History Matters report
Author:
James Simmie, Juliet Carpenter, Andrew Chadwick and Ron Martin
Year published:
July 2008
Download:
History Matters report (PDF)
Policy Briefing: Unlocking innovation in British cities and regions
Working paper: Path dependence and the evolution of city regional economies
Innovation is a hot topic in economic development circles around the world. Buoyed by the success of Silicon Valley, Hsinchu region, or Helsinki, innovation is seen by leading regions as the key to staying ahead; in those that lag, as an opportunity to catch up. The result has been a plethora of ambitious innovation strategies. Unfortunately, the common thread has often been under-delivery.
This failure to deliver has been blamed on many things: lack of institutions, lack of ambition, and lack of skilled policymakers. However, what has been less straightforward to understand is the extent to which such change was ever possible. In this research project, we have worked with leading researchers from Oxford Brookes and Cambridge Universities to use advanced economic techniques to uncover the extent to which ‘history matters’.
The results contain important lessons for national and regional economic policymakers. Developing new ‘pathways’ for economic development depends considerably on a region’s innovation system. However, individual policy interventions are likely to have little impact on economic development if they do not take into account previous economic structures and their legacy. Perhaps most importantly, policymakers must be patient and allow major interventions time to bear fruit.
This work feeds into a wider body of work that deals with the spatial aspects of innovation policy. Its insights underpin many of the practical programmes we have underway at NESTA and it forms the backdrop to our work with the nations, cities and regions that make up the UK. As with all of our work, we welcome your comments and your views.