Regional innovation governance and place-based policies: design, implementation and implications

Arnault Morisson,Mathieu Doussineau

doi:10.1080/21681376.2019.1578257

Abstract

ABSTRACTRegions need to tailor their own place-based policies because there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ regional innovation policy framework. Each region is characterized by different institutional capacities related to political, economic and social contexts enabling or constraining the design and implementation of place-based policies. This paper uses an instrumental-use multiple case study approach to explore the design and implementation of place-based policies within the institutional arrangements of four regional innovation agencies (RIAs) established in three different regional contexts inside and outside the European Union: one in the Brainport region (the Netherlands), two in the Basque Country (Spain) and one in Medellín (Colombia). In analyzing the RIAs’ similarities and differences, this paper explores the complexity of designing and implementing place-based innovation policies in different regional innovation systems (RISs) while noting important policy implications for regional innovation governance and institutional arrangements to upgrade RIS in a more systematic manner.

Highlights

Policy-makers and regional governments are increasingly putting innovation policies at the top of their policy agendas (OECD, 2011a), as innovation is seen as the pathway to a higher standard of living
The four regional innovation agencies (RIAs) selected are Brainport Development located in the Brainport region of the Netherlands, Innobasque and Society of Industrial Promotion and Restructuring (SPRI) located in the Basque Country of Spain, and Ruta N located in Medellín, Colombia
Ruta N, which is an RIA outside the European Union (EU), was selected because it is a unique case in Latin America that has received significant public funding and knowledge from international experts to structure its role in its regional innovation systems (RISs) (OECD, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

Policy-makers and regional governments are increasingly putting innovation policies at the top of their policy agendas (OECD, 2011a), as innovation is seen as the pathway to a higher standard of living. S3 is a policy concept to support regional prioritization in innovative sectors, fields or technologies through the entrepreneurial discovery process, a bottom-up approach to reveal what a region does best in terms of its endowments in science and technology (Foray, David, & Hall, 2009). The main policy recommendation is to design place-based and place-sensitive policies to respond to regional innovation specificities (Barca, McCann, & Rodríguez-Pose, 2012). A place-based policy is defined as ‘a long-term strategy aimed at tackling persistent underutilization of potential and reducing persistent social exclusion in specific places through external interventions and multilevel governance’ A place-based policy is defined as ‘a long-term strategy aimed at tackling persistent underutilization of potential and reducing persistent social exclusion in specific places through external interventions and multilevel governance’ (Barca, 2009, p. vii)

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion