Regional industrial restructuring resulting from individual and system agency

Beyond the Single Path View: Interpath Dynamics in Regional Contexts

“…In this section we seek to unravel the important role of agency in shaping the relationship between linked paths. After discussing scholarly contributions on agency and purposive behavior, which have recently been integrated into EEG and innovation system frameworks (Sotarauta 2016;Isaksen and Jakobsen 2017;Carvalho and Vale 2018;Isaksen et al 2018), we analyze the rationale for and the actions aimed at establishing specific interpath relationships.…”

“…Garud and Karnøe (2003) employ the notion of bricolage (see also Carvalho and Vale 2018) to accentuate that multiple actors take part in innovative activities, the development of complementary assets, and microlearning processes. The concept of distributed agency has recently been incorporated in conceptual discussions of path development (Boschma et al 2017;Isaksen et al 2018). Agency involves a broad range of actors including firm and firm-related actors, as well as organizations of collective agency from the state, governance, and community, who "anticipate, react and transform" regional development processes strategically (Bristow and Healy 2014, 928-29).…”

“…Agency that nurtures new path development is understood by taking a RIS perspective, which is crucial when considering interpath relationships in a regional context. Literature on regional restructuring suggests that new path development calls for RIS changes and modification of the regional asset base (Tödtling and Trippl 2013), brought about by what in this strand of literature is called system level agency (Isaksen and Jakobsen 2017;Isaksen et al 2018). Changing assets or market configurations in the RIS can exert influence on more than one path.…”

The role of the Regional Innovation System approach in contemporary regional policy: is it still relevant in a globalised world?

“…These are entrepreneurs who are able to break with existing social rules, technological paradigms and trajectories. Isaksen et al (2019) distinguish between two main types of agency, amongst other things to be able to focus on actions aiming to transform RISs. Firm-level agency considers how actors start new innovative ventures or initiate new activities in existing firms or organisations.…”

Path Renewal or Path Dependence? The Role of Industrial Culture in Regional Restructuring

“…Recent institutional, relational, and evolutionary approaches have indeed acknowledged that history-and with it, culture-matters for a region's development [20]. Nevertheless, many influential studies on path dependency and lock-in have painted a diverging picture on the notion of regional culture either as a restraining or as an enabling factor in regional development.…”