IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jahrfr/v41y2021i2d10.1007_s10037-021-00157-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Solving the restructuring problems of (former) old industrial regions with smart specialization? Conceptual thoughts and evidence from the Ruhr

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Hassink

    (Kiel University)

  • Matthias Kiese

    (Ruhr University Bochum)

Abstract

(Former) old industrial regions are a specific kind of lagging regions that suffer from long-term restructuring problems and deindustrialization. They are back in the focus of many researchers as well as media observers, because of the rise of populist parties in many of these regions in North America and Europe. Therefore, new policy options are discussed in the literature. In this paper, we critically discuss the effects of smart specialization as the most recent regional policy strategy in Europe on solving the restructuring problems and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions and we illustrate our analysis with a view on the Ruhr in Germany. Since smart specialization focuses on existing endogenous potential and entrepreneurial discovery processes from the region, vested interests in (former) old industrial regions might hinder necessary restructuring. Although potentially path transformation might be fostered in some cases, overall, smart specialization is certainly not a quick fix for solving long-term negative effects of restructuring and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Hassink & Matthias Kiese, 2021. "Solving the restructuring problems of (former) old industrial regions with smart specialization? Conceptual thoughts and evidence from the Ruhr," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 41(2), pages 131-155, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jahrfr:v:41:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10037-021-00157-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10037-021-00157-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10037-021-00157-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10037-021-00157-8?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Fritsch & David J. Storey, 2014. "Entrepreneurship in a Regional Context: Historical Roots, Recent Developments and Future Challenges," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 939-954, June.
    2. Roberta Capello & Henning Kroll, 2016. "From theory to practice in smart specialization strategy: emerging limits and possible future trajectories," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1393-1406, August.
    3. Jiří Blažek & Viktor Květoň & Simon Baumgartinger-Seiringer & Michaela Trippl, 2020. "The dark side of regional industrial path development: towards a typology of trajectories of decline," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(8), pages 1455-1473, August.
    4. Andr�s Rodr�guez-Pose & Enrique Garcilazo, 2015. "Quality of Government and the Returns of Investment: Examining the Impact of Cohesion Expenditure in European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1274-1290, August.
    5. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), 2010. "The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12864.
    6. Beise, Marian, 2004. "Lead markets: country-specific drivers of the global diffusion of innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 997-1018, September.
    7. Dani Rodrik, 2018. "Populism and the economics of globalization," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(1), pages 12-33, June.
    8. Bjørn Asheim & Markus Grillitsch & Michaela Trippl, 2017. "Introduction: Combinatorial Knowledge Bases, Regional Innovation, and Development Dynamics," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(5), pages 429-435, October.
    9. Robert Hassink & Huiwen Gong, 2019. "Six critical questions about smart specialization," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(10), pages 2049-2065, October.
    10. Baier, Elisabeth & Kroll, Henning & Zenker, Andrea, 2013. "Regional autonomy with regard to innovation policy: A differentiated illustration of the European status quo," Working Papers "Firms and Region" R3/2013, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    11. Markus Grillitsch, 2016. "Institutions, smart specialisation dynamics and policy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(1), pages 22-37, February.
    12. Arne Isaksen & Roman Martin & Michaela Trippl (ed.), 2018. "New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-71661-9, December.
    13. Maximilian Benner, 2020. "Six additional questions about smart specialization: implications for regional innovation policy 4.0," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(8), pages 1667-1684, August.
    14. Stuetzer, Michael & Obschonka, Martin & Audretsch, David B. & Wyrwich, Michael & Rentfrow, Peter J. & Coombes, Mike & Shaw-Taylor, Leigh & Satchell, Max, 2016. "Industry structure, entrepreneurship, and culture: An empirical analysis using historical coalfields," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 52-72.
    15. Mercedes Delgado & Michael E. Porter & Scott Stern, 2016. "Defining clusters of related industries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-38.
    16. 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.
    17. Markku Sotarauta, 2018. "Smart specialization and place leadership: dreaming about shared visions, falling into policy traps?," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 190-203, January.
    18. Elvira Uyarra & Chiara Marzocchi & Jens Sorvik, 2018. "How outward looking is smart specialisation? Rationales, drivers and barriers," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(12), pages 2344-2363, December.
    19. Ron Martin, 2010. "Roepke Lecture in Economic Geography—Rethinking Regional Path Dependence: Beyond Lock-in to Evolution," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(1), pages 1-27, January.
