Torben Schubert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/circlse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.