Methodological aspects of studying regional innovation systems and cluster. Inspiration from critical realism

1. Methodological aspects of studying regional innovation systems and cluster. Inspiration from critical realism Professor Arne Isaksen, UiA NORSI/PING Course, Kristiansand october 2012

2. Content of the lecture • Discuss the question: What are the concrete advices from critical realism with regard to the carrying out of empirical research? • Examples from regional innovation studies • Answer the question by: • Summing up the overall research design of theoretically informed (based on specified concepts and theories) and informative (examine necessary relations) empirical studies • Propose some practical consequences of critical realism for different steps of the research process

3. Research design 3: Critical realism / theoretically informed empirical studies Abstract research. Theory = Tools in order to make precise research questions, facilitate data collection, interpret empirical data Agreement between empirical results and theory? Should theory be revised or specified? Set up analytical model and/or theoretically informed research questions Overall research questions Empirical study and analyses

4. Practical consequence 1 • Start with abstract theoretical research, i.e. studies should be theoretically informed (you can only understand a phenomena with the use of specified concepts) • How does one carry out abstract theoretical research? • Clarify/define the core phenomena/concepts (by abstraction: pointing out important characteristics that is common for the phenomenon) • Link core concept or define concepts by the use of other concepts (e.g. innovation modes relate to knowledge bases relate to know why, know how etc. catergorisation) • Discuss the causal power of concepts • Develop an analytical framework • (All depends on reading good papers…)

5. Simplified model of explanation Ex: Knowledge flow, increased innovation(R1), little knowledge flow(R2) Result 1 Result 2 Ex.: Relevant study programmes at university, absorption capacity in industry (B1), lack of absorption capacity in industry(B2) B1 B2 External conditions Ex: Increased industrial innovation due to knowledge flow(M1), and academic spin-offs (M2) M1 M2 Mechanisms/ ‘causal powers’ Ex: The relation university – regional industry S1 Structures

6. Practical consequence 2: • Use research questions rather than hypotheses • Why? • The use of hypotheses can lead to focus on finding and summarising empirical studies in the theoretical part of the study rather than focusing on abstract research (defining concepts, explaining possible causal relations, ‘sharpen the tools’ etc.) • It is not possible to generalise results directly from one context to another

7. Comparison UiT (Tromsø) and UiA (Agder) • One research question: What type of cooperation exists between UiA and the local oil supplier industry, and between UiT and the marine biotechnology industry in Tromsø? • Analytical framework • Four different role of universities in regional development • Two different innovation modes: STI (biotech), DUI (oil suppliers) • Linking of role of university – innovation mode • Isaksen, A. and Karlsen, J. (2010) Different modes of Innovation and the Challenge of Connecting Universities and Industry: Case studies of two regional industries in Norway. European Planning Studies, 18, 12: 1993-2008

8. Komparativ analyse Little R&D cooperation UiA – oil suppliers, but recruiting important UiT act as a knowledge hub, but difficulties with commercialisation Result Agder Result Tromsø New UiA and oil supplier industry dominated by DUI Large knowledge infrastructure, incl. UIT, and marine biotech dominated by STI, and often spin-off firms B Agder B Tromsø M M Knowledge flow and innovation trigger Relation Norwegian university – regional industry S S

9. Komparativ analyse Little R&D cooperation UiA – oil suppliers, but recruiting important UiT act as a knowledge hub, but difficulties with commercialisation Result Agder Result Tromsø New UiA and oil supplier industry dominated by DUI Large knowledge infrastructure, incl. UIT, and marine biotech dominated by STI, and often spin-off firms B Agder B Tromsø M M Knowledge flow and innovation trigger Relation Norwegian university – regional industry S S

10. Komparativ analyse Little R&D cooperation UiA – oil suppliers, but recruiting important UiT act as a knowledge hub, but difficulties with commercialisation Result Agder Result Tromsø New UiA and oil supplier industry dominated by DUI Large knowledge infrastructure, incl. UIT, and marine biotech dominated by STI, and often spin-off firms B Agder B Tromsø M M Knowledge flow and innovation trigger Relation Norwegian university – regional industry S S

11. Practical consequence 3 • The context (the industry, the region etc.) needs to be specified. • Why? • Cf. the above example: the context influences very much the observed result/phenomena. The result depends on the context and the mechanisms/causal powers • The possibilities for (statistical and analytical) generalisation of the results depend on the context (e.g. very distinctive case)

12. Example: People climate versus business climate • Point of departure: The theory of the creative class by Richard Florida: • Exiting places to live and stay for creative workers (a good people climate) • Attract the creative class • Contributes in attracting (knowledge intensive) firms that need creative workers • Which triggers job growth, value creation etc. in a city • ’The bottom line is that cities need a people climate even more than they need a business climate’ (Florida 2002: 283)

13. International comparasion: Example of context • To what extent is the causal order argued by for Florida (‘people before jobs’) relevant in explaning regional development in Nordic cities? • Demand case-studies and statistical analyses to examine • Aspects of industrial development in cities/regions in the US and Nordic countries and • Test the relevance of the creative class thesis • Andersen, K. V. , HansenH. K. , Isaksen, A og Raunio, M. (2010), Nordic City Regions in the Creative Class Debate - Putting the Creative Class Thesis to a Test. Industry and Innovation, Vol 17, No. 2, 215-240 • Andersen, K. V., Bugge,M. M., Hansen,H. K. Isaksen, A og Raunio, M. (2010), One Size Fits All? Applying the Creative Class thesis onto a Nordic Context European Planning Studies, 18, 10: 1591 -1609

14. Comparative analysis People climate attracts creative people that attract high tech. firms Business climate more important + other types of people climate USA Norden Ca. 50 cities with more than 1 mill. inhabitants, large regional differences, a mobile society Few large cities, welfare societies that even out much of regional differences, stable societies B USA B Norden The creative class has become a central location factor M M Creativity and innovation more important for the competitiveness of firms S S

15. Practical consequence 4 • Sum up the theoretical work in an analytical framework and/or in concrete research questions • Why? • Help in structuring the theoretical part of a paper, thesis, by finding the main perspectives and concepts (‘dig deep not wide’) • Link the theoretical and empirical part of the study, i.e. by building the interview guide or questionnaire on the analytical framework/ research questions

16. Practical consequences 5 • Perform intensive empirical studies (in addition to / supplementing extensive studies), i.e. carry out semi-structured interviews with key informants • Why? • Necessary in order to answer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions; why did actors behave in a certain why (e.g. establish a firm), how do firms innovate • Such questions can only be answered in a few ‘cases’ • Extensive studies (surveys) more relevant when answering questions about how often, how many; e.g. how many firms in a cluster have an R&D-department

17. The context: The Lister region Municipalities and number of inhabitants Total number of inhabitants January 2012: 35734 Sirdal 1861 Kvinesdal 5834 Stavanger 140 km Flekkefjord 9046 Hægebostad 1665 Kristiansand 90 km Lyngdal 7895 Farsund 9433

18. Research questions • What characterizes long term industrial development processes in Lister? • What more general lessons that can be drawn with regard to industrial development paths in less central regions based on the study in Lister? • Data material: 16 firm interviews + linking of databases + desk research

19. Path dependent regional industrial development • Four possible development paths of regional industries • Path exhaustion: The innovation potential is low and a regional industry shrinks or decline • Path extension: Incremental product and process innovations leading to ‘more of the same’ • Path renewal: Existing local firms switch to related activities and sectors • Path creation: Establishment of new firms in new sectors, but building of existing skills

20. Which paths in which regions?

21. General conclusions • Peripheral regions have drawbacks with regard to path creation and renewal based on regional resources • External investments are needed to avoid ‘lock in’ to path extension in peripheral regions • Theorising on industrial development needs to take more into account situations in typical peripheral regions

22. Practical consequence 6 • Discuss theoretical lessons from the case (often asked for by journals) • How? • Can discuss the relevance of the analytical framework / main concepts in this case: Do one have to revise the framework (and then some of the theories and concepts summarised in the framework) based on results from this case (e.g. Lister case)? • Can discuss the possibilities of transferability in theoretical sense; if causal relations in the case that is analysed are relevant in other cases (industries, regions)

23. One way to structure ‘empirical papers’ • Introduction • The theme of the paper, ‘knowledge gabs that have to be filled’ • Research questions • Theoretical discussion • Review/discuss relevant theories + link theories in new ways • Analytical framework or theoretically informed research questions • Context and method (or just Method) • The case (cluster, industry, firm etc.) • Data material (what material, assessment of the material) • Empirical analyses • Often structures according to research questions or analytical framework • Conclusion • Answer research questions + discuss theoretical lessons