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Institutional scholarship highlights policy as a frozen landscape, explaining its reluctance to depart from the predetermined trajectories. However, this argument needs to be reassessed to better capture the reality of the Indonesian social policy reform, most notably in healthcare. The reform involved sudden and radical changes from a segmented and decentralized model to a more integrated and inclusive one—outside the critical juncture of the 1998 economic crisis—creating a patchwork of old and new ideas and features within policy institutions. Empirical interview data show that path-creation changes in healthcare reform are characterized by a deviation from the path followed as an institutionally embedded principle. This deviation was made possible due to the considerable influence of academics-turned-senior bureaucrats (policy entrepreneurs), who capitalized on the widespread distrust of the ruling government to drive the desired reform. In addition, the success of Obamacare as a populist healthcare program amid the capitalist US system also undermined the legitimacy of policy actors' previous attempts to reject reform. This article helps clarify the development and application of the path-creation theory, comparing it to established theories to reduce ambiguity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial policy, as one of the most potent weapons employed by governments, is recommended to adhere to the principles of high relatedness and high economic complexity, which can minimize risks and maximize returns. However, this approach may not be optimal in developing countries with poor industrial bases, limited innovative capabilities and weak institutional frameworks. Based on relatedness and economic complexity, this study illustrates the evolution paths of industrial policy in China and identifies underlying influencing factors deciding the patterns of policymaking. Different from developed countries, it takes several steps for developing countries to reach the final target, the smart specialization approach, instead of one‐step jumping. Moreover, industrial policy is not always the panacea, and the effects of industrial policy vary depending on local contexts. In sum, this study extends research towards the complex co‐evolution process of policy and industries in developing countries and provides more insights for policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particularly within recent years, the rising number of city actors worldwide declaring climate emergencies and pledging commitments to carbon neutrality has sparked a spatial turn in broader sustainable transition thinking, noting the importance of the local level for governing sustainable transitions. Using a Geographical Political Economy approach, this paper critically engages with path creation theory and sustainable transitions literature to explore the potential of urban net-zero carbon transitions in a multi-scalar governance framework. The main argument is that municipal ownership across sectors has a fundamental role in sustainable transitions at the city level. This paper makes a distinct conceptual contribution to sustainable transitions literature by drawing on path creation theory to illustrate how municipal ownership is a central tenet of path creation by bringing together local actors and enabling political capacity and agency to control and strategize integrated sustainable urban pathways. Using the transport and energy sectors in Nottingham in the UK, it applies the Path Creation Framework in an urban setting to illustrate that municipal ownership stimulates a positive path creation through three main arguments. First, municipal ownership enables a positive embeddedness and historical legacy in the provision of sustainable urban energy and transport services; second, it facilitates the establishment of skills and expertise that positively reinforces urban political capacity for the pursuit of urban sustainability; and third, it stimulates the creation of innovative urban projects for sustainable and equitable pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) framework contributes to the study of tourism destination evolution by focusing on the various circumstances and events through which tourism destinations develop over long periods of time. Our research objective is to investigate how players in tourism destinations shape development pathways when they face stagnant or lock‐in situations. Applying the concepts of path dependence and path creation, we explain how path shaping mechanisms such as bricolage (the process of combining available resources to create innovative outcomes) and breakthrough (a process where actors attempt to generate dramatic outcomes to deviate from existing pathways) occur using two destinations in the two regencies of the Toraja region of Sulawesi, Indonesia, as a case study. Understanding cultural tourism destination pathways requires frameworks capable of interrogating ethno‐political structures and histories and assessing how they influence developmental pathways that generate regional transformations. Our investigation indicates: strong path dependence in tourism, due to cultural, political, and economic conditions, inhibits breakthrough development; that the strength of path dependence at a regional level strongly influences the path shaping processes at the firm level; and that a breakthrough developmental process in tourism does not exclude bricolage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, path dependence has gained increasing scientific attention in many disciplines, leading to various new concepts and notations, such as path creation or path plasticity. However, if mathematical arguments are used, they are based on the early works by Brian W. Arthur and Paul A. David, usually referring to the mathematical concept of ergodicity. We extend their mathematical framework and develop a graphical representation of systems that allows for a metaphorical discussion of system behaviors beyond the original cases, especially in evolving systems, and the inclusion of the recently developed concepts within path dependence. Visualizations are used to explain the definition and characteristics of