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Smart specialization and cluster emergence: Elements of evolutionary regional policies

In: The Life Cycle of Clusters

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  • Maximilian Benner

Abstract

Smart specialization centers on the definition and promotion of regional specialization. In so doing, it is closely related to the notion of clustering. In smart specialization strategies elaborated by European regions so far, cluster promotion often plays a major role. However, the question of how regional specializations develop and which role regional agents play in this process leads to a number of stylized arguments that should guide policy design and implementation. In line with the newer literature, smart specialization needs to draw on evolutionary and relational notions that consider micro-level dynamics as underlying drivers of regional trajectories. These trajectories can lead to processes of cluster emergence that propel the evolution of regional specializations. Without considering these elements, a process of smart specialization would remain vague and incomplete. The paper draws on ideas of continuous analysis of cluster emergence, revolving cluster policy and smart experimentation, and proposes policy-oriented methods for achieving regional specializations based on a combination of regional openness to new trajectories and the targeted promotion of new specializations. These ideas can serve as guidelines for evolutionary regional policies that acknowledge micro-level evolutionary dynamics and promote new path development.

Suggested Citation

  • Maximilian Benner, 2017. "Smart specialization and cluster emergence: Elements of evolutionary regional policies," Chapters, in: Dirk Fornahl & Robert Hassink (ed.), The Life Cycle of Clusters, chapter 8, pages 151-172, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:16617_8
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Benner, Maximilian & Arik, Alev & Aslan, Gabriel & Ben Hajar, Philip & Civelek, Ilkan & Döpke, Marius & Jadran, Mohammed & Kardel, Aileen & Lietzau, Jule & Maske, Johanna & Masud Bagha, Jamshed & Roth, 2018. "Regionale und lokale Wirtschaftsförderung: Meran und Brixen im Kontext der Regionalökonomie Südtirols
      [Regional and Local Economic Development: Merano and Bressanone within the Context of South Tyr      ," MPRA Paper 84882, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Benner, Maximilian & Hirth, Jana & Kraatz, Fabian & Ludwig, Katja & Schrade, Jessi, 2017. "Regional development in the context of economic reform: The case of Limassol," MPRA Paper 76834, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Maximilian Benner, 2019. "Smart specialisation and institutional context: What does it mean for path development?," PEGIS geo-disc-2019_05, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    4. Maximilian Benner, 2017. "From Clusters to Smart Specialization: Tourism in Institution-Sensitive Regional Development Policies," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Benner, Maximilian, 2017. "Culture in local and regional development: A Mediterranean perspective on the culture/economy nexus," MPRA Paper 77787, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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