Varieties of Innovation and Welfare Regimes: The Leap from R&D Projects to the Development of City-regions
In the varieties of capitalism, welfare capitalism, and systems of innovation literatures, the university is a critical actor as public employer, trainer and provider of several public goods. However, there is relatively weak enquiry into the spatial and institutional characteristics of university-led economic development and a relative neglect of the political economy and organizational features of embedded R&D projects in urban and regional planning. We argue that technical projects, far from being stand-alone entities, have taken on the broad characteristics of the university and city-regional development mandate in where they reside. The article is based on an exploratory study of university--industry R&D projects in six city regions of Finland. We show that: (a) the shifting role of universities reflects a changed context for the welfare state in which the “public” debate occurs; (b) These create distinct issues of legitimacy and coalition-building in local economic planning which give rise to diverse regional interpretations of single technology programmes; (c) We categorise three general types of models of R&D projects in universities and propose tentative categories of contributions to “public knowledge”. This diversity of interpretations and outcomes leaves us optimistic regarding the ability of city-regions to adapt and plan for the future against a changing welfare state that shapes the university's role, yet more cautious about any clear-cut “public knowledge” emerging from such technical projects.
Year of publication: |
2007
|
---|---|
Authors: | Srinivas, Smita ; Kosonen, Kati-Jasmin ; Viljamaa, Kimmo ; Nummi, Juha |
Published in: |
European Planning Studies. - Taylor & Francis Journals, ISSN 0965-4313. - Vol. 16.2007, 9, p. 1267-1291
|
Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis Journals |
Saved in:
Online Resource
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
Emergence of economic institutions : analysing the third role of universities in Turku, Finland
Srinivas, Smita, (2008)
-
Emergence of Economic Institutions : Analysing the Third Role of Universities in Turku, Finland
Srinivas, Smita, (2013)
-
Emergence of Economic Institutions: Analysing the Third Role of Universities in Turku, Finland
Srinivas, Smita, (2007)
- More ...