Chapter 12 - Can Smart Specialization and Entrepreneurial Discovery be Organized by the Government? Lessons from Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

In this chapter, we treat smart specialization and entrepreneurial discovery as elements of broader phenomenon of “experimental governance” in the European Union. We analyze, how have different Central and Eastern European economies tried to operationalize and organize the drafting of smart specialization strategies and entrepreneurial discovery as part of this strategy-making process. We show that the analyzed countries have faced great difficulties in operationalizing these concepts and implementing them in a way visioned by the EU policy makers. While the countries have tried to consciously select broad specializations with rather limited changes in policy-making practices, we argue that emphasis should not be on defining and agreeing upon “smarter” specializations per se, but on developing systems and capabilities for continuous entrepreneurial discovery based on close interactions and agile coordination between and within states, academia, and businesses. This requires more flexible approach to bureaucratic rules and regulations by both the European Union, as well as the national and regional policy makers.