1. The Simple Economics of Smart Specialisation
Dominique Foray
REGIONS AS MOTORS OF NEW GROWTH THROUGH SMART SPECIALISATION
8 November, 2013
Brussels

2. Smart specialisation
Capacity of a regional economy to generate new specialities – through the discovery of new domains of opportunity and the local concentration of resources and competences in these domains.
Such capacity is needed to drive structural transformations
The meaning of specialisation in smart specialisation

3. Smart specialisation strategy
Putting in place a process through which such a dynamic of new specialty development can be facilitated through targeted governmental intervention in order to support in a preferential way the most promising new activities (discovery, experimentation, early growth)
Collège du Management de la Technologie – CDM
Chaire en Economie et Management de l'Innovation – CEMI

4. Knowledge economy convergence
SMEs
Training
Finance

5. Animal genetics for breeding Towards advanced ceramics
Photonics for renewable energy systems
Knowledge economy convergence
SMEs
Training
Finance

6. Not horizontal but vertical logic
Animal genetics for breeding
Towards advanced ceramics
Photonics for renewable energy systems
Knowledge economy convergence
Not horizontal but vertical logic
New activities to discover a path of structural changes through R&D and innovation
SMEs
Training
Finance

7. Goals/rationale
Facilitating emergence and early growth of new activities potentially rich in innovation and spillovers
Diversifying the regional system (structural changes)
Generating critical mass, critical networks or clusters within a diversified system

8. Allocating scarce capital to a few domains = distorsion
Animal genetics for breeding
Towards advanced ceramics
ICT development for rural areas
Knowledge economy convergence
Allocating scarce capital to a few domains = distorsion
A problem of policy design
SMEs
Training
Finance

9. Identification Helping entrepreneurial discoveries
Animal genetics for breeding
Towards advanced ceramics
Photonics for renewable energy systems
Knowledge economy convergence
Helping entrepreneurial discoveries
Structuring entrepreneurial knowledge
Identification
SMEs
Training
Finance

10. Mid-grained granularity:
Animal genetics for breeding
Towards advanced ceramics
Photonics for renewable energy systems
Knowledge economy convergence
Mid-grained granularity:
new activity
Identification
SMEs
Training
Finance

11. Sleeping giants, excited goblins and hungry dwarