Regional innovation strategies in the knowledge-based economy

Abstract

This paper aims to examine major regional innovation strategies for regional development in the knowledge-based economy in Korea. Innovation policy and Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) are becoming important issues in Korea in both national and regional perspectives. These issues have been evolving since the mid 1990s, especially since the financial crisis of 1997 in Korea. Five major policy issues for promoting innovation and regional competitiveness are examined in this paper. The major policy issues are: promoting region-specific clustering; building habitats for innovation and entrepreneurship; collective learning processes and innovation networks; building a stock of social capital; and promoting local and global networks. Several strategies are suggested for each of these policy issues. These major policy issues and related strategies for regional innovation and competitiveness can be regarded as common issues required for the successful development of RIS. Taking these basic policy issues into account, each region can develop their own region-specific RIS, with appropriate consideration of distinctive regional characteristics such as the level of development, industrial specialization, local labor market, local business climate, local financial system, etc.