The prospects of an adjustment policy based on collective learning in old industrial regions

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the possibilities of adopting a policy based on collective learning in old industrial regions. This is particularly interesting because old industrial regions are believed to have lost their learning capabilities, as indicated by notions of `technological' and `institutional' lock-in. Moreover, the success stories where positive effects of interactive learning have been observed (Silicon Valley, Baden-Württemberg) all share the lack of an industrial past.

First, we specify how a theoretical framework based on interactive learning, which tries to explain the industrial decline of old agglomerations, may look like, and how such an approach differs from other approaches. Then, we set out a policy framework that aims to deal with the process of structural adjustment and which incorporates the ideas of interactive learning based on socio-cultural factors. In this respect, we distinguish between two possible routes of adjustment, which reveal a complex interplay between different types of agglomeration economies, innovations and restructuring processes. Finally, we devote attention to the problems such a policy based on the notion of the learning region may face, such as the problem of how to overcome a negative lock-in situation caused by localized path dependency.