An institutionalist perspective on smart specialization: Towards a political economy of regional innovation policy

Autor(en)
Maximilian Benner
Abstrakt

The smart specialization approach has guided regional innovation policies in Europe for roughly a decade. However, the policy practice under the approach has met considerable criticism which suggests the existence of significant gaps between the conceptual level and the level of policy implementation. To explain and understand the reasons for these gaps, this article proposes an institutionalist perspective rooted in neo-institutional sociology. In particular, the article draws on concepts such as ceremony, myth, and isomorphism and argues that such an institutionalist perspective can provide one of several fields of further research on the political economy of regional innovation policy. Pursuing such research is particularly relevant to inform policymaking in the coming years, given the current tendency to re-orient smart specialization towards challenge orientation, directionality, normativity, and sustainability.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung
Journal
Science and Public Policy
Band
49
Seiten
878-889
Anzahl der Seiten
12
ISSN
0302-3427
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scac035
Publikationsdatum
06-2022
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
502014 Innovationsforschung, 507026 Wirtschaftsgeographie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Geography, Planning and Development, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Public administration
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/0b27fd62-e657-43c5-ba90-d31c405fb894