seven types of path dependence: lock-in, path-breaking, path-furrowing, path plasticity, path formation, path creation, and path selection. Although these visualizations are explained verbally and can be understood without a mathematical expertise, a mathematical model is used to generate them. The deduction of the metaphorical concept from a mathematical model guarantees the completeness of the identified processes and the rigor in their categorization as well as the identification of respective characteristics for their distinction. However, the aim of the paper is to provide an illustrative concept that allows researchers to classify and structure the various path-dependent processes they observe in their application. While five of the identified processes are in line with concepts from the literature and are defined accordingly, we also detect a sixth process that is new to the literature so far: path-furrowing. Moreover, slightly deviating from the literature, we define path selection as the possibility to choose a path intentionally, thereby focusing on the mindful choice of options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTPath development and path creation are prevalent concepts in efforts to understand regional economic change and innovation. A recent focus has been on ‘green’ path development: industrial change associated with environmentally beneficial products and services. This provides a moment to take stock of the path development literature to date and ask: What or who is it for? In this article we use the concept of just transition to explore ways that (green) path development concepts could be more attuned to concerns for human and environmental well-being as opposed to economic growth and innovation as goals in themselves. Building from Geographical Political Economy approaches and injecting complementary cultural economic and sociological perspectives, we generate a conception of green and just path development. This conception builds a more variegated understanding of path development as a theory of change, focusing on negotiation, struggle, inclusion and exclusion in path development processes, and leaning to a stronger orientation towards outcomes for people and places, especially implications for work and communities. This matters for understanding what the purpose of investigating path development is, and what counts as ‘success’ in evaluating path development processes.

This study addresses the gap opened up by the increasing attention in evolutionary economic geography (EEG) studies on the role of the state in economic path creation. The study links the path creation notion of trigger events with political economy perspectives to investigate the role of the state in destination emergence. We offer insights into understanding how the state utilises trigger events for new path development through the case study of Unity Park in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A qualitative research approach is adopted that involves key informant interviews, analysis of policy documents and observations. The findings reveal that the idea formation for this destination developed along incremental changes in public policies until a state official seized a political transition event as an opportunity to cause a decisive shift in its trajectory. This incident triggered more real-time opportunities for the state to influence the development of this tourism destination through the application of power and agentic processes. Thus conceptually, we found that while public policies shape destination development visions, it often takes trigger events and strong state involvement to broker new destination pathways. The study contributes to broadening the current understanding of the state's role in path creation and the significance of trigger events as well as offering empirical evidence on the political-economic mechanisms involved in destination development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Path development and path creation are prevalent concepts in efforts to understand regional economic change and innovation. A recent focus has been on ‘green’ path development: industrial change associated with environmentally beneficial products and services. This provides a moment to take stock of the path development literature to date and ask: What or who is it for? In this article we use the concept of just transition to explore ways that (green) path development concepts could be more attuned to concerns for human and environmental well-being as opposed to economic growth and innovation as goals in themselves. Building from Geographical Political Economy approaches and injecting complementary cultural economic and sociological perspectives, we generate a conception of green and just path development. This conception builds a more variegated understanding of path development as a theory of change, focusing on negotiation, struggle, inclusion and exclusion in path development processes, and leaning to a stronger orientation towards outcomes for people and places, especially implications for work and communities. This matters for understanding what the purpose of investigating path development is, and what counts as ‘success’ in evaluating path development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides insights into the drivers of spatial re-localisation within the production networks of the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. In doing so, we combine the perspectives of Global Value Chain (GVC), Global Production Network (GPN) and institutional path creation perspective to analyse the relocation and upgrading of multinational corporations (MNCs) in Malaysia using interviews and trade data. Our findings show that institutional path creation has helped to promote the completeness of the entire solar PV value chain in Malaysia, with the state actively intervening and creating new pathways by learning from the experience of the electronics industry, especially in the pre-foundation phase. Nevertheless, the path creation is also limited in that they have only been able to open windows of investment and trade opportunities within the different segments of the GVC without doing much to promote technological learning and spillover effects