| 1. |
- Bergek, Anna, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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TIS dynamics in technological, sectoral, political and geographical context: lessons for analysts
- 2014
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper takes its departure in the criticism raised against the technological innovation system (TIS) literature in relation to the research field of socio-technical (sustainability) transitions for neglecting interactions between individual technologies and wider societal “contexts”. We first show that TIS studies have always considered various kinds of contextual systems, while also acknowledging that the TIS framework can be further strengthened by a more explicit conceptualization of TIS contexts and TIS-context interaction. We then propose a conceptual framework, which builds on the idea that TIS contexts could be seen as institutionally coherent structures that reside outside of the focal TIS. Four especially important types of context structures are identified and discussed: technological, sectoral, political and geographical. For each of these, we provide example of different ways in which each type of context can interact with a focal TIS and identify new questions that can be answered if analysts take the respective context more explicitly into account in TIS analyses. From the point of view of future research, this paper is a first step towards developing a framework for analyzing the interrelation between TIS dynamics and sectoral change and building a new TIS-based model of socio-technical transitions.
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| 2. |
- Binz, Christian, et al.
(author)
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Geographies of transition—From topical concerns to theoretical engagement : A commentary on the transitions research agenda
- 2020
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In: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-4224. ; 34, s. 1-3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This viewpoint takes stock with the ‘geography of sustainability transitions’ (GOST) as it is presented in the transitions research agenda. GOST has been a relatively recent addition to transition theorizing, addressing the need for greater sensitivity and attention to the scales, spatialities, and context-specific factors that shape transitions. In our view, the agenda represents a rather narrow perspective on GOST, which is geared to two empirical themes, namely urban transitions and transitions in developing countries. While these are relevant and topical issues, the section lacks sufficient acknowledgement of the increasing engagement of geographers with transitions studies and the theoretical approaches they have brought to bear on the field. This short commentary thus aims at complementing the agenda paper by outlining a theoretical research agenda that is emerging in this field, framed around the conceptualization of scales, places and spaces in which transitions unfold.
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| 3. |
- Binz, Christian, et al.
(author)
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Global Innovation Systems—A conceptual framework for innovation dynamics in transnational contexts
- 2017
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In: Research Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-7333. ; 46:7, s. 1284-1298
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper proposes a framework for the analysis of technological innovation processes in transnational contexts. By drawing on existing innovation system concepts and recent elaborations on the globalization of innovation, we develop a multi-scalar conceptualization of innovation systems. Two key mechanisms are introduced and elaborated: the generation of resources in multi-locational subsystems and the establishment of structural couplings among them in a global innovation system (GIS). Based on this conceptualization, we introduce a typology of four generic GIS configurations, building on the innovation mode and valuation system in different industry types. The analytical framework is illustrated with insights from four emerging clean-tech industries. We state that a comprehensive GIS perspective is instrumental for developing a more explanatory stance in the innovation system literature and developing policy interventions that reflect the increasing spatial complexity in the innovation process.
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| 4. |
- Binz, Christian, et al.
(author)
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Path creation as a process of resource alignment and anchoring : Industry formation for on-site water recycling in Beijing
- 2016
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In: Economic Geography. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0013-0095 .- 1944-8287. ; 92:2, s. 172-200
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Where and how new industrial paths emerge are much debated questions in economic geography, especially in light of the recent evolutionary turn. This article contributes to the ongoing debate on path creation with a new analytical framework that specifies the formation of generic resources in embryonic industries. It suggests that path creation processes are not only conditioned by preexisting regional capabilities and technological relatedness but also by the way firm and nonfirm actors mobilize and anchor key resources for industry formation. Our framework elaborates on the early industry development phase, extending the focus on regional knowledge spillovers in evolutionary economic geography (EEG) literature with recent insights on industry formation dynamics from innovation studies. It understands early path creation as conditioned by four systemic resource formation processes—knowledge creation, investment mobilization, market formation, and technology legitimation— that can be mobilized both from inside or anchored from outside the region. The use and value of the analytical framework is illustrated by a case study on on-site water recycling technology (OST), based on interviews with 40 experts in three Chinese city regions. The findings suggest that, despite possessing the least favorable initial conditions, a sizable OST industry developed only in Beijing. This is explained based on the specific anchoring process of the four key resources in the early development stage of the industry. Our results imply that EEG would profit from incorporating a broader set of variables than knowledge-based relatedness in explanations of regional industrial path creation.
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| 5. |
- Binz, Christian, et al.
