The Heroic Assumptions of Smart Specialisation: A Sympathetic Critique of Regional Innovation Policy

Smart specialisation as place-based policy. Lessons learnt?

“…A second area of concern is the persistence of an 'implementation gap'. A number of voices have expressed concern that the focus of smart specialisation has been mainly on the design of the strategies and not enough attention has been given to their implementation (Marques and Morgan, 2018). However, the actual impact of policies depends as much on having the right institutional configuration for implementation as whether the rationales behind their use are 'correct' or not (Flanagan and Uyarra, 2016).…”

Higher Education Institutions as Knowledge Brokers in Smart Specialisation

“…Implementation occurred without any direct rules or guidelines for the actors or institutions to find their position in the changing environment [3,4].…”

“…Smart specialisation emphasises a place-based approach and the central role of the relational infrastructure of public institutions, as well as public and private sector cooperation, as a source of promoting regional growth [4]. However, even if public institutions including HEIs are embedded into the regional innovation system, there might also be also a gap in understanding among university management personnel about what the regional challenges are [5].…”

“…The direction of research findings shows that, not only there are two separate roles for public and private institutions and organisations, but these roles are more diversified in the regions. Especially in small and less-developed regions, the role of public research organisations, like universities, is to have a more central role in generating and exploiting knowledge for firms and industries [4,8,9]. Previous studies have also shown that public institutions and other public resources have a significant role in regional development as institutions that connect and produce organisations and competence [1].…”

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

“…Regions are, however, highly unequal when designing and implementing place-based policies due to differences in the quality of their governments (Charron, Dijkstra, & Lapuente, 2014), their capacities to absorb funds (Oughton, Landabaso, & Morgan, 2002), and their institutional capabilities (Farole, Rodríguez-Pose, & Storper, 2011). The S3 concept, which is the most ambitious place-based policy approach within EU Cohesion Policy, has led to design and implementation challenges in many regions (Foray, 2018;Marques & Morgan, 2018). As any place-based policy strategy, S3 requires supportive institutions and strong policy capabilities at the regional level (Coffano & Foray, 2014).…”