New Knowledge Dynamics, New Regional Policies? European Policy Trends and Implications Henrik Halkier, Margareta Dahlström, Laura James, Jesper Manniche, Lise Smed Olsen & Simone Strambach EURODITE WORKSHOP REGIONAL STUDIES SPECIAL ISSUE Newcastle April Conceptualising the rise of knowledge-oriented regional policy 2.RDAs and their policies: A top-down analysis 3.Economic innovation and public policy: A bottom-up analysis 4.Conclusion and perspectives
Conceptualising the rise of knowledge-oriented regional policy Table 2. Key characteristics of regional policy paradigms in Europe c DimensionSub-dimensionsIndustrial paradigmKnowledge-economy paradigm Territorial governance Political governanceVariable (centralised)Variable (becoming more decentralised) Policy sponsorshipCentralised designation of assisted areas Multi-level designation of assisted areas, decentral bottom-up initiatives Strategy General direction Expansion/duplication of existing economic activities to boost volume Modernisation of existing and creation of new forms of economic activity Target institutionsPrivate firms Private firms and regional system of e.g. innovation Target capabilities Hardware through boosting of physical investment Software and orgware improved by increasing knowledge and relations between actors Policy instruments ResourcesFinanceInformation, organisation RulesConditionalConditional, unconditional Knowledge impact Knowledge typesSyntheticAnalytical, synthetic, symbolic Knowledge phasesExloitationExploitation, examination, exploration Elaborated on the basis of COOKE and MORGAN, 1993; HALKIER and DANSON, 1997; AMIN, 1999; LAGENDIJK, 1999; HASSINK, 2001; RAINES, 2002; BENNEWORTH et al., 2003; HALKIER, 2006; BACHTLER and YUILL, 2007; MOODYSON et al., 2008; CREVOISIER and JEANNERAT, 2009.
TOP-DOWN SURVEY RDAs and their policies Sponsorship: Arm's-length, one sponsor Strategies: Competitiveness Targets: Organisations, information + Instruments: Knowledge-intensive Knowledge impact: Techno-managerial, cultural
BOTTOM-UP ANALYSIS Economic innovation and public policy Characteristics of influential policies Relative importance of policy governance EUNat Regional/ local Auto ●●●●●● Bio ●● Food ●●●●● ICT ●●●●● KIBS ●●●●●● New media ●● Tourism ●●●●●● All cases ●●●●●● Multi-level governance Knowledge-intensive Knowledge-conservative? Inward-looking?
Knowledge dynamics and provisional policy challenges 1. Further a wider range of knowledge –symbolic, demand, social variation, extra-regional –more knowledge assets available for development –support knowledge brokerage 2. Further combinatorial knowledge –new proximities, recombination –interdisciplinary education/training/capacities –importance of knowledge management 3. Evidence-based policy-making –Coordination: levels / policy areas / diverse actors –inspiration, not copy/paste –improved policy preparation/evaluation
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