Abstract
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim at harnessing economic complexity for sustainable and inclusive economic growth by calling for a decade of joint action. In this paper, we show how the action-oriented collaborative culture of complex and competitive economic ecosystems in places outside the major population centers may generate significant positive external effects for society and the environment at large. We illustrate this by means of two small case studies in Switzerland, a country with a federal system that enables decentralized economic development. The first case study investigates the economic ecosystem of the small town Monthey to show how productive migrants and embedded multinational companies increase the knowledge and know-how of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The successful collaboration of insiders and outsiders accounts for the internal economic complexity that makes the region innovative and competitive. The second case study highlights the importance of the federalist system by showing how the canton of Solothurn succeeded in nurturing globally competitive export-oriented SMEs. We conclude that the success of these inclusive economic ecosystems in unexpected places may only be understood in the specific geographical, historical and political context, as well as the general openness of these regions toward entrepreneurial migrants and global business. The importance of local social capital makes it hard to replicate such success stories. Nevertheless, they indicate that the global knowledge economy may not just pose a threat, but also offer great opportunities for productive regions beyond the major global high-tech clusters of economic complexity.
Highlights
IntroductionThe 21st century is likely to become known as the century of global urban expansion. Poor people who aim to become more affluent do so by moving from areas with few economic opportunities, mostly located in disconnected rural regions, to areas with more economic opportunities, mostly found in growing and globally connected urban ecosystems
Accepted: 6 April 2021The 21st century is likely to become known as the century of global urban expansion
By comparing the economic ecosystem of the town of Monthey, canton of Valais, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, with the economic ecosystem of the canton of Solothurn in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, we illustrate the importance of the historical, institutional and geographical context in which such diverse and complex economic ecosystems in the countryside emerge and how they thrive through a constructive type of mutualism between local knowledgebased and service-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the larger export-oriented companies in the region, between local residents and international migrants and between white and blue collar workers
Summary
The 21st century is likely to become known as the century of global urban expansion. Poor people who aim to become more affluent do so by moving from areas with few economic opportunities, mostly located in disconnected rural regions, to areas with more economic opportunities, mostly found in growing and globally connected urban ecosystems. By comparing the economic ecosystem of the town of Monthey, canton of Valais, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, with the economic ecosystem of the canton of Solothurn in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, we illustrate the importance of the historical, institutional and geographical context in which such diverse and complex economic ecosystems in the countryside emerge and how they thrive through a constructive type of mutualism between local knowledgebased and service-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the larger export-oriented companies in the region, between local residents and international migrants and between white and blue collar workers They all share a common view on how to keep their region attractive as a place where they work and live, despite the scarcity of available resources (compared to the metropolitan growth centers). As such, prospering complex economic ecosystems outside the major metropolitan growth centers often turn out to perform above the national average [19], and the more inclusive nature of such small and medium-sized town economies may contribute in a substantial way to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in general, and to SDG 8 (inclusive growth and decent work) in particular [20]
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