as the governance structure of the value chain is integrated. We find that other factors are less helpful in promoting local spillovers -- export-oriented policies, energy policies and domestic industry dynamics due to lack of policy coordination. The results draw attention to some important issues that deserve closer consideration and contribute to the theoretical discussion within the GVC and GPN literature. First, path creation occurs at both levels - at the level of institutions and at the level of firms' strategic decisions. Second, institutional path creation acts as exogenous shocks to firm path creation leading to different strategic choices, and the two reinforce each other. In other words, we have shown the complexity of path creation in the context of GVC and GPN. Third, institutional path creation is subject to dynamic coordination among agencies, without which path formation is constrained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article sets out a coherent framework for debates and discussions on social policy changes during crisis periods. Using Indonesia as a case, this article compares its social policy responses to the 1997–1998 economic crisis and the current COVID‐19 pandemic crisis. Both two crises and their responses, once analysed, lead to an argument that path dependence does not always dominate policy processes, as most literature claims, but rather it operates alongside other path‐creation‐related processes, such as path‐clearing policy accelerators and path‐creation policy accelerators. This article also presents that 'old player' penetration in policy processes does not necessarily preclude alternatives and, in some examined cases, it, instead, strengthens impulses toward substantial reforms. Therefore, revised policies must be viewed as political vehicles for seeking popular support and power reconsolidation as democracy allows. Furthermore, this current analysis contributes to enhancing our understanding of crises, often seen as issues in public policy literature, yet less explored in terms of their importance as unique critical junctures and their implications for social policy changes in multiple paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New path creation processes are a vital component of regional economic development. This paper establishes a behavioural framework to examine and understand such processes. It is argued that human agency and the network dynamics through which these agents interact are at the heart of new path creation processes. In particular, effective new path creation requires the formation of collective forms of agency based on strong strategic networks underpinned by a shared commitment. Regions that are equipped with such agency and networks are more likely to be capable of embracing and managing the economic complexity and adaptability necessary to generate the innovation associated with new development paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how narratives influence the legitimation of new industries in peripheral regions. We contribute to the literature a discussion of the emergence of green industries in peripheral regions, but particularly to the emerging debate in evolutionary economic geography on the role of legitimation in the emergence of new industries. Based on an empirical investigation of narratives regarding onshore wind in the Finnmark region in northernmost Norway, we caution against the focus in the literature on ‘successful’ legitimation, arguing that to better comprehend how new green industries emerge in regions there is a need also to understand delegitimation of new industrial activities and to investigate unsuccessful path creation processes, not only paths that have come into being and where legitimation has been ‘achieved’. Following from this we argue that our study on how representations (i.e., narratives) of emerging paths are linked to observable outcomes (e.g., delegitimation) teases out the need for further investigation of power relations, a topic that has received very little interest in research on regional industrial path development.

Is administrative reform path dependent or path creation? Some scholars believe that public sector reform is path dependent while others are of the opinion that it is path creation as it is supposed to deviate from an old order to a new one. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by examining a recently developed public sector reform strategy in Ghana, hailed as a new path to address the shortcomings of public organizations. We argue that the strategy is not a new path and may not necessarily bring the kind of changes needed in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of organizational path dependence helps us to understand why organizational change is sometimes extremely difficult, if not impossible. Although recent conceptualizations of path dependence allow for strategic agency, the theory is still underspecified regarding how to break an organizational path. In an attempt to develop the theory in this regard, we make use of a case in the sphere of global health with an undisputed life-saving impact. More precisely, we trace a significant improvement in the field of pediatric cancer care back to path-breaking organizational change: the successful introduction of multicenter cooperation within a healthcare system that is arguably locked into a centralization path. Drawing on longitudinal research conducted within Russian children's hospitals, we conclude that path-breaking change is an intricate process based upon distinct activities, and supported by mechanisms, directed towards the creation of a new organizational path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of craft beer in the United States reflects the interplay of demand-side and supply-side forces. Most studies of this development have focused on the supply side, discussing the key role played by entrepreneurial brewers. Yet, an equally important part of the story concerns how and why consumer tastes changed away from mass-produced lager-style beer in favor of the wide range of styles developed through the craft beer revolution. This paper develops a path creation analysis to explain how and why craft beer emerged in the United States.

