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The paper presents a novel theoretical framework to analyse the emergence and growth of industrial clusters. The framework focuses on the role of change agency for the modification of assets that i...

Regions across the world are searching for ways to fashion new green growth paths and to promote green shifts in mature industries. The article aims to explore conceptually and based on illustrative empirical examples from the literature how green restructuring unfolds in regions. We propose a framework that explicates how regional preconditions in form of pre-existing industrial structures, organisational support structures, institutional set-ups and natural assets are transformed into various types of green path development through agentic processes of asset modification.

The paper aims to contribute to better understanding of entrepreneurial discovery processes and regional industrial growth by examining (1) how different regional contexts affect entrepreneurial di...

The article discusses mechanisms and policy that stimulate regional economic restructuring. Economic restructuring is conceptualised through the notion of path development. The article distinguishe...

More importantly, these days, there seems to be the kind of crises and turbulence that we have to deal with as citizens of a world that changes rapidly, with consequences that call upon us as scholars in ways we did not conceive of as urgent until we found ourselves in the midst of them. As such, the crises that face us as academics, paradoxically serve to alleviate the minor and paradigmatic crises pertaining to our disciplines, as we are constantly summoned to revise and refine our philosophies and methods to be relevant to cope with the great challenges of our time. The diagnosis of crisis is not unknown to the field of geography. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Norwegian Journal of Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The role of exogenous sources of new path development has been underplayed in the literature on regional industrial change so far. The aim of this article is to explore in a conceptual way under which conditions and in what ways non-local knowledge can lead to new path development in different regional innovation systems (RISs). We distinguish between organizationally thick and diversified RISs, thick and specialized RISs and thin RISs and argue that these types vary substantially in their needs for exogenous sources as well as in their capacities to attract and absorb knowledge generated elsewhere.

This article casts light on the increasingly complex geography of innovation and knowledge sourcing activities. We argue that the spatial patterns of learning and knowledge exchange vary substantially across different types of regions and industries. The article elucidates such variations by combining three analytical approaches, namely, (i) modes of innovation (differentiating between science-technology-innovation (STI) and doing-using-interacting (DUI) modes), (ii) regional innovation systems (distinguishing between organizationally thick and diversified, thick and specialized, and thin systems), and (iii) types of knowledge linkages that connect actors during the innovation process. We explore in detail the key characteristics of the spatial architectures of innovation and knowledge flows in STI and DUI industries located in regional innovation systems with varying degrees of organizational thickness and specialization. We also discuss empirical examples documented in the extant literature to illustrate our arguments on how innovation and knowledge circulation unfold in space in various territorial and industrial contexts.

This special issue is devoted to studying mechanisms that may stimulate or hamper the renewal of existing industry paths and the growth of new paths. In this guest editorial, we look closely at the...

Path creation is a key concept in economic geography. So far, particularly scholars within evolutionary economic geography have pioneered research on this topic. This paper critically discusses the...

This article argues that the emergence of regional clusters relies on both necessary pre-existing conditions for cluster appearance in general and triggering factors that cause clusters to emerge in particular places. This approach is used to analyse two ‘critical cases’; the emergence of the synthetic-knowledge boat building industry in the Arendal area in Norway from the mid-1950s and the analytical-knowledge cancer medicine industry in Oslo around the year 2000. Although the industries and the contexts are otherwise very different, the framework turns out to be useful in interpreting the emergence of the two clusters. However, the specific pre-existing conditions and the triggering factors differ between the two cases. The Arendal boat building industry emerged through the combination of traditional boat building skills and exogenous knowledge of the use of new plastic material, while the Oslo cancer medicine industry built on indigenously-developed scientific knowledge. The framework is useful...

The aim of this article is to explore how new industrial paths emerge and grow in peripheral regional economies. Current conceptualizations of regional path development are based on experiences from core regions and fail to provide satisfactory theoretical explanations of new path-creating activities in peripheral areas. Our conceptual approach combines the notions of path development and knowledge bases, enabling us to distinguish between an analytic and a synthetic route of path creation. We argue that due emphasis should be given to exogenous sources of new path development and policy actions in order to understand how analytical and synthetic routes unfold in peripheral regions. These factors are still underappreciated in prevailing models of path creation. The article contains an analysis of the emergence and evolution of new industries in two peripheral regions in Norway and Austria: the electronics and software industry in Arendal–Grimstad in southeastern Norway, and the software industry i...

Regional innovation systems (RISs) have received increasing interest from researchers and policy makers over the past three decades. The interest is driven partly by advances in theoretical analyses, partly by empirical studies of well-functioning, successful regional economies, partly by the growing interest in innovation as a source of competitive advantage, and partly by the need for new policies to stimulate job growth and lower regional inequalities. This chapter presents the approach of the book to further improve regional innovation studies. The chapter introduces the content of the three parts of the book; (i) theoretical advances on RIS research, (ii) empirical cases of RIS development, and (iii) discussion of regional innovation policy approaches. The chapter summarises main results from existing work within these three parts and points to how the book explores new avenues for research on RISs and sheds light on issues that have thus far received little attention.

