Variety of regional innovation systems and their institutional characteristics

Abstract

Regional Innovation Systems (RISs) come in many shapes. Current RIS typologies, however, pay insufficient attention to institutional factors and as a consequence they fall short of capturing an essential source of variety of RISs in a systematic way. This chapter contributes to a further conceptual development of the RIS approach by capturing regional variety not only in terms of actors and networks but also in terms of institutions. It is shown that an institutional perspective can enrich existing RIS typologies by providing insights into the distinctive institutional frameworks of different RIS types and their particular institutional bottlenecks. Three main causes of institutional bottlenecks are identified, that is, lack of or poorly developed institutions, inappropriate institutions, and contradicting/poorly aligned institutions. As shown in this chapter the institutional perspective advocated here holds a strong potential to contribute to a further conceptual development of the RIS approach.