• New large-scale energy projects emphasize local sustainable transition processes. • The development entails a focus on local development opportunities and challenges. • The local process contains a high level of complexity and uncertainty. • Local preparedness and capacity levels are often overlooked and require attention. • Transition processes require a multi-scalar/-dimensional understanding and approach. The paper examines local sustainable transition processes related to the introduction of large-scale sustainable energy infrastructure projects in peripheralized areas, with a specific focus on understanding their role and complex development considerations, potentials, and dilemmas. Experiences are reported from the Danish 'Energy Island Bornholm´, where a 3,8 GW offshore wind farm field is planned, potentially presenting new, local business and innovation opportunities, whilst raising concerns about local preparedness and capacity levels when undertaking a host role in such a massive project. The empirical base consists of qualitative data (observations and interviews) from a local development project running 2022–2023. Findings are analysed and discussed based on theoretical insights from literature on sustainable transition and peripheralization processes, resulting in four analytical dimensions: Local economic opportunities and green paths; Demography and work force dilemmas; Democracy and involvement; Governance and capacity building. The paper urges more comprehensive, comparative, and critical place-specific research on transition processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how narratives influence the legitimation of new industries in peripheral regions. We contribute to the literature a discussion of the emergence of green industries in peripheral regions, but particularly to the emerging debate in evolutionary economic geography on the role of legitimation in the emergence of new industries. Based on an empirical investigation of narratives regarding onshore wind in the Finnmark region in northernmost Norway, we caution against the focus in the literature on 'successful' legitimation, arguing that to better comprehend how new green industries emerge in regions there is a need also to understand delegitimation of new industrial activities and to investigate unsuccessful path creation processes, not only paths that have come into being and where legitimation has been 'achieved'. Following from this we argue that our study on how representations (i.e., narratives) of emerging paths are linked to observable outcomes (e.g., delegitimation) teases out the need for further investigation of power relations, a topic that has received very little interest in research on regional industrial path development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a growing interest by both academics and policymakers at the local and regional scales in the development of a green economy both to promote economic development and to achieve environmental policy aims. Despite this, there is little evidence about whether either the economic or the environmental aims are being met, nor how local and regional authorities are promoting and developing green economies in their localities. In order to address these issues, this paper explores the development of the offshore wind industry in North West Germany, drawing upon sustainability transitions research and the path creation literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a perspective on steering in governance which understands steering as intended path creation. Inspired by evolutionary governance theory, critical management studies and social systems theory, we argue that steering is shaped and limited by co-evolutions, disallowing for any formulaic approach. In order to illuminate the space for steering in governance, we analyze the interplay between different dependencies. Those dependencies are not just obstacles to path creation, they can also be pointers and assets. The steering discussion is further complicated by always unique sets of couplings between a governance system and its environment. After introducing the ideas of reality effects and governance strategy, we further develop our concept of steering and present it as the management of dependencies (in governance) and reality effects (outside governance) towards path creation. This management is ideally strategic in nature and requires leadership in a new role.

While evolutionary economy geographers have paid increasing attention to the new industrial path creation in emerging economies, less has been done to compare the path creation between core and peripheral areas at the sub-regional level in the Global South. By taking the digital economy industry in Guangzhou City as a case, this study reveals that given the different initial conditions, innovative entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship and place-based leadership have paid distinct and dynamic roles in different specific contexts and phases. In the well-developed core district (Tianhe) gathered universities and research institutes, innovative entrepreneurs have acted as initial drivers for the development of the digital economy industry at the early path creation phase, while institutional entrepreneurs also provided support to enhance the industrial agglomeration in the following periods. In the late-developing peripheral district (Huangpu) with the lack of innovative resources, institutional entrepreneurship and place-based leadership are crucial to nurturing the new digital industry in the early phase, while conducive industrial assets and innovative entrepreneurs are also needed to cultivate the development of new industries in the future. Therefore, a longitude and multi-actor approach is needed to understand regional industrial path creation in different geographical contexts. • Innovative entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship and place-based leadership play important roles in the path creation of the digital economy industry in the Global South. • Innovative entrepreneurs have acted as initial drivers for the development of the digital economy industry at the early path creation phase, while institutional entrepreneurs also provided support to enhance industrial development in the following periods in the well-developed core district (Tianhe). • Institutional entrepreneurs and policy interventions have played key roles in cultivating the new digital industry in the early phase, while conducive industrial assets and innovative entrepreneurs are also needed to facilitate the development of new industries in the late-developing peripheral district (Huangpu). