In this paper we ask what is the place of institutional entrepreneurship in a (regional) innovation system. The main research questions addressed are (a) how does a new science-based concentration of innovation become institutionalized in an innovation system; (b) who are the institutional entrepreneurs and what do they actually do in their efforts to institutionalize new beliefs, practices, and activities within a system; and (c) what knowledge do institutional entrepreneurs need and what kind of power do they exercise in the institutionalization process. We add new knowledge to studies focusing on innovation systems by revealing how new elements are attached into it. We also add power and knowledge to the study of institutional entrepreneurship and institutional change. The empirical analysis identifies the main phases of institutionalization, key actors in different phases, and their strategies of influence. This paper is based on the analysis of secondary data and twenty-eight interviews with key actors.
AllenJ, 2003Lost Geographies of Power (Blackwell, Oxford)
2.
AsheimB TGertlerM, 2005, “The geography of innovation: Regional innovation systems”, in The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Eds FagerbergJMoweryDNelsonR, (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 291–317
3.
AsheimB TIsaksenA, 2002, “Regional innovation systems: The integration of local ‘sticky’ and global ‘ubiquitous’ knowledge”Journal of Technology Transfer2777–86
4.
AsheimB TBoschmaRCookePLaredoPLindholm-DahlstrandÅPiccalugaA, 2006, “Constructing regional advantage: Principles, perspectives and policies”, final report, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels
5.
AutioE, 1998, “Evaluation of RTD in regional systems of innovation”European Planning Studies6131–140
6.
BattilanaJ, 2006, “Agency and institutions: The enabling role of individuals' social position”Organization13653–676
7.
BattilanaJLecaBBoxenbaumE, 2009, “How actors change institutions: Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship”Academy of Management Annals365–107
CzarniawskaB, 2006Narratives in Social Science Research3rd edition (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA)
14.
DahlR A, 2005 [1961] Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American city (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT)
15.
DiMaggioP J, 1988, “Interest and agency in institutional theory”, in Institutional Patterns and Organizations Eds ZuckerL G, (Ballinger, Cambridge, MA) pp 3–22
16.
d'OvidioMPradelM, 2013, “Social innovation and institutionalisation in the cognitive–cultural economy: Two contrasting experiences from Southern Europe”Cities3369–76
17.
DroriILandauD, 2011Vision and Change in Institutional Entrepreneurship (Berghahn Books, New York)
18.
ForbesT, 2012, “Institutional entrepreneurship in hostile settings: Health and social care partnerships in Scotland, 2002–05”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy301100–1115
19.
FoucaultM, 1980Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977 (Pantheon Books, New York)
20.
GarudRKarnøeP, 2003, “Bricolage versus breakthrough: Distributed and embedded agency in technology entrepreneurship”Research Policy32277–300
21.
GarudRHardyCMaguireS, 2007, “Institutional entrepreneurship as embedded agency: An introduction to the special issue”Organization Studies28957–969
22.
GertlerM S, 2010, “Rules of the game: The place of institutions in regional economic change”Regional Studies441–15
23.
HungS-CWhittingtonR, 2011, “Agency in national innovation systems: Institutional entrepreneurship and the professionalization of Taiwanese IT”Research Policy40526–538
24.
KarlsenJLarreaMWilsonJ RArangurenM J, 2012, “Bridging the gap between academic research and regional development in the Basque Country”European Journal of Education47122–138
25.
KulveH, 2010, “Emerging technologies and waiting games: Institutional entrepreneurs around nanotechnology in the food packaging sectors”Science, Technology and Innovation Studies67–31
26.
LecaBNaccacheP, 2006, “A critical realist approach to institutional entrepreneurship”Organization13627–651
Nordforsk, 2007Stem Cell Research in Nordic Countries. Science, Ethics, Public Debate and Law for Nordforsk by the Nordic Committee on Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Norden
40.
OrlikowskiW J, 2002, “Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing”Organization Science13249–273
41.
PachecoD FYorkJ GDeanT JSarasvathyS D, 2010, “The coevolution of institutional entrepreneurship: A tale of two theories”Journal of Management36974–1010
42.
PapaioannouTWieldDChatawayJ, 2009, “Knowledge ecologies and ecosystems? An empirically grounded reflection on recent developments in innovation systems theory”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy27319–339
43.
Regea, 2009Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine—Annual Report 2009Tampere
44.
Regea, 2010Regea Institute for Regenerative MedicineTampere, http://www.regea.fi
45.
RiaziA MKwonS YStanfordW L, 2009, “Stem cell sources for regenerative medicine”Methods in Molecular Biology4855–90
46.
RitvalaTKleymannB, 2012, “Scientists as midwives to cluster emergence: An institutional work framework”Industry and Innovation19477–497
47.
Rodríguez-PoseA, 1999, “Innovation prone and innovation averse societies: Economic performance in Europe”Growth and Change3075–105
48.
Rodríguez-PoseACrescenziR, 2008, “Research and development, spillovers, innovation systems, and the genesis of regional growth in Europe”Regional Studies4251–67
49.
ScottW R, 2001Institutions and Organizations2nd edition (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA)
50.
SeoMCreedW E D, 2002, “Institutional contradictions, praxis and institutional change: A dialectical perspective”Academy of Management Review3222–247
51.
SotarautaM, 2009, “Power and influence tactics in the promotion of regional development: An empirical analysis of the work of Finnish regional development officers”Geoforum40895–905
52.
SotarautaMPulkkinenR-L, 2011, “Institutional entrepreneurship for knowledge regions: In search of a fresh set of questions for regional innovation studies”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy2996–112
53.
SternbergRKieseMStockingerD, 2010, “Cluster policies in the US and Germany: Varieties of capitalism perspective on two high-tech states”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy281063–1082
TsoukasH, 1996, “The firm as a distributed knowledge system: A constructionist approach”Strategic Management Journal1711–25
57.
UyarraE, 2010, “What is evolutionary about ‘regional systems of innovation’? Implications for regional policy”Journal of Evolutionary Economics20115–137
58.
UyarraEFlanaganK, 2010, “From regional systems of innovation to regions as innovation policy spaces”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy28681–695
59.
ValtakariMRajahonkaMTikkanenE, 2007Biomateriaaliosaamisesta liiketoimintaa; COMBIO-teknologiaohjelman loppuarviointiTeknologiaohjelmaraportti 10/2007, Tekes, Helsinki
60.
WashingtonMVentrescaM J, 2004, “How organizations change: The role of institutional support mechanisms in the incorporation of higher education visibility strategies 1874–1995”Organization Science1582–96
61.
WittU, 2003, “Economic policy making in evolutionary perspective”Journal of Evolutionary Economics1377–94
62.
WrongD H, 1997Power: Its Forms, Bases, and Uses (Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ)
63.
YakhlefA, 2010, “The three facets of knowledge: A critique of the practice-based learning theory”Research Policy3939–46
