IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aae/journl/v15y2019i3p131-162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How local resources shape innovation and path development in rural regions. Insights from rural Estonia

Author

Listed:
  • Merli Reidolf

    (M.A., Tallinn University of Technology, Department of Business Administration, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia, e-mail: merli.reidolf@taltech.ee)

  • Martin Graffenberger

    (M.A., Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Schongauerstr. 9, 04328 Leipzig, Germany, e-mail: M_Graffenberger@ifl.leipzig.de)

Abstract

This paper examines the role of local resources (physical, human, immaterial, social and community, and financial) in shaping firm innovation and path development in rural areas. Existing research in spatially informed innovation studies has largely overlooked the place-specific resources of rural regions as innovation facilitating qualities. This paper addresses the following research questions: (i) what is the role of local rural resources in a firm’s innovation activities, and (ii) how do these resources shape regional development paths? We propose a framework that takes a holistic view of rural resources and their role in shaping innovation and regional development paths. The empirical analyses suggest that rural resources offer valuable and diverse opportunities for firm innovation, providing that firms (pro-)actively mobilize and purposefully exploit these resources as part of their innovation endeavors. We find that rural resources have the potential to extend and upgrade regional development paths and operate as ingredients to enrich existing paths with additional functions and, thereby, to make them more future-oriented. However, merely relying on rural resources does not suffice to facilitate substantial changes in regional paths. Our analyses are based on semi-structured interviews with representatives of firms located in rural Estonia, active in different manufacturing and service industries. This paper contributes to the emerging, but still fragmented, literature on rural innovation and offers a contextually grounded micro-level framework on the role of local rural resources for firm innovation in rural areas. Furthermore, the study adds an empirical contribution from a rarely studied Central and Eastern European regional context.

