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New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons pp 85–104Cite as

Institutional Agency and Path Creation

Institutional Path from Industrial to Knowledge City

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Abstract

This chapter argues for the need to focus more explicitly on institutions and the related agency to gain a better understanding of the relationship between micro and macro levels and thus of path creation. The core concepts related to path creation and institutional agency are investigated. The research question is: What are the main institutional strategies adopted by intentional actors, independently or in collaboration, in their efforts to boost institutional path creation and renewal? This question is scrutinized in the context of a knowledge-city development and use Tampere, Finland as a case in point. The analysis reveals that the early stages of new path creation can be explained by both institutional factors and/or the strong entrepreneurial agency It also highlights the crucial role of the institutional agency shaping the rules of the game and the playing field for industry-oriented efforts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We express our gratitude to Nina Mustikkamäki and Tuomo Heinonen, who conducted 52 interviews.

  2. 2.

    Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809 and after that, an autonomous grand duchy of Russia until 1917.

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Acknowledgments

With this piece of writing colleagues from Tampere, Finland wish to congratulate Björn on his birthday, and especially appreciate his longstanding contribution to the field and warm friendship. As a highly-cited scholar Björn is used to seeing his name in the list of references. As a token of appreciation, we decided not to cite Björn’s work in this chapter, and thus provide him with a rare opportunity to see a scholarly piece without his name.

The authors are grateful to Kevin Morgan and Jon P. Knudsen for very constructive and useful pieces of advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Management, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Markku Sotarauta & Nina Suvinen

Authors
  1. Markku Sotarauta
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  2. Nina Suvinen
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Correspondence to Markku Sotarauta .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway

    Arne Isaksen

  2. School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Roman Martin

  3. Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Michaela Trippl

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Sotarauta, M., Suvinen, N. (2018). Institutional Agency and Path Creation. In: Isaksen, A., Martin, R., Trippl, M. (eds) New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71661-9_5

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