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability transitions of latecomer cities are of great significance for achieving the carbon neutrality goal in China and globally, but it remains an underexplored research topic. Latecomer cities have economic rationales and latecomer advantages to ad⁃ vance sustainability transitions, but they usually lack endogenous capacities to realise green path creation. The green shift of the global tech-economic paradigm is opening green institutional, market, and technological windows of opportunity (GWOs) for sustainability tran⁃ sitions in latecomer cities. This paper proposes a 'GWO-Industry Characteristics-Actor Strategies' analytical framework to depict the key elements, actors, and processes of sustainability transitions in latecomer cities and suggests future research avenues. Due to late⁃ comer advantages and lower regime lock-in, latecomer cities may bypass high-carbon development pathways by responding positively to GWOs. Different green industries have different spatial characteristics in technological innovation and value realization, and latecomer cities should adopt suitable resource coupling strategies to endogenize GWOs. Local governments and enterprises can also act as institu⁃ tional entrepreneurs to create a suitable institutional environment to promote green industries. Therefore, the main contribution of this study is to apply the theory of industrial catch-up to the sustainability transitions at the city level and to unravel the impact of GWOs and local actors on the basis of considering the characteristics of industrial innovation systems, highlighting the spatial attributes of GWOs and the role of local governments and green firms in coupling innovation resources and shaping the institutional environment in emerging green industries. This research thus makes up for the insufficiency of economic geography research which overemphasizes structure and ignores human agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesising the endogenous-centred evolutionary economic geography perspective, and the globally oriented 'global pipelines' and global production networks frameworks, this article develops the 'boundary spanner' concept to propose a theoretical framework to illustrate how resourceful actors, as boundary spanners, globalise clusters and in turn drive cluster evolution. This framework comprises four interrelated cluster boundary-spanning functions, namely, discursive construction, innovation promotion, production coordination and market reach. This article aims to advance the cluster literature by unpacking how clusters' global connections are constructed and maintained, conceptualising the multidimensional role of the agency of boundary spanners and demonstrating boundary spanners' contributions to cluster evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the scope for system-level agency in new path creation. We identify the roles and challenges for state-led path creation and illustrate them through a case study of a novel and ongoing set of institutional entrepreneurship and system-building activities in the Galicia region of Spain, looking at the practices, relational processes, multilevel lobbying and regulatory change associated with an ambitious initiative to grow a new industry around uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) through anchoring knowledge and legitimacy-building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new industries that are not closely related to existing regional paths remains an underexplained process in evolutionary economic geography. This paper responds to this gap through a case study of a maturing ecosystem of activity related to artificial intelligence in Montreal, Canada. Conceptually it brings together recent thinking in economic geography about agency in path development with complementary concepts from the literature on technological innovation systems. The empirical findings demonstrate the role of multiple agents in system-building and legitimation activities that have varied across pre-formative and formative phases of new path development in this analytical knowledge field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses legitimation as a crucial dimension of industry emergence, addressing the neglect of institutional and political aspects of path creation in economic geography. It investigates how the legitimacy of emerging industries is built up over time and examines differences in legitimation across space. The paper focuses on the evolution of legitimation narratives in the context of national and regional differences in institutions, actors and assets. Based on a cross-national study of the offshore wind industry, the paper argues that cost reduction and value creation have made important contributions to legitimation in addition to climate change and energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides insights into how and where new industries emerge and grow through theoretical reasoning and the advancement of relevant arguments through empirical examples from industry emergence in two Norwegian regions: the establishment of the boatbuilding and the electronics industry in Arendal; and the cancer medicine and educational technology industry in Oslo. The article focuses on culture as an important asset for new industry emergence. We argue that industry emergence is supported if organizational culture in emerging industries and existing or altered regional industrial culture become aligned. The four industry cases demonstrate how in some situations industries emerge through a branching route, for example, related spin-offs, while in other cases they emerge through a creation route based on unrelated local start-ups or importation. We argue that an alignment of organizational and regional industrial culture is more easily achieved in the branching than in the creation route.

