2nd Order Innovations?An Actor-oriented Analysis of the Genesis of Knowledge and Institutions in Regional Innovation Systems (RIS)

Within the last years, the focus of national and European economic policy has shifted towards the development of regions as parts of nation states or economies. By so doing, large differences in economic performance and innovative dynamics between regions of the EU and also within Germany can be observed. A question that is central to innovation policy and regional economics is why, in spite of a common macroeconomic environment, some regions stand up to compete and prosper while others show weak economic performance and only slowly initiate catch-up-processes. Modern regional economics views regional development as strongly dependent on its innovative capabilities. Based on existing knowledge, innovations emerge through a creative process in which new knowledge is generated and thereby technical, organizational or behavioural novelties are created and/or become widely accepted.

From this point of departure, the project aims to identify the general factors relevant for the success and/or failure of regional innovation systems (RIS). A first step is the (re)interpretation of the results of numerous case studies of existing RIS within a theoretical framework based on findings from the economics of innovation, regional and network economics, taking into account the relevant neighbouring fields (theoretical analysis). This theoretical triage, together with available data, will form the basis for an actor-based model of the idealised development of RIS as the second step of the project (dynamic modelling).

The theoretical and empirical analyses of RIS, as well as the dynamic modelling of the phases of development, will then be drawn upon to analyze the factors responsible for success/failure in more detail. From the numerous imaginable factors, we will concentrate on the genesis of knowledge and institutions. In particular, we will analyze to what extent the mode of knowledge generation and diffusion, on the one hand, and new ways of institutional embedding of regional innovative activities, on the other, were (and will be) critical for the success/failure of RIS. In the course of this projects, we expect to achieve insights about the potentials and boundaries of political design within the evolution of RIS.

Frank Beckenbach, Wolfgang Gerstlberger (Kassel University)
Jean-Luc Gaffard, Michel Quéré (IDEFI Sophia Antipolis, Nice)

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