This book discusses the latest theoretical advances in regional innovation research, presents empirical cases involving the development of regional innovation systems (RISs), and explores regional innovation policy approaches. Grounded in the extensive literature on RISs, it addresses state-of-the-art developments in light of recent theoretical advances in economic geography and related disciplines. Written in honor of Bjorn Asheim's seventieth birthday, the book includes novel and carefully selected chapters prepared by collaborators, colleagues and former PhD-students of one of the founding fathers of RIS research. Further, it makes a significant contribution to the academic debate on regional innovation and growth and offers valuable insights for scholars and policymakers alike.

This chapter analyses opportunities and challenges for regional innovation policies designed to promote new path development in different types of regional innovation systems (RISs). RISs differ enormously in their capacity to develop new growth paths due to pronounced differences in endogenous potentials and varying abilities to attract and absorb exogenous sources for new path development. We distinguish between different types of regional industrial path development, which reflect various degrees of radicalness of regional structural change. The chapter offers a conceptual analysis of conditions and influences that enable and constrain new path development in different types of RISs and outlines the contours of policy strategies that are suitable for promoting new path development in different RISs. Regarding policy strategies, a distinction is drawn between system-based and actor-based policy approaches. System-based strategies aim to improve the functioning of the RIS by targeting system failures, promoting local and non-local knowledge flows and adapting the organizational and institutional set-up of the RIS. Actorbased strategies, in contrast, support entrepreneurs and innovation projects by firms and other stakeholders. We argue that both strategies will have only a limited impact on regional economic change when applied alone. However, if they are combined, they are well suited to promote new path development. The chapter discusses which specific combinations of system-based and actor-based policy strategies matter for different types of RISs.

Background: The paper examines the regional effects of a general innovation policy, i.e. a policy tool that does not target specific industries or subnational regions. General policy tools are an important part of the portfolio of innovation policy measures. However, there is a question over whether general tools are equally relevant for all types of firms, irrespective of their size, sector and location. Findings: The economic geography and innovation study literature, as well as the EU’s Smart Specialization approach, are based on the view that innovation policy tools must be adapted to specific regional conditions. General policy tools are insufficient unless they are adapted to individual regions. This paper examines the regional distribution of support from the Norwegian Skattefunn scheme, which is a tax incentive scheme designed to stimulate R&D activity in all types of enterprises, which has supported more than 24,000 approved R&D projects between 2002 and 2013. Based on our regression analysis, we observe that regional innovation system (RIS) variables are important for explaining the region’s ability to attract Skattefunn funding. Conclusions: Skattefunn projects are quite evenly spread across labour market regions, which are grouped into a geographical centre–periphery pattern. That is, being in a peripheral location is not a disadvantage. However, at a more detailed regional level, the Skattefunn scheme tends to favour firms in specific industries and in regions with a relatively developed regional innovation system.

Knowledge‐intensive services are seen to have an increased importance for learning and innovation activity in a more knowledge‐based economy. This paper compares the relevance of two complementary ...

The paper examines the reasons for the clustering of Norwegian software firms in Oslo. The analysis focuses on how software firms perform individual activities and how they interact with other players in performing the activities. The clustering of software firms in Oslo rests first of all on the need for very close interaction between consulting companies and important customers, and among software consulting companies themselves. The fact is that consulting activity is project-based and involves lots of coalition-building and face-to-face contact which is facilitated when players co-locate. Demand-side factors are important in explaining the concentration of software companies in Oslo, while important supply-side factors are the possibilities of meeting persons in other software firms and the gathering of information in formal and informal settings.

New research indicates that firms combining the science-based STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) and the experience-based DUI (Doing, Using, Interacting) modes of innovation are more efficient when it comes to improving innovation capacity and competitiveness. With regard to innovation policy, the STI mode calls for a supply driven policy, typically aimed to commercialise research results. The DUI mode suggests a demand driven policy approach, such as supporting the development of new products or services to specific markets. This paper analyses how the two types of innovation policy and the two innovation modes can be combined in regional innovation systems. The analysis builds on studies of the food industry and related knowledge organisations in two counties, Rogaland County (Norway) and Skåne County (Sweden), and two policy initiatives (NCE Culinology and Skåne Food Innovation Network) aimed at strengthening the innovative capability of the regional innovation systems. The analysis indicates that policies aimed to link science and user driven innovation activity should focus on building absorptive capacity of DUI firms (e.g. through increased scientific competence) and implementation capacity of STI firms (e.g. through increased market and process competence).

The article discusses whether the two distinctive con cepts of new industrial spaces and industrial districts are useful in explaining specific parts of regional indus trial development since about 1970. First, the two concepts are clarified and delimited, both in relation to each other and to some other closely linked con cepts. Second, the usefulness of the concepts is dis cussed with respect to three case studies. The cases are well-known industrial agglomerations (in the Norwegian context), with fairly numerous firms in the three flexible production sectors mentioned by Storper and Scott (1989). The two concepts can throw light on important aspects of development in these three examples. However, other elements can also be included in an interpretation of the cases.