Hitherto, the path‐dependent understanding of regional diversification in Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) has drawn largely on insights into industrialized countries. However, in the past few decades several regions in the Global South have undergone rapid structural transformations despite starting out with unfavourable regional asset bases. This raises the question as to whether the strong emphasis on endogenous capabilities in EEG also provides a sound theoretical framework for explaining these tremendous diversification dynamics. This paper therefore aims to re‐evaluate the wider validity of the path‐dependent conceptualization of regional diversification in the context of a lower‐middle income economy. To this end, we analyse the diversification of Vietnamese regions between 2006 and 2015. In order to take into account context‐specific conditions that characterize Vietnam's economy, we add the role of foreign‐owned firms and state‐owned enterprises to the conceptualization of regional diversification processes. While the role of relatedness holds true for Vietnam, the presence of foreign‐owned firms allowed Vietnamese regions to break away from path dependency and diversify to unrelated industries. The findings highlight that only by adapting the analysis to context‐specific conditions are we able to understand how regional diversification takes place across different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dependence of regional economy on resource-driven path is one of methodological and regional policy challenges. It is crucial to understand how to stimulate new paths creation in locked-in resource-driven regions. This paper highlights that new path can appear not only in diversified regional economy by intercrossing innovations or by branching process to connected technological spheres. It is shown that technological and infrastructure connectivity is not the only possible way for old industries to create a new one. Mining and tourism are often debated as sectors with conflict interests which never can co-exist in one region. In this article we offer the model to explain stages, interplay between main agents of changes, mechanisms and regional assets in the emergence of the tourism industry in mining region in Western Siberia, Russia. The key findings reveal synergy of mining and tourism in region sustainability. It is demonstrated that financial resources, human resources, networks, access to external resources, lobbing resources of the ‘coal’ path can serve critical inputs to create a “tourism” one. Economic interests and resources of private actors mainstreamed and supported by strategic interests of the public policy may create a new path. Model of unrelated diversification provides long-term sustainable development of the region and can be used in other Russian regions.

There are debates in the research literature about the mechanisms responsible for the formation of local development trajectories. What is emphasised, as particularly scarce, are longitudinal studies which show how historical, social and institutional structures are reproduced and/or transformed into new paths of development in the case of industrial towns. This paper aims to capture the role of various social, cultural and institutional features that constitute localised capabilities, in the process of transition from an old to a new developmental path for older industrial towns. The authors use case studies of three medium-sized industrial centres in Poland: Dzierżoniów, Starachowice and Mielec, to illustrate how localised capabilities are shaped by the interplay of earlier economic activity and the characteristics of local firms, on the one hand, and the evolving social, cultural and institutional attributes of the particular town and its region on the other. As a result, industrial towns may differ significantly in their ability to absorb exogenous impulses, as well as their capacity to transform and recombine them into a new development pathway that is more resilient than the old one.

When a technology is seen as the right solution to a recognized problem, the development of alternative technologies comes under threat. To secure much-needed resources, proponents of alternative technologies must, in these conditions, restart societal discussion on the status quo, a process at once technological and discursive known as 'path creation'. In this article, we investigate discussion-restarting strategies employed by supporters of emerging technologies in the field of solar fuels, particularly the advocates of a technology referred to as 'artificial photosynthesis'. For illustrative purposes we explore four such strategies: revisiting weak spots, resizing the problem, redefining the game, and renegotiating labels. We conclude with a methodological reflection on the empirical study of discursive strategies in a socio-technical system. We further suggest a more systematic application of discourse-analytical and argumentation-theoretical insights that can complement current scholarship on path dependence and path creation.

