Path Dependence and New Paths in Regional Evolution: In Search of the Role of Culture

The aim of this paper is to explore the extent to which regional culture informs the organizational culture of incumbent firms in specific regions and vice versa. To achieve this, we draw on a repertoire of conceptual and theoretical instruments, few of which have featured in the analysis of regional evolution hitherto. For example, the ideas of innovation systems of paradigm and regime are deployed as regional paradigms and regimes to access the dynamics of regional evolution. The concept of “spacing” is used to reveal the ways actors shape given places by meanings or symbols. Subsequently, the methodology of “cultural framing” is used to position key regional narratives and their meaning for regional evolution. This approach is then tested in a stylized manner against the main focal regions of the CURE project before being used in more detail to compare and contrast two of the more distinctive regional and corporate settings, Westphalia and Wales. In conclusion, we show the path inter-dependences and new path creations of both cast a new light on regional evolution in general and that of these regions in particular.