Regional Innovation Dilemmatic Policy-Making: between Misconceptions and Missing Conceptions

Authors

Keywords:

innovation, innovation policy, territorial innovation policy, territory

Abstract

Abstract. Regions are widely recognised as playing a fundamental role in the promotion of the knowledge economy, but most research has been focusing on diagnosing territorial archetypes, their dynamics peculiarities, as well as their drivers of innovation and innovative performance. Less attention has been paid on establishing a linkage between these theoretical foundations and the design of a policy framework and guidelines to promote regional innovation in a systemic way. Based on a vast theoretical research and on the analysis of empirical evidence, the main objective of this article is precisely to discuss this issue in the light of the mainstream theoretical frameworks that enable a better understanding of the relationship innovation-territory, analysing, also, the main criticisms those approaches are arising among some scholars. This article will present a discussion of the main approaches that constitute the theoretical corpus of the so-called territorial innovation models, pointing out to some of their main ambiguities, misconceptions and conceptual gaps and, lastly, will integrate this reflexion into an alternative framework proposal for a new generation of regional innovation policy.

Résume.  Les régions sont largement reconnues comme jouant un rôle fondamental dans la promotion de l'économie de la connaissance, mais la plupart des recherches se sont concentrées sur le diagnostic des archétypes territoriaux, leurs particularités dynamiques, ainsi que leurs moteurs d'innovation et de performance innovante. Une attention moindre a été accordée à l'établissement d'un lien entre ces fondements théoriques et la conception d'un cadre politique et de lignes directrices pour promouvoir l'innovation régionale de manière systémique. Sur la base d'une vaste recherche théorique et de l'analyse de preuves empiriques, le principal objectif de cet article est précisément de discuter de cette question à la lumière des cadres théoriques traditionnels qui permettent une meilleure compréhension de la relation innovation-territoire, en analysant, également, les principales critiques soulevées par ces approches chez certains chercheurs. Cet article présentera une discussion des principales approches qui constituent le corpus théorique des modèles d'innovation territoriale, soulignant leurs principales ambiguïtés, idées fausses et lacunes conceptuelles et, enfin, intégrera cette réflexion dans une proposition de cadre alternatif pour une nouvelle génération de politique d'innovation régionale.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15551/lsgdc.v47i1.05

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2019-10-31

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