    20. Mariachiara Barzotto & Carlo Corradini & Felicia Fai & Sandrine Labory & Philip R. Tomlinson, 2020. "Smart specialisation, Industry 4.0 and lagging regions: some directions for policy," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 318-332, January.
    21. Frank Neffke & Matté Hartog & Ron Boschma & Martin Henning, 2018. "Agents of Structural Change: The Role of Firms and Entrepreneurs in Regional Diversification," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 94(1), pages 23-48, January.
    22. Ron Boschma, 2014. "Constructing Regional Advantage and Smart Specialisation: Comparison of Two European Policy Concepts," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 51-68.
    23. Slavo Radosevic & Katerina Ciampi Stancova, 2018. "Internationalising Smart Specialisation: Assessment and Issues in the Case of EU New Member States," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(1), pages 263-293, March.
    24. Miren Estensoro & Miren Larrea, 2016. "Overcoming policy making problems in smart specialization strategies: engaging subregional governments," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7), pages 1319-1335, July.
    25. Magro, Edurne & Wilson, James R., 2019. "Policy-mix evaluation: Governance challenges from new place-based innovation policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    26. Donato Iacobucci & Enrico Guzzini, 2016. "Relatedness and connectivity in technological domains: missing links in S3 design and implementation," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1511-1526, August.
    27. Cristina Chaminade & Marco Bellandi & Monica Plechero & Erica Santini, 2019. "Understanding processes of path renewal and creation in thick specialized regional innovation systems. Evidence from two textile districts in Italy and Sweden," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(10), pages 1978-1994, October.
    28. Henning Kroll & Immo Böke & Daniel Schiller & Thomas Stahlecker, 2016. "Bringing owls to Athens? The transformative potential of RIS3 for innovation policy in Germany's Federal States," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1459-1477, August.
    29. María José Aranguren Querejeta & James R. Wilson, 2013. "What can experience with clusters teach us about fostering regional smart specialisation?," EKONOMIAZ. Revista vasca de Economía, Gobierno Vasco / Eusko Jaurlaritza / Basque Government, vol. 83(02), pages 127-174.
    30. 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.
    31. Arabela Aprahamian & Paulo Guilherme Correa, 2015. "Smart Specialization in Croatia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 22024, December.
    32. Sarah Drakopoulou Dodd & Sarah Jack & Alistair R. Anderson, 2013. "From admiration to abhorrence: the contentious appeal of entrepreneurship across Europe," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1-2), pages 69-89, January.
    33. Kevin Morgan, 2016. "Collective entrepreneurship: the Basque model of innovation," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1544-1560, August.
    34. Oughton, Christine & Landabaso, Mikel & Morgan, Kevin, 2002. "The Regional Innovation Paradox: Innovation Policy and Industrial Policy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 97-110, January.
    35. Budde, Rüdiger & Lageman, Bernhard & Neumann, Uwe & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2006. "Strukturförderpolitik für Nordrhein-Westfalen: Stellungnahme zur öffentlichen Anhörung des Hauptausschusses des Landtags Nordrhein-Westfalen am 9. Februar 2006," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 70893.
    36. Carlo Gianelle & Fabrizio Guzzo & Krzysztof Mieszkowski, 2020. "Smart Specialisation: what gets lost in translation from concept to practice?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1377-1388, October.
    37. Andres RODRIGUEZ-POSE & Marco DI CATALDO & Alessandro RAINOLDI, 2014. "The Role of Government Institutions for Smart Specialisation and Regional Development," JRC Research Reports JRC88935, Joint Research Centre.
    38. Katharina Fellnhofer, 2018. "Visualised bibliometric mapping on smart specialisation: a co-citation analysis," International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 76-99.
    39. Rehfeld, Dieter & Baumer, Doris & Wompel, Mag, 2000. "Regionalisierte Strukturpolitik als Lernprozess: Verbundspezifische Projekte im Rahmen einer regionalisierten Strukturpolitik. Erfahrungen in Ziel 2 Regionen. Zwischenbilanz, Best-Practice und Konsequ," Graue Reihe des Instituts Arbeit und Technik 2000-11, Institut Arbeit und Technik (IAT), Westfälische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences.
    40. Mari José Aranguren & Edurne Magro & Mikel Navarro & James R. Wilson, 2019. "Governance of the territorial entrepreneurial discovery process: looking under the bonnet of RIS3," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 451-461, April.
    41. Todtling, Franz & Trippl, Michaela, 2005. "One size fits all?: Towards a differentiated regional innovation policy approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1203-1219, October.
    42. Henning Kroll, 2015. "Efforts to Implement Smart Specialization in Practice--Leading Unlike Horses to the Water," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(10), pages 2079-2098, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Herzog, 2022. "Imaginaries, directionalities, agency and new path creation [Imaginaries, directionalities, Akteurshandeln und Pfadkreation]," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 42(3), pages 279-307, December.
    2. Aleksandra Kuzior & Iryna Pidorycheva & Viacheslav Liashenko & Hanna Shevtsova & Nataliia Shvets, 2022. "Assessment of National Innovation Ecosystems of the EU Countries and Ukraine in the Interests of Their Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    3. Maximilian Benner, 2022. "An institutionalist perspective on smart specialization: Towards a political economy of regional innovation policy [Place-based Policy and Politics]," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(6), pages 878-889.

