Reframing regional innovation systems: evolution, complexity and public policy

Abstract

Introduction Understanding the dynamics of innovation at the regional level is a growing concern both for scholars trying to understand uneven regional development and for practitioners seeking to improve the economy prosperity of places. The centrality of the region not only as a repository but especially as a source of new knowledge has led to a rich literature linking innovation dynamics with regional development. Heterodox approaches in economic geography (many of them subsumed under the label of ‘territorial innovation models’ (Moulaert and Sekia 2003) have, for instance, stressed the importance of local institutional dynamics for inter-fi rm networking and industrial development. The literature on Regional Systems of Innovation (RSI), in particular, has been infl uential in conveying the idea that fi rms interacting locally, with adequate institutional support, are able to achieve higher rates of innovation, and ultimately generate quality jobs and growth in the region. The RSI literature (see for example, Cooke et al. 1997; Braczyk et al. 1998; Howells 1999; Doloreux and Parto 2005) has over time developed into an extensive body of work (Carlsson 2005), and has been infl uential as a framework for the design, implementation, justifi cation and evaluation of policies in a variety of regional and national settings. Reservations have, however, been expressed about RSI research adopting a narrow regional focus and an implicitly static analysis. Other concerns relate to the normative uses of the concept, which paradoxically risk devaluing its policy relevance in the longer term (see for example, Uyarra 2010).