Smart specialization policy in the European Union: relatedness, knowledge complexity and regional diversification

Pierre-Alexandre Balland, Ron Boschma (), Joan Crespo and David L. Rigby

Regional Studies, 2019, vol. 53, issue 9, 1252-1268

Abstract: The operationalization of smart specialization policy has been rather limited because a coherent set of analytical tools to guide the policy directives remains elusive. We propose a policy framework around the concepts of relatedness and knowledge complexity. We show that diversifying into more complex technologies is attractive but difficult for European Union regions to accomplish. Regions can overcome this diversification dilemma by developing new complex technologies that build on local related capabilities. We use these findings to construct a policy framework for smart specialization that highlights the potential risks and rewards for regions of adopting competing diversification strategies.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (228)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00343404.2018.1437900 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: Smart specialization policy in the European Union: relatedness, knowledge complexity and regional diversification (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:regstd:v:53:y:2019:i:9:p:1252-1268

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CRES20

DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2018.1437900

Access Statistics for this article

Regional Studies is currently edited by Ivan Turok

More articles in Regional Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().