Decentralisation as substantial and institutional policy change: scrutinising the regionalisation of science policy in Norway

Decentralisation of political and administrative functions from national to regional levels of government has been a major governance trend in Europe over the past decades. Although science policy has generally been an exception from this, parts of science policy have been decentralised to regional levels in several countries. This article studies characteristics of the science policy regime instituted by the Norwegian government’s decision, in 2010, to give counties responsibility for about one per cent of Norway’s total publicly-funded research. We conclude that the reform has fared better vis-à-vis its ambitions concerning policy substance—research quality and mobilisation of new R&D efforts—than vis-à-vis its ambitions concerning institutional structures—regional autonomy and bottom-up commitment. The study shows that limited institutional ambitions might help implement decentralisation reforms despite initial resistance. More generally, the article points to the need to scrutinise both substantial and institutional changes when studying decentralisation reforms.