My main research question asks whether and how the emergence and evolution of innovation-systems differs across socio-institutional contexts in advanced knowledge-economies, and in particular, whether there is a model to explain these processes in a Nordic context. Nordic political-economic institutional structures have been widely explored, but this work has yet to solve important puzzles about the impact of the Nordic context on the development of cutting- edge innovative ecosystems in various industry sectors, not least to support digital transformations and sustainable development. On the one hand, the Nordic countries are consistent top scorers on global innovation barometers and have received wide recognition for world-leading investments in education, research and development. On the other hand, many predict decline and stagnation due to weakening state-support and uncompetitive institutional environments, and there are significant discrepancies between the regional innovation success-stories and more stagnant industry centres. Contemporary literature on innovative ecosystems or political economy lacks a coherent explanation to the puzzle. The doctoral research project sets out to contribute to these literatures by establishing the characteristics, boundary conditions and driving mechanisms for a Nordic model of regional innovation.

2021

2022