Asbjørn Karlsen

The dynamics of regional specialization and cluster formation: dividing trajectories of maritime industries in two Norwegian regions

The theoretical starting point of this paper is the academic debate on regional specialization, agglomeration and industrial clusters. The paper offers further insights into the industrial dynamics within regional contexts by combining two approaches: (1) an historical study of industrial agency focusing on entrepreneurship, diversification and specialization; (2) a study of the relations within contemporary industrial systems important for industrial upgrading. Methodical triangulation has provided longitudinal studies. Particular attention is paid to path dependence as well as entrepreneurial capacity in order to explain why the industrial trajectories of matching regions divide. As the paper discusses continuity and change, a more dynamic perspective on path dependency is introduced. The past is not just regarded as a constraint, but as heritage as well. The dynamics leading to cluster formation and upgrading as well as industrial fragmentation are investigated in detail. The developments of shipyards and related maritime industries of the two Norwegian regions compared are characterized by static continuity and dynamic continuity, respectively.

Path creation in a single-industry town: The case of Verdal and Windcluster Mid-Norway

Path creation is a new topic in economic geography and stems from the debate on path dependence. The article fills a gap in the path creation literature by exploring old and new path trajectories in a ‘constraining context’, namely a single-industry town. The authors analyse the development of this local system in an evolutionary perspective. Empirical data are drawn from a case study of the specialized offshore oil and gas industry town of Verdal in Central Norway. Two exogenous shocks to this local economy and the responses they provoked are pivotal to the analysis. The first shock led to upgrading and diversification effects. The second shock led to the attempted path creation discussed in the article: the initiative to develop Windcluster Mid-Norway (WMN), which was a response to the downturn in the oil and gas industry and simultaneous expectations of growth in the wind-energy sector. The explicit aim was to combine resources from both sectors. The authors argue that new path creation in single-industry regions differs from the related context of ‘old industry regions’ and that exogenous shocks and external support are necessary elements in the process.

“Cluster” Creation by Reconfiguring Communities of Practice

By asking how agglomerations of certain industries emerge, the paper investigates processes of local specialization inspired by evolutionary theory. Deductive reasoning found in the competitiveness literature is de-emphasized. The paper rather introduces an alternative approach to agglomeration formation, based on microsociology: “The reconfiguring of communities of practice”. Six Norwegian municipalities, having three times as high rate of employment in mechanical engineering industry as the nation, are subjects for comparative studies. The paper identifies and explains five different types of startup initiatives where new firms within this industry sector are added to the local firm population. They are all interpreted as reconfigurations of local communities of practice and as such considered as endogenous processes: parent firms as incubators for entrepreneurial spin-offs and serial entrepreneurs create growth in specialized agglomerations. Some local environments have particular capacities to generate an increasing number of firms. Prevailing family businesses limit growth at the firm level. “Big company” traditions hamper entrepreneurship. Deliberate demergers in order to cope with market crises compensate for the downsizing of dominant companies. It is surprising that the study has not identified examples of localizations from outside into the agglomerations. The theoretical approach and the empirical findings from the study have certain policy implications regarding facilitating endogenous development.

Between close and distanced links: Firm internationalization in a subsea cluster in Western Norway

Karlsen, A. & Nordhus, M. 2011. Between close and distanced links: Firm internationalization in a subsea cluster in Western Norway. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift–Norwegian Journal of Geography Vol. 65, 202–211. ISSN 0029-1951. The cluster concept has attracted attention from scholars and become increasingly popular in regional politics, as exemplified by The Norwegian Centres of Expertise programme. External linkages of cluster firms have become a concern inspired by the notions ‘local buzz’ and ‘global pipelines’. Viable clusters are dependent on the quality of both internal industrial environment and external linkages. The article focuses on internationalization of SMEs from a cluster perspective and discusses how cluster firms take advantage of different dimensions of proximity in their internationalization endeavours. By applying the industrial network approach, firms’ strategies and positions at different stages of internationalization are integrated in the analysis. The cases are four SMEs located in a ‘subsea cluster’ close to Bergen, Norway. Data were collected through interviews with top managers and observations during cluster-related meetings. The cases differ with regard to size and international experiences. Firms that are highly internationalized rely on cognitive or organizational proximity when they internationalize further. Such firms provide opportunities for other cluster firms. In contrast, less internationalized firms rely on social and institutional types of proximity. As they collaborate with larger and more experienced cluster firms they can skip some of the resource-demanding steps in the internationalizing process.

The obligation to heal when the market hurts - national regulation of the electricity sector and local industrial impacts

The article offers an institutional-comparative approach to a discussion about national regulation and its local consequences. The industrial regulations formulated after Norwegian independence in 1905 allowed public control of transactions concerning rights to Norwegian waterfalls. Efforts to restructure energy-intensive industry have often encountered local demands for the maintenance of local production. Due to the regulations, companies were forced to negotiate with the state and later also with local authorities. Deregulation of the electricity sector in the early 1990s facilitated a radical restructuring as companies stopped using electricity in local production and instead exported it from the region where it was generated. However, companies are still obliged to make different kinds of compensation to the host locality. The article presents cases of single company towns in Telemark and Nordland counties in Norway.

From regional restructuring to regional renewal: Cases from Norway

The article gives a brief historical overview of the changing perspectives of Norwegian regional research and regional policy related to the concept of regional restructuring. It offers an interpretation of the concept ‘path dependence’ and newer, related concepts such as ‘renewal’, ‘reorientation’, and ‘resilience’, which gradually have replaced the traditional regional restructuring approach associated with Doreen Massey. The article discusses how, in a series of case studies, history matters in the following ways: the significance that events or decisions in the past have for further development; institutions and regulations that cause inertia; and entrepreneurs and organizations that recombine accumulated knowledge and reutilize local resources, infrastructure, or cultural heritage in innovative processes. The studies are informed by evolutionary as well as by relational and institutional strands of economic geography. They are mainly qualitative case studies of Norwegian municipalities and regions dominated by certain industries vulnerable to economic decline. Further, they demonstrate a broad set of strategies of industrial renewal and reorientation. Bottom-up strategies and local flexibility with regard to modes of organizing restructuring are recommended.

Configuring floating production networks: A case study of a new offshore wind technology across two oil and gas economies

ABSTRACT The authors employ the global production network (GPN) approach to analyse the development of the renewable energy sector. Through a case study of the development of a Hywind floating offshore wind project (Hywind) across two oil and gas economies, namely Norway and Scotland, the paper sheds light on the key drivers and role of core GPN actors. Methodologically, the authors investigate the process from both ‘inside-out’ and ‘outside-in’ perspectives, referring to the efforts of firms expanding into overseas markets and the efforts of host countries to attract investment from outside their territories. The analysis shows how the configuration of extractive production networks is shaped by the interactions between the network development practices of firms and the market development strategies of host states. The authors conclude that the distinct materiality of floating wind power technology shapes the territorial configuration of the production network by enabling its spatial extension across a range of locations. By contrast, existing research on other extractive sectors has emphasized the spatially constraining effects of materiality (Bridge 2008).