How does multi-scalar institutional change affect localized learning processes? A case study of the med-tech sector in Southern Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID4139926
AuthorsMarkus Grillitsch (0000-0002-8406-4727, Lund University), Josephine Rekers (0000-0002-2711-1080, Lund University, corresponding author), Josephine V Rekers (Department of Human Geography, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE))
Year2016
Volume48
Issue1
Pages154-171
Publication date2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0308518x15603986
OpenAlexW2255402807
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited56

Co-location alone is not sufficient to ensure efficient and effective interaction between economic agents. Also, institutions at multiple scales shape the behaviour of organizations and provide incentives for interaction. However, institutions, as well as the impact of institutions on economic agents, are not static, but rather change over time. In this paper we investigate this dynamic process: How does institutional change at different geographical scales affect localized learning processes? Using an intensive case study of the medical technology sector in Southern Sweden, we trace in detail how institutions at the supra-national, national and regional scale have changed over the past 15 years and how these have affected the opportunities for localized learning between firms and hospitals. Our case makes three contributions. First, it provides a detailed empirical example of the interdependencies between institutions at the supra-national, national and regional scales. Second, as institutions shape the behaviour of organizations, we demonstrate that institutional change introduced at the extra-regional scale can have profound consequences for the establishment of local innovation linkages - and thereby for the opportunities for localized learning. Third, this leads us to reconsider the ambitions of regional policies that aim to enhance localized learning

Business · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Geography · Incentive · Institutional change · Institutional economics · Interdependence · Market economy · Political science · Regional science · Sociology · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Innovation and Knowledge Management · Innovation Policy and RD · Public Administration

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