    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. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Designing Smart Specialization Policy: relatedness, unrelatedness, or what?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2128, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2021.
    2. Ricard Esparza-Masana, 2022. "Towards Smart Specialisation 2.0. Main Challenges When Updating Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 635-655, March.
    3. László Szerb & Raquel Ortega‐Argilés & Zoltan J. Acs & Éva Komlósi, 2020. "Optimizing entrepreneurial development processes for smart specialization in the European Union," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1413-1457, October.
    4. E. Marrocu & R. Paci & D. Rigby & S. Usai, 2020. "Smart Specialization Strategy: any relatedness between theory and practice?," Working Paper CRENoS 202004, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    5. Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Joan Crespo & David L. Rigby, 2017. "Smart Specialization policy in the EU: Relatedness, Knowledge Complexity and Regional Diversification," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1717, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jul 2017.
    6. Maximilian Benner, 2022. "An institutionalist perspective on smart specialization: Towards a political economy of regional innovation policy [Place-based Policy and Politics]," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(6), pages 878-889.
    7. Jason Deegan & Tom Broekel & Rune Dahl Fitjar, 2021. "Searching through the Haystack:The Relatedness and Complexity of Priorities in Smart Specialization Strategies," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 97(5), pages 497-520, October.
    8. Michaela Trippl & Elena Zukauskaite & Adrian Healy, 2018. "Shaping Smart Specialisation: The Role of Place-Specific Factors in Advanced, Intermediate and Less-Developed European Regions," PEGIS geo-disc-2018_01, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    9. Moritz Breul, 2023. "Unpacking smart specialization strategies: how collective policy-making processes shape the direction of regional strategies," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2320, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2023.
    10. Maximilian Benner, 2021. "System-level agency and its many shades: How to shape the system for path development?," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_10, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    11. Evgeniy Kutsenko & Ekaterina Islankina & Alexey Kindras, 2018. "Smart by Oneself? An Analysis of Russian Regional Innovation Strategies within the RIS3 Framework," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 25-45.
    12. Fil Kristensen, Iryna & Pugh, Rhiannon & Grillitsch, Markus, 2022. "Leadership and governance challenges in delivering place-based transformation through smart specialisation: Insights and policy implications from a metropolitan innovation leader region," Papers in Innovation Studies 2022/6, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    13. Moodysson , Jerker & Trippl, Michaela & Zukauskaite, Elena, 2015. "Policy Learning and Smart Specialization Balancing Policy Change and Policy Stability for New Regional Industrial Path Development," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/39, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    14. Trippl, Michaela & Asheim, Björn & Miorner, Johan, 2015. "Identification of regions with less developed research and innovation systems," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    15. Arne Isaksen & Franz Tödtling & Michaela Trippl, 2016. "Innovation policies for regional structural change: Combining actor-based and system-based strategies," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2016_05, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    16. 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.
    17. Ron Boschma, 2022. "Evolutionary Economic Geography and Policy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2220, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2022.
    18. Simon Baumgartinger-Seiringer, 2021. "The role of powerful incumbent firms: shaping regional industrial path development through change and maintenance agency," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_07, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    19. Giedrė Dzemydaitė, 2021. "The Impact of Economic Specialization on Regional Economic Development in the European Union: Insights for Formation of Smart Specialization Strategy," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, May.
    20. Marco Di Cataldo & Vassilis Monastiriotis & Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose, 2022. "How ‘Smart’ Are Smart Specialization Strategies?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1272-1298, September.

    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:spr:jahrfr:v:41:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10037-021-00157-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.