This article provides insights into how and where new industries emerge and grow through theoretical reasoning and the advancement of relevant arguments through empirical examples from industry emergence in two Norwegian regions: the establishment of the boatbuilding and the electronics industry in Arendal; and the cancer medicine and educational technology industry in Oslo. The article focuses on culture as an important asset for new industry emergence. We argue that industry emergence is supported if organizational culture in emerging industries and existing or altered regional industrial culture become aligned. The four industry cases demonstrate how in some situations industries emerge through a branching route, for example, related spin-offs, while in other cases they emerge through a creation route based on unrelated local start-ups or importation. We argue that an alignment of organizational and regional industrial culture is more easily achieved in the branching than in the creation route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Path constitution theory has emerged as a promising combination of two contrasting perspectives on technological innovation: path dependence, which focuses on historically embedded, contingent processes that are more or less beyond the control of actors, and path creation, which emphasizes mindful contributions from powerful actors. However, the current path constitution literature focuses on macro- and multi-level inquiry without addressing the specific processes, opportunities, and challenges related to organizational (micro-level) technological innovation. Against this backdrop, we draw on the innovation and path literature as well as a case study of telehealth innovation in a public health organization to theorize how technological innovation paths constitute in organizational contexts. The proposed theory distinguishes between innovation path status and innovation path trajectory to help researchers understand and explain how organizations transform and reinforce path constitution patterns, how innovation paths may merge with or separate from other paths, and how organizations may arrive at a lock-in that challenges them to break out from dominant and seemingly irreversible action patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a perspective on steering in governance which understands steering as intended path creation. Inspired by evolutionary governance theory, critical management studies and social systems theory, we argue that steering is shaped and limited by co‐evolutions, disallowing for any formulaic approach. In order to illuminate the space for steering in gov‐ ernance, we analyze the interplay between different dependencies. Those dependencies are not just obstacles to path creation, they can also be pointers and assets. The steering discussion is further complicated by always unique sets of cou‐ plings between a governance system and its environment. After introducing the ideas of reality effects and governance strategy, we further develop our concept of steering and present it as the management of dependencies (in governance) and reality effects (outside governance) towards path creation. This management is ideally strategic in nature and requires leadership in a new role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new regional paths is a key topic in economic geography. While new paths are largely associated with positive regional economic outcomes, little is known about how the formation of a new industry affects other parts of the regional economy. By linking recent conceptual advancements on early path formation and interpath relationships, this article develops a framework for studying how path creation, as a result of diverse resource formation processes, can cause reformation processes of existing industries. The value of the framework is illustrated in a case study on the tourism path formation process in the Zambezi region (Namibia) and its impacts on the agricultural sector. The findings reveal how the path formation has caused new forms of intraregional inequalities as well as novel opportunities for the existing agricultural sector depending on the interpath relationship. Beyond these case study–specific findings, the results emphasize the importance of a broader perspective that goes beyond a single new path and includes nonparticipating regional actors in the analysis. Only in this way can we understand how new path creation translates into regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a flourishing evolutionary economic geography, the cluster evolution literature has been somewhat left behind, and remains somewhat simplistic and deterministic. This article seeks to form a synthesis from recent conceptual advancements in the evolutionary and institutional economic geographies, in pursuit of expanding the cluster evolution literature. In the process it produces a novel way of exploring cluster evolution, through the concept of cluster institutional configurations, which focuses on the ability of different actors to navigate potential lock-ins and to drive cluster evolution, and connects it to broader debates in economic geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the time of the Millennium, Nottingham, a former manufacturing city in the English Midlands, faced serious challenges as a consequence of de-industrialisation. This was the context from which a new development path based on life sciences emerged. This paper explores the role of policy interventions and the agency of local actors in this path creation process. Kingdon's [1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policy. 2nd ed. New York: Longman] multiple streams framework (MSF) is used as an analytical framework through which to assess the interaction and local implementation of three related strands of national policy: regional policy, industrial policy (with an emphasis on clusters) and innovation policy and their role in the emergence of a life science cluster in the city. The case is explored with reference to the experience of other European cities that have faced similar structural challenges and sought to respond with development strategies based on life sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in economic geography has recently been challenged to adopt more institutional and multiscalar perspectives on industrial path development. This article contributes to this debate by integrating insights from (evolutionary) economic geography as well as transition and innovation studies into a conceptual framework of how path creation in emerging industries depends on the availability of both knowledge and legitimacy. Unlike the extant literature, we argue here that not only the former but also the latter may substantially depend on nonlocal sources. Conceptually, we distinguish between multiscalar export, attraction, and absorption of legitimacy. Coupled with conventional knowledge indicators, this approach enables us to reconstruct how not only external knowledge sourcing but also multiscalar institutional dynamics contribute to a region or country's ability to leverage its potential for path creation in an emerging industry. Methodologically, we develop legitimation indicators from a global media database, which was built around the case of modular water technologies. Cross-comparing the evidence from six key countries (India, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, the US) with differing path creation constellations for this emerging industry, allows us to hypothesize how multiscalar legitimation influences a country's prospects for creating a radically new industrial path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]