Applications of Evolutionary Economic Geography

Table 1. Two types of regional innovation policy

Adapted from: Boschma (2005).

The goal of a revolutionary regional policy, by contrast, is the restructuring of the social and
institutional framework by constructing new regional systems, increasing diversity and a high
degree of openness regarding the inflow of labour, capital and knowledge. In these
circumstances, local policy makers have more degrees of freedom, but at the cost of a higher
degree of uncertainty regarding the actual outcome of regional policymaking and its success.
Since path dependence is less relevant, it is less meaningful to account for the location-specific
context as a starting point for regional policy. Radically new trajectories of industrial
development build on generic conditions, because the existing actors and institutional
environment are unlikely to provide the specific stimuli. The case of Sophia Antipolis seems to
be a good example of such a development.

The paradox of regional policy holds that it can be very effective and successful in conserving
economic activity by means of evolutionary policies, yet it has difficulty triggering, or even
opposes new economic activity necessary for long-term development. Note, however, that
evolutionary and revolutionary policies are not mutually exclusive. One can pursue fine-tuning
policies in existing sectors while improving the generic conditions for revolutionary change to
take place. However, such a two-goal policy requires careful policymaking, because policies
designed for one goal may in practice hamper the achievement of the other one. A way to
combine both objectives is to enhance the creation of new industrial trajectories, be it new
technologies or new sectors, by means of building upon the existing competence base of firms,
employers and employees in the region. Radical innovations often stem from the (quite
unexpected) recombination of existing technologies in entirely new ways (Levinthal, 1998). A

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