Edurne Magro

Path dependence in policies supporting smart specialisation strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply the path dependence theoretical framework to STI policies that support research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3). Design/methodology/approach – Review of the recent literature on the phases, sources of reinforcement and change mechanisms (layering, conversion, recombination, etc.) present in path-dependent processes, as well as the role played by mental frameworks, political agents and power relations; and its illustration and testing over 30 years of STI policy development in the Basque Country. Findings – How to operationalise the analysis of continuity and change of STI policies supporting RIS3 policies characterised by path dependence processes. Likewise, learnings from the analysis of Basque case regarding the types of challenges that European regions will face as they design their RIS3, according to their degree of maturity in STI policies. Originality/value – It is the first time that the recently developed tools for analysis ...

Anchoring the innovation impacts of public procurement to place: The role of conversations:

Public procurement is frequently touted as a means of promoting innovation at the sub-national level, but the underlying mechanisms through which this is supposed to work are seldom articulated. In particular, while the relevance of social interaction for innovation is offered as a key rationale for the use of public procurement for innovation, there is little discussion of its corresponding spatial dimensions. This paper contributes to this debate by advancing our understanding of the spatial aspects of public procurement for innovation and thus of the scope for using public procurement to achieve regional innovation policy goals. We connect the public procurement for innovation literature with the literatures on innovation-driven regional development around the notion of ‘conversations’ to capture the spatial and social aspects of interactions relevant for public procurement for innovation. Different forms of spatial anchoring of procurement are explored, presenting different challenges and opportunities for regions. We provide illustrative examples for each type, from which suggestions are derived for promoting place-based ‘innovation-friendly’ procurement.

Regional competitiveness policy evaluation as a transformative process: From theory to practice

Regional competitiveness policy evaluation is at an interesting juncture. Increasing demand for evaluation is emerging at a time when policy complexity is highlighting the limits of existing techniques. Moreover, widespread use of the concept of policy learning in conceptual analysis is not matched by experimentation and reflection that can articulate what policy learning means in practice. This paper explores the transformative role that evaluation can play in policy learning, in theory, and in practice. It analyses experience with three different competitiveness policy evaluations in the same regional and institutional setting. It finds that explicit demand for evaluation, decisions around the appropriate mode of knowledge generation, the existence of dialogue spaces where relevant policy–stakeholders (including researchers) frequently meet, and the development of trust and cognitive proximity within these meeting places, are all critical factors if evaluation is to be transformative.

Regional competitiveness policy in an era of smart specialization strategies: Contemporary Theories and Perspectives on Economic Development

The development of regional competitiveness as a powerful policy discourse has been built on the co-evolution of academic literature and policy practice around a series of influential place-based concepts. It also coincides with evolving theory and practice in policymaking, by which policy is increasingly seen as an outcome of dialogue and decision-making processes among networks of place-based agents, breaking down the traditional public_private divide. The confluence of these trends is very clearly evident in debates on territorial strategy, which in Europe have taken shape around the notion of regional innovation strategies for smart specialization. The aim of this chapter is to discuss regional competitiveness policy in today’s era of smart specialization. The emergence and evolution of regional competitiveness policies is traced, with two of the most influential place-based competitiveness concepts _ regional innovation systems and clusters _ highlighted. Sources of policy complexity are identified in the interactions between distinct policy rationales, the multiple policy domains and difficult processes of instrument choice, and the presence of multiple actors at multiple scales. Governance and learning processes around policymaking are increasingly important, an aspect that is prevalent in debates around smart specialization. The chapter then addresses the concept of smart specialization, making links with previously analysed features of regional competitiveness policies. This leads to a series of concluding reflections that disentangle the novelty of smart specialization strategies from other policy approaches and highlight some implications for the way in which governments operate around regional competitiveness policies.

Governance of the territorial entrepreneurial discovery process: looking under the bonnet of RIS3

ABSTRACT The notion of a territorial entrepreneurial discovery process has gained much traction through its appearance at the core of smart specialization strategies. This paper uses evidence from eight European regions to explore what in practice is conditioning the emergence of new forms of quadruple-helix governance that underpin this concept. The paper develops a framework that highlights the key factors that have conditioned the governance of RIS3 design and are likely to continue to shape emergent regional entrepreneurial discovery processes.