Suggested Citation

  • Merli Reidolf & Martin Graffenberger, 2019. "How local resources shape innovation and path development in rural regions. Insights from rural Estonia," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 15(3), pages 131-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:aae:journl:v:15:y:2019:i:3:p:131-162
    DOI: 10.7341/20191535
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://jemi.edu.pl/uploadedFiles/file/all-issues/vol15/issue3/JEMI_Vol15_Issue3_2019_Article5.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.7341/20191535?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grillitsch, Markus & Sotarauta, Markku, 2018. "Regional Growth Paths: From Structure to Agency and Back," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    2. Richard Florida & Patrick Adler & Charlotta Mellander, 2017. "The city as innovation machine," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 86-96, January.
    3. Gry Agnete Alsos & Sara Carter & Elisabet Ljunggren & Friederike Welter (ed.), 2011. "The Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship in Agriculture and Rural Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13602.
    4. Frank Neffke & Matté Hartog & Ron Boschma & Martin Henning, 2018. "Agents of Structural Change: The Role of Firms and Entrepreneurs in Regional Diversification," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 94(1), pages 23-48, January.
    5. Sabine Müller & Steffen Korsgaard, 2018. "Resources and bridging: the role of spatial context in rural entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1-2), pages 224-255, January.
    6. Markus Grillitsch & Bjørn Asheim & Michaela Trippl, 2018. "Unrelated knowledge combinations: the unexplored potential for regional industrial path development," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 11(2), pages 257-274.
    7. Anna Golejewska, 2018. "Innovativeness of Enterprises in Poland in the Regional Context," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 14(1), pages 29-44.
    8. J. Kirk Ring & Ana Maria Peredo & James J. Chrisman, 2010. "Business Networks and Economic Development in Rural Communities in the United States," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(1), pages 171-195, January.
    9. Chris Gibson, 2016. "Material Inheritances: How Place, Materiality, and Labor Process Underpin the Path-dependent Evolution of Contemporary Craft Production," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 92(1), pages 61-86, January.
    10. Alistair R. Anderson, 2000. "Paradox in the periphery: an entrepreneurial reconstruction?," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 91-109, April.
    11. Jakob Eder & Michaela Trippl, 2019. "Innovation in the periphery: Compensation and exploitation strategies," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 1511-1531, December.
    12. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    13. Camps, Susanna & Marques, Pilar, 2014. "Exploring how social capital facilitates innovation: The role of innovation enablers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 325-348.
    14. Bjørn Asheim & Markus Grillitsch & Michaela Trippl, 2017. "Introduction: Combinatorial Knowledge Bases, Regional Innovation, and Development Dynamics," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(5), pages 429-435, October.
    15. André Torre, 2015. "New Challenges for Rural Areas in a Fast Moving Environment," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 641-649, April.
    16. Milena Ratajczak-Mrozek, 2014. "The Importance of Locally Embedded Personal Relationships for SME Internationalisation Processes – from Opportunity Recognition to Company Growth," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 10(3), pages 89-108.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Calvo, Nuria & Fernández-López, Sara & Rodríguez-Gulías, María Jesús & Rodeiro-Pazos, David, 2022. "The effect of population size and technological collaboration on firms' innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Richter, Ralph, 2020. "Innovations at the edge: how local innovations are established in less favourable environments," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-21.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Strambach, Simone & Pflitsch, Gesa, 2020. "Transition topology: Capturing institutional dynamics in regional development paths to sustainability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    2. Alexandra Frangenheim & Michaela Trippl & Camilla Chlebna, 2018. "Beyond the 'single path view': Inter-path relationships in regional contexts," PEGIS geo-disc-2018_06, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    3. Andrea Morrison, 2023. "Towards an evolutionary economic geography research agenda to study migration and innovation," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 529-542.
    4. Shuaijun Xue & Robert Hassink, 2021. "Combinatorial knowledge bases, proximity and agency across space: the case of the high-end medical device industry in Shanghai," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_04, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. Plechero, Monica & Grillitsch, Markus, 2021. "Stepping-up innovation in manufacturing firms: Knowledge combinations in an Italian local production system," Papers in Innovation Studies 2021/5, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    6. Markus Grillitsch & Bjørn Asheim & Michaela Trippl, 2018. "Unrelated knowledge combinations: the unexplored potential for regional industrial path development," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 11(2), pages 257-274.
    7. Di Wu & Neil M. Coe, 2023. "Bottom-up cluster branding through boundary spanners: The case of the Jingdezhen ceramics cluster in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(14), pages 2874-2900, November.
    8. Grillitsch, Markus, 2018. "Place-based entrepreneurship and innovation policy for industrial diversification," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/3, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    9. Yao, Li & Li, Jun & Li, Jian, 2020. "Urban innovation and intercity patent collaboration: A network analysis of China’s national innovation system," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Janssen, Matthijs J. & Abbasiharofteh, Milad, 2022. "Boundary spanning R&D collaboration: Key enabling technologies and missions as alleviators of proximity effects?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    11. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Designing Smart Specialization Policy: relatedness, unrelatedness, or what?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2128, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2021.
    12. Simon Baumgartinger-Seiringer & David Doloreux & Richard Shearmur & Michaela Trippl, 2021. "When history does not matter? The rise of Quebec’s wine industry," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_05, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    13. Tsouri, Maria & Hansen, Teis & Hanson, Jens & Steen, Markus, 2022. "Knowledge recombination for emerging technological innovations: The case of green shipping," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    14. Martin Henning & Orsa Kekezi, 2023. "Upward job mobility in local economies," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 431-444.
    15. Pinheiro, Flávio L. & Hartmann, Dominik & Boschma, Ron & Hidalgo, César A., 2022. "The time and frequency of unrelated diversification," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
    16. Niccolò Innocenti & Francesco Capone & Luciana Lazzeretti & Sergio Petralia, 2022. "The role of inventors’ networks and variety for breakthrough inventions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(1), pages 37-57, February.
    17. Nan Qiao & Chengjun Ji, 2024. "Industry Network Structure Determines Regional Economic Resilience: An Empirical Study Using Stress Testing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-24, July.
    18. Alba Marino & Francesco Quatraro, 2023. "Leveraging global recombinant capabilities for green technologies: the role of ethnic diversity in MNEs’ dynamics," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1413-1445, August.
    19. Hidalgo, César A., 2023. "The policy implications of economic complexity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    20. Kroll Henning & Neuhäusler Peter, 2020. "Recent Trends of Regional Development in China – Technological Portfolios and Economic Growth," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 64(1), pages 14-27, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    local resources; rural regions; innovation; development path; resources; Estonia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aae:journl:v:15:y:2019:i:3:p:131-162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Anna Ujwary-Gil (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://fundacjacognitione.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.