PhD course in economic geography 13th - 16th January 2015
PhD-students are invited to a course in economic geography of 5 ECTS points at the University of Agder, Campus Grimstad, Norway, 13th – 16th January 2015. The course is initiated and funded by the national geography network on regional development and economic geography and organised by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The first two days are reserved for two lectures and presentation and discussion of papers by PhD students. The two next days students participate at the 5th Conference of the Nordic Section of Regional Studies Association (NORSA) that also takes place at the Grimstad Campus of the University of Agder. The conference is hosted by the Centre for Regional innovation strategies at the University of Agder and Agder Research.
Core theme
The PhD course (and the NORSA conference) will focus upon characteristics of industrial development beyond core regions and policy adapted to situations in such regions. The theme is substantiated by the fact that much theorising of regional industrial development is developed based on characteristics in well-developed core regions. As less populated regions and peripheral regions have quite different characteristics from core regions, they may benefit from other types of industrial and innovation policy. This fact points to a need for theoretical reflections and empirical investigations of industrial development and policy initiatives in regions beyond the typical core regions. The PhD course will also pay attention to conceptual challenges related to the development of a green economy.
Learning outcome
By participating in this course the candidate will gain knowledge on core and recent theories, concepts and debates on entrepreneurship and innovation in a regional context.
The course aims to provide the participants with tools to think, discuss, and write theoretically about entrepreneurship and regional innovations and positioning themselves in relation to recent discussions through a paper. The course will enable phd-candidates to reflect on the individual phd-project and its theoretical and methodological position.
Learning methods and activities
2 days of seminar including lectures, oral presentation, group discussions, field trip, paper writing, and 2 days attendance to NORSA conference, which includes lectures and paper presentations.
Compulsory assignments
Participation at the course seminar and at the NORSA conference, written abstract and paper.
Evaluation
The students will be evaluated on the basis of a term paper, which relates to the course literature (see the list behind). The term paper will be graded as pass or fail.
Speakers
The organisers are honoured to have four renowned scholars contributing:
Lecturers at the PhD-course:
Prof. Erik Stam, Utrecht University
Dr. Lars Coenen, CIRCLE, Lund University
Keynote speakers at the NORSA conference:
Prof. Hans Westlund, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Dr. Michaela Trippl, CIRCLE Lund University
Practical issues
The nearest airport is Kristiansand with direct flight to Oslo, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The Grimstad Campus is located 45 km from the airport with bus connection. Transport to and from the Campus will be organised. Information about hotel accommodation will be available at the conference web page.
9.15 – 11.00 Erik Stam: The regional dimension of entrepreneurship
11.00 – 11.30 Discussions
Ca 11.30: Lunch
13.00 – 15.30 Presentation in the plenary of papers by participants:
Matthias Düsing:Smart specialization and the role of entrepreneurship in path creation: towards a research agenda
Hanna Nyborg Storm: The entrepreneurial traits and performance of Dutch lifestyle immigrants in Norway.
Antoine Habersetzer: Entrepreneurship in Swiss non-metropolitan regions. A dynamic network perspective on related variety and board interlocks.
Sandra Bürcher:Embeddedness, entrepreneurship and periphery. Which roles does the political commitment of industrial entrepreneurs and their organization play concerning the long-term regional development of two Swiss non-metropolitan regions?
Jan Ole Rypestøl: The role of new entrepreneurial firm formation in regional industrial development. A conceptual discussion of the entrepreneurial landscape.
16.00 – 17.30: Discussion of the papers presented. Work in the writing groups
17.30: Conclusions from writing groups and lectures in plenary
18.00 – 18.30 Conclusions:
How to move on with the text (Arne Isaksen)
Here you will receive information about deadline for submitting final course paper.
Reflections around the course (participants and Asbjorn Karlsen)
Carvalho, L., Mingardo, G., & Van Haaren, J. (2012). Green urban transport policies and cleantech innovations: evidence from Curitiba, Göteborg and Hamburg. European Planning Studies, 20(3), 375-396.
Coenen, L., Moodysson, J., Martin, H. (forthcoming) Path renewal in old industrial regions: possibilities and limitations for regional innovation policy. Regional Studies.
Dawley, S. (2014). Creating New Paths? Offshore Wind, Policy Activism, and Peripheral Region Development. Economic Geography, 90(1), 91-112.
Grillitsch, M. & Trippl, M. (2014) Combining Knowledge from Different Sources, Channels and Gegoraphical Scales. European Planning Studies 22: 11: 2305-2325.
Isaksen, A. & Tripple, M. (2014) Regional industrial path development in different regional innovation systems: A conceptual analysis. Paper in Innovation Studies no. 2014/17. Lund University.
Martin, R. (2010) Roepke Lecture in Economic Geography—Rethinking Regional Path Dependence: Beyond Lock-in to Evolution. Economic Geography 86(1): 1-27.
Stam, E. & Bosma, N.S. (2014) Growing Entrepreneurial Economies: Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. In Baker, T. & Welter, F. (eds) The Routledge Companion to Entrepreneurship. London: Routledge.
Stam, E. & Bosma, N.S. (2014) Local policies for high-growth firms. In: Audretsch, D., Link, A. & Walshok, A. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Trippl, M. & Otto, A. (2009) How to turn the fate of old industrial areas: a comparison of cluster-based renewal processes in Styria and the Saarland. Environment and Planning A, 41: 1217-1233.
Truffer, B., & Coenen, L. (2012). Environmental innovation and sustainability transitions in regional studies. Regional Studies, 46(1), 1-21.
Westlund, H. & Bolton, R. (2003) Local Social Capital and Entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics 21: 77-113.
Westlund, H., Larsson, J.P., & Olsson, A.R. (2014) Start-ups and Local Entrepreneurial Social Capital in the Municipalities of Sweeden. Regional Studies 48(6).
Westlund, H., Andersson, M. & Karlsson, C. (2014) Creativity as an integral element of social capital and its role for economic performance. In Sternberg R. & Krauss, G. (eds) Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship and Creativity. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2014: 60-96.