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When regional innovation policies meet policy rationales and evidence: a plea for policy analysis

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  • Susana Borrás
  • Jacint Jordana

Abstract

In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognize their distinctive patterns across regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s, there has been an important development of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialization; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic sluggishness. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect transforming dynamics in regional innovation policies. Against this backdrop, the paper compares the institutional frameworks and budgetary priorities of four Spanish regions during the period 2001–2014: Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia. In so doing, it aims at studying the extent to which regional governments have readily addressed past and new challenges related to their regional innovation system, and if so, how.

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  • Susana Borrás & Jacint Jordana, 2016. "When regional innovation policies meet policy rationales and evidence: a plea for policy analysis," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(12), pages 2133-2153, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:24:y:2016:i:12:p:2133-2153
    DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2016.1236074
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    Cited by:

    1. Pedro López-Rubio & Norat Roig-Tierno & Alicia Mas-Tur, 2020. "Regional innovation system research trends: toward knowledge management and entrepreneurial ecosystems," International Journal of Quality Innovation, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Maria Stella Righettini & Renata Lizzi, 2020. "Governance Arrangements for Transboundary Issues: Lessons from the Food Waste Programs of Italian Regions," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(1), pages 115-134, January.
    3. Vlaisavljevic, Vesna & Medina, Carmen Cabello & Van Looy, Bart, 2020. "The role of policies and the contribution of cluster agency in the development of biotech open innovation ecosystem," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Ainhoa Arrona, 2017. "Can interpretive policy analysis contribute to a critical scholarship on regional innovation policy studies?," Working Papers 2017R01, Orkestra - Basque Institute of Competitiveness.
    5. Alexander Kleibrink & Edurne Magro, 2018. "The making of responsive innovation policies: varieties of evidence and their contestation in the Basque Country," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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