Renewal of mature industry in an old industrial region: regional innovation policy and the co-evolution of institutions and technology

The objective of this paper is to further insights on the potentials and barriers for industrial renewal in locked-in regions and industries. To do so, the paper analyzes the Swedish policy program ‘Biorefinery of the Future’ (BioF). This initiative is geared to develop a strong regional innovation environment for forestry-based biorefinery development in the area of Örnköldsvik and Umeå in Northern Sweden. Theoretically, the paper draws on concepts from evolutionary economic geography regarding path-dependence, related variety and lockin, and combines these with institutional approaches found in science and technology studies to explain disruptive shifts or transitions in socio-technical systems.