(author)
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The Governance of Global Innovation Systems : Putting Knowledge in Context
- 2020
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In: Knowledge and Space. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. ; , s. 397-414
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Technological innovation increasingly depends on multiscalar actor networks and institutions. However, the developers of many conceptual frameworks explaining innovation success have paid only limited attention to this new reality, due to their focus on regions and countries as agents that shape innovation governance and as containers that provide institutional conditions for innovation success. In particular, innovation systems literature has been criticized in this respect. In the present chapter, we refer to the recently formulated Global Innovation Systems approach, which enables researchers to capture the emergence of system resources across spatial scales. With this framework, we emphasize that beyond the focus on knowledge generation processes, a better understanding of valuation processes is necessary to guide governance structures for generating new technologies and products. This is particularly true for sectors that are oriented towards confronting grand challenges, such as cleantech industries.
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| 6. |
- Binz, Christian, et al.
(author)
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Why space matters in technological innovation systems-Mapping global knowledge dynamics of membrane bioreactor technology
- 2014
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In: Research Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-7333. ; 43:1, s. 138-155
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies on technological innovation systems (TISs) often set spatial boundaries at the national level and treat supranational levels as a geographically undifferentiated and freely accessible global technological opportunity set. This article criticizes this conceptualization and proposes instead to analyze relevant actors, networks and processes in TIS from a relational perspective on space. It develops an analytical framework which allows investigating innovation processes (or 'functions') of a TIS at and across different spatial scales. Based on social network analysis of a co-publication dataset from membrane bioreactor technology, we illustrate how the spatial characteristics of collaborations in knowledge creation vary greatly over relatively short periods of time. This finding suggests that TIS studies should be more reflexive on system boundary setting both regarding the identification and analysis of core processes as well as in the formulation of policy advice. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Boschma, Ron, et al.
(author)
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Towards a theory of regional diversification : combining insights from Evolutionary Economic Geography and Transition Studies
- 2017
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In: Regional Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0034-3404 .- 1360-0591. ; 51:1, s. 31-45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Towards a theory of regional diversification: combining insights from Evolutionary Economic Geography and Transition Studies. Regional Studies. This paper develops a theoretical framework of regional diversification by combining insights from Evolutionary Economic Geography and Transition Studies. It argues that a theory of regional diversification should not only build on the current understanding of related diversification but also account for processes of unrelated diversification by looking at the role of agency in processes of institutional entrepreneurship, and at enabling and constraining factors at various spatial scales. This paper proposes a typology of four regional diversification trajectories by cross-tabulating related versus unrelated diversification with niche creation versus regime adoption, and it develops a number of propositions.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Coenen, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Toward a spatial perspective on sustainability transitions
- 2012
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In: Research Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-7333. ; 41:6, s. 968-979
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the past decade, the literature on transitions toward sustainable socio-technical systems has made a considerable contribution in understanding the complex and multi-dimensional shifts considered necessary to adapt societies and economies to sustainable modes of production and consumption. However, transition analyses have often neglected where transitions take place, and the spatial configurations and dynamics of the networks within which transitions evolve. A more explicit spatial perspective on sustainability transitions contributes to the extant transitions literature in three ways. Firstly it provides a contextualization on the limited territorial sensitivity of existing literature. Secondly, it explicitly acknowledges and investigates diversity in transition processes, which follows from a 'natural' variety in institutional conditions, networks, actor strategies and resources across space. Thirdly, it encompasses not only greater emphasis but also an opportunity to connect to a body of literature geared to understanding the international, trans-local nature of transition dynamics. Concerned with the prevalent lack of attention for the spatial dimensions of sustainability transitions in most studies, this paper seeks to unpick and make explicit sustainability transition geographies from the vantage point of economic geography. The paper argues that there are two interrelated problems requiring attention: the institutional embeddedness of socio-technical development processes within specific territorial spaces, and an explicit multi-scalar conception of socio-technical trajectories. Following these arguments, the paper concludes that transitions research would do well to take a closer look at the geographical unevenness of transition processes from the perspective of global networks and local nodes. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 10. |
- Fünfschilling, Lea, et al.
(author)
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The interplay of institutions, actors and technologies in socio-technical systems – An analysis of transformations in the Australian urban water sector. Technological Forecasting and Social Change (103), 298-312.
- 2016
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In: Technological Forecasting & Social Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-1625. ; 103, s. 298-298
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Literature on socio-technical transitions has primarily emphasized the co-determination of institutions and technologies. In this paper, we want to focus on how actors play a mediating role between these two pillars of a socio-technical system. By introducing the theoretical concept of institutional work, we contribute to the conceptualization and empirical assessment of agency processes in socio-technical systems. We illustrate this approach by analyzing recent developments in the Australian urban water sector, where seawater desalination technology has experienced an unexpected, but rapid diffusion to all major cities, often interpreted as a reaction to a major multi-year drought. However, the drought broke and left all but one plant unused. This has led many commentators wonder how such a massive investment – which is likely to limit alternative development trajectories in the sector for the coming decades – could have happened so quickly and why other, potentially more sustainable technologies, have not been able to use the momentum of the crisis to break through. A comparative analysis between seawater desalination and its main rival wastewater recycling in regard to processes of institutional work provides valuable insight into how technology, actors and institutions mutually shaped each other.
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