IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v41y2009i5p1217-1233.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to Turn the Fate of Old Industrial Areas: A Comparison of Cluster-Based Renewal Processes in Styria and the Saarland

Author

Listed:
  • Michaela Trippl

    (Institute for Regional Development and Environment, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, UZA 4, Nordbergstrasse 15, A-1090 Vienna, Austria)

  • Anne Otto

    (Institute of Employment Research, Eschberger Weg 68, D-66121 Saarbrücken, Germany)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of regional innovation systems and clusters in the economic recovery of old industrial regions. We draw a distinction between three types of cluster-based renewal: an innovation-oriented adjustment of mature clusters (incremental change); the emergence of new agglomerations in established industries (diversification); and the rise of knowledge-intensive and high-technology activities (radical change). In the empirical part of the paper we compare cluster-based recovery processes in the regions of Styria and the Saarland. It is shown that Styria rebuilt its regional innovation system more successfully, enabling the innovation-oriented adjustment of a mature cluster, the rise of a new cluster in an established industry, and the emergence of knowledge-intensive activities. In the Saarland, in contrast, the regional innovation system has been more specialised, which has resulted in weak performance with respect to incremental change and diversification and high performance regarding radical change.

Suggested Citation

  • Michaela Trippl & Anne Otto, 2009. "How to Turn the Fate of Old Industrial Areas: A Comparison of Cluster-Based Renewal Processes in Styria and the Saarland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(5), pages 1217-1233, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:41:y:2009:i:5:p:1217-1233
    DOI: 10.1068/a4129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a4129
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a4129?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexander Kaufmann & Franz Todtling, 2000. "Systems of Innovation in Traditional Industrial Regions: The Case of Styria in a Comparative Perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 29-40.
    2. Ray Hudson, 2005. "Rethinking Change in Old Industrial Regions: Reflecting on the Experiences of North East England," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(4), pages 581-596, April.
    3. David Sadler, 2004. "Cluster Evolution, the Transformation of Old Industrial Regions and the Steel Industry Supply Chain in North East England," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 55-66.
    4. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2006. "Path dependence and regional economic evolution," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(4), pages 395-437, August.
    5. Koen Frenken & Frank Van Oort & Thijs Verburg, 2007. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Economic Growth," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 685-697.
    6. Franz Todtling & Michaela Trippl, 2004. "Like Phoenix from the Ashes? The Renewal of Clusters in Old Industrial Areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(5-6), pages 1175-1195, May.
    7. Kevin Morgan, 1997. "The Learning Region: Institutions, Innovation and Regional Renewal," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 491-503.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Hassink, 2010. "Locked in Decline? On the Role of Regional Lock-ins in Old Industrial Areas," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 21, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Beatriz P Almeida & Eduardo Gonçalves & Raquel Coelho Reis, 2019. "Path dependence and regional lock-in: an analysis using patent self-citations," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(4), pages 2865-2874.
    3. Isaksen , Arne & Trippl , Michaela, 2014. "Regional industrial path development in different regional innovation systems: A conceptual analysis," Papers in Innovation Studies 2014/17, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    4. Rehák Štefan & Buček Milan & Hudec Oto, 2013. "Path dependency and path plasticity in emerging industries," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 57(1-2), pages 52-66, October.
    5. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Jürgen Essletzbichler, 2013. "Relatedness, industrial branching and technological cohesion in U.S. metropolitan areas," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1307, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2013.
    7. Grillitsch, Markus & Nilsson, Magnus, 2019. "The Role of Trust in Regional Development," Papers in Innovation Studies 2019/8, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Roberta Capello & Camilla Lenzi, 2018. "The dynamics of regional learning paradigms and trajectories," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 727-748, September.
    9. Joan Crespo, 2021. "Agencies, scales and times of path creation: The case of IoT in Toulouse," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 1527-1545, October.
    10. Apa, Roberta & De Noni, Ivan & Orsi, Luigi & Sedita, Silvia Rita, 2018. "Knowledge space oddity: How to increase the intensity and relevance of the technological progress of European regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1700-1712.
    11. Markus Grillitsch & Roman Martin & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Knowledge Base Combinations and Innovation Performance in Swedish Regions," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(5), pages 458-479, October.
    12. Fredin, Sabrina, 2013. "New Perspectives on Innovative Entrepreneurship and Path Dependence – A Regional Approach," Working Papers 2013/06, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Department of Industrial Economics.
    13. Henderson, Dylan, 2019. "Policy path dependency in a less developed region: The evolution of regional innovation policy in Wales (UK)," Revista Galega de Economía, University of Santiago de Compostela. Faculty of Economics and Business., vol. 28(2), pages 39-52.
    14. Elvira Uyarra, 2010. "What is evolutionary about ‘regional systems of innovation’? Implications for regional policy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 115-137, January.
    15. Tödtling, Franz & Trippl, Michaela, 2004. "One size fits all? Towards a differentiated policy approach with respect to regional innovation systems," SRE-Discussion Papers 2004/01, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    16. Grillitsch, Markus, 2014. "Institutional Change and Economic Evolution in Regions," Papers in Innovation Studies 2014/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    17. Zhengyuan Zhao & Zhigao Liu, 2021. "Development Path of Industrial Heritage Tourism: A Case Study of Kitakyushu (Japan)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Philip Amison & David Bailey, 2013. "Industrial Diversity and Innovation Spillovers: Dynamic Innovation and Adoption. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 45," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47020, April.
    19. Markus Grillitsch, 2014. "Regional Transformation: Institutional Change and Economic Evolution in Regions," ERSA conference papers ersa14p1481, European Regional Science Association.
    20. Xiaohui Hu & Robert Hassink, 2015. "Overcoming the Dualism between Adaptation and Adaptability in Regional Economic Resilience," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1533, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2015.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:41:y:2009:i:5:p:1217-1233. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.