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

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Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberscac035
Pages (from-to)878-889
Number of pages12
JournalScience and Public Policy
Volume49
Issue number6
Early online date29 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2022

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 502014 Innovation research
  • 507026 Economic geography

Keywords

  • regional innovation policy
  • institutionalism
  • isomorphism
  • smart specialization
  • EU cohesion policy
  • CHOICE
  • ISOMORPHISM
  • 6 CRITICAL QUESTIONS
  • ORGANIZATIONS
  • FRAMEWORK
  • SYSTEMS

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