Danny MacKinnon

Learning, innovation and regional development: a critical appraisal of recent debates

A resurgence of interest in the region as a scale of economic organization has been apparent within economic geography over the past decade or so. In view of the apparent shift towards a ‘knowledge-driven economy’, the capacity of regions to support processes of learning and innovation has been identified as a key source of competitive advantage. This paper provides a critical appraisal of recent work on innovation, learning and regional development, situating this within its intellectual context. We argue that, while the focus on knowledge and learning is highly relevant, much of the literature fails to adequately ground its arguments in empirical enquiry and also tends to underemphasize the importance of wider extra-local networks and structures. In conclusion, we offer some directions for further research.

From resilience to resourcefulness A critique of resilience policy and activism

This paper provides a theoretical and political critique of how the concept of resilience has been applied to places. It is based upon three main points. First, the ecological concept of resilience is conservative when applied to social relations. Second, resilience is externally defined by state agencies and expert knowledge. Third, a concern with the resilience of places is misplaced in terms of spatial scale, since the processes which shape resilience operate primary at the scale of capitalist social relations. In place of resilience, we offer the concept of resourcefulness as an alternative approach for community groups to foster.

Evolution in Economic Geography: Institutions, Political Economy, and Adaptation

Abstract Economic geography has, over the past decade or so, drawn upon ideas from evolutionary economics in trying to understand processes of regional growth and change. Recently, some researchers have sought to delimit and develop an “evolutionary economic geography” (EEG), aiming to create a more systematic theoretical framework for research. This article provides a sympathetic critique and elaboration of this emergent EEG but takes issue with some aspects of its characterization in recent programmatic statements. While acknowledging that EEG is an evolving and pluralist project, we are concerned that the reliance on certain theoretical frameworks that are imported from evolutionary economics and complexity science threatens to isolate it from other approaches in economic geography, limiting the opportunities for cross-fertilization. In response, the article seeks to develop a social and pluralist conception of institutions and social agency in EEG, drawing upon the writings of leading institutional economists, and to link evolutionary concepts to political economy approaches, arguing that the evolution of the economic landscape must be related to processes of capital accumulation and uneven development. As such, we favor the use of evolutionary and institutional concepts within a geographical political economy approach, rather than the construction of some kind of theoretically separate EEG—evolution in economic geography, not an evolutionary economic geography.

Reconstructing scale: Towards a new scalar politics:

In recent years, the dominant political-economic approach to scale has been subject to critique from poststructuralist perspectives. In this paper, I argue that the charge of ‘reification’ has been accepted too readily, masking areas of conceptual overlap between political-economic and poststructural approaches, particularly in terms of their shared concern with the construction of scale. On this basis, I propose to replace the established concept of ‘the politics of scale’ with ‘scalar politics’, arguing that it is often not scale per se that is the prime object of contention, but rather specific processes and institutionalized practices that are themselves differentially scaled.

Networking, trust and embeddedness amongst SMEs in the Aberdeen oil complex

Over the last decade or so, networking has become a ‘vogue concept’ in small business research, connecting with wider debates on learning and regional development. Participation in inter-firm networks is seen to provide small firms with access to a broader pool of resources and knowledge, helping them to overcome size-related disadvantages. In particular, the role of such networks as channels for innovation and learning within regions and localities has been emphasized in the context of an apparent shift towards a knowledge-driven economy. In this paper, we provide an empirically-grounded analysis of networking, trust and embeddedness amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Aberdeen oil complex. Drawing upon survey and interview data, it is argued that connections to extra-local networks play a crucial role in providing access to wider sources of information and knowledge. At the same time, an Aberdeen location still matters to oil-related firms because of the access it offers to crucial forms of industry-specific information and expertise. In concurring with recent calls for more empirically-grounded research which seeks to ‘test’ theoretical propositions against relevant data, we suggest in conclusion that a combination of firm surveys and face-to-face interviews provides an appropriate way forward.

Introduction: clusters in urban and regional development

Clusters have become a key focus of discussion and analysis in contemporary debates on urban and regional economic development (Feldman, 2000; Porter, 1990; Steiner, 1998). Closely associated with the work of the Harvard business economist, Michael Porter (1990, 2000), the cluster concept has attracted particular interest from academics, consultants and policy-makers concerned with promoting urban and regional growth in an increasingly global economy (Benneworth et al., 2003; Glaeser, 2000; Martin and Sunley, 2003). As Steiner (1998, pp. 1 and 4) observes, clusters have become an object of desire for many cities and regions, resting on the widely accepted assumption that increased specialisation will lead to increased levels of productivity, growth and employment. Cluster-based policies have been adopted by a range of organisations operating at different geographical scales, including regional development agencies within a number of European and North American states, national government units such as the UK government’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and supranational bodies such as the OECD and the European Commission (see—for example, DTI, 1998; European Commission, 2002; OECD, 2002). Such policies require the identification of specialist clusters which can then be targeted for support, typically in the form of R&D assistance, bespoke training, venture capital, initiatives which attempt to inculcate a culture of innovation and learning and efforts to build and reinforce a sense of cluster identity amongst constituent firms and organisations (Raines, 2002). As advocates of clusters often argue (Porter 1998, 2000; Botham and Downes, 1999), the approach is not confined to dynamic new clusters of the knowledge economy, but can be applied in a variety of sectoral and spatial contexts, from old industrial regions undergoing structural readjustment to peripheral rural regions seeking new sources of growth and even prospective industrial ‘hotspots’ in the ‘global south’ (Altenberg and Maeyer-Stamer, 1999; World Bank, 2000). Despite a growing literature, reflected in a burgeoning number of articles, journal special issues (see European Planning Studies, Small Business Economics)—to which we are, of course, adding another—and official reports, we would argue that there is still a lack of critical intellectual engagement with the cluster concept. Whilst a number of critiques of clusters and concepts associated with what has been termed the ‘new regionalism’ in economic geography and related fields have appeared in recent years (see, for example, Lovering, 1999; MacLeod, 2001; MacKinnon et al., 2002; Cumbers et al., 2003b), there remains a marked absence of work which critically evaluates the theoretical and policy claims of the cluster concept

Rural governance and local involvement: assessing state—community relations in the Scottish Highlands

Abstract Questions of rural governance have been attracting growing interest in recent years as rural analysts turn their attention to the institutional transformations that are taking place in and around the local state. This paper is concerned with the relationships between new governance agencies and rural communities. It follows recent contributions to the rural studies literature by adopting a ‘governmentality’ perspective which views the current emphasis on community involvement and empowerment as part of a broader neo-liberal strategy of ‘governing through community’. In the paper, I address a particular gap in the governmentality literature by examining how the underlying shift towards community action and local involvement is mediated and implemented by local and regional agencies in the Scottish Highlands, focusing specifically on the relationship between local enterprise companies and local communities. As such, the paper explores the tension between the concern with local participation and the reliance upon a set of managerial ‘technologies’ such as targeting and financial controls which reflect a need to ensure that local agencies are accountable to (central) government. The paper argues that while local state agencies must be analysed within wider circuits of power, local agencies and community groups retain some capacity to influence processes of rural governance. In conclusion, I suggest that the governmentality approach provides some critical insights for re-interpreting and analysing rural governance as a particular field of research.

Devolution and the territorial politics of foreign direct investment

In this paper, we consider the possible effects of devolution on the territorial politics of foreign direct investment (FDI), focusing on two regions in particular: Wales and the North East of England. Informed by recent work on the politics of spatial scale, the paper draws attention to the role of regional actors in supporting processes of globalisation from below whilst also suggesting that regions are produced from above through processes of FDI-led globalisation and state rescaling. We explore the territorial politics of FDI in the UK through the central notion of an Inward Investment Service Class (IISC). This concept enables us to operationalise our ideas of ‘bottom up’ globalisation and ‘top down’ regionalisation by focusing attention on the role of a specific set of economic development interests within the two regions. The paper argues that while the notion of an IISC highlights important relationships within Wales and the North East, it is questionable whether the groups identified actually function as an identifiable coalition. In terms of how devolution might shape approaches to FDI in the context of pre-existing institutional differences between Scotland, Wales and the English regions, we suggest that the prospect of increased inter-regional competition for FDI may be balanced by inter-regional collaboration. In conclusion, the authors stress the need for further research to advance our understanding of how processes of globalisation from below actually operate.

A Geographical Political Economy of Evolution in Economic Geography

Abstract Key themes for evolution in economic geography are identified that clarify and further refine and reinforce our argument for broader conceptions of institutions, social agency, and power and for the situation of the plural and emerging field of evolutionary approaches more fully within geographical political economy. We address the following issues: conceptual and terminological clarity; evolution and institutions within and beyond the firm; agency, bounded determinacy, and power; and research method and design. Our central contention is that geographical political economy provides a coherent and well-structured conceptual and theoretical framework with which to broaden and deepen our understanding, exploration, and practice of evolutionary thinking in economic geography.

Divergence or convergence? Devolution and transport policy in the United Kingdom

We examine the impact of devolution in the United Kingdom on transport policies in the first two terms of devolved government, from 1999/2000 to 2007/08. In particular, we discuss the nature and extent of policy convergence and divergence between the devolved territories (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and London) and England (wherein responsibility for policy formulation remains with the UK government at Westminster), and between the devolved territories themselves. Our analysis builds on existing work on devolution and public policy not only through its focus on transport policy, but also by distinguishing between ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ dimensions of policy divergence and convergence, referring to relations between territories and to links to previous policies adopted within the same territory, respectively. Findings point to a convergence of overarching transport strategies and a complex picture of both convergence and divergence in terms of specific policy measures. The latter provides evidence of a devolution effect on transport policy.