What is it about?
My paper explores the role of human agency, defined as individuals or groups, in the policy process for regional innovation. Previous approaches to agency have focused on their role in created new policies or regional development activities. My paper seeks to broaden the focus to include actors that seek to maintain such policies over time, and to show how they are institutionally embedded.
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Why is it important?
I argue that policy maintenance, as a form of institutional work is important to the overall outcomes achieved by policy over time, and can be seen as partly complementary to entrepreneurial actor work. There are dangers, however, that such maintenance does not incorporate new policy ideas over time,, and that this could contribute to lock in.
Perspectives
This paper draws on my knowledge and experience as a policy researcher and consultant in the region over many years. In this role I had seen the important 'behind the scenes' undertaken by such actors. When returning to academic I was struck by the heroic and muscular conceptions of entrepreneurial agency, and wanted to cast light on the incremental tending undertaken by many actors in the policy process.
Dylan Henderson
Cardiff University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Institutional work in the maintenance of regional innovation policy instruments: evidence from Wales, Regional Studies, July 2019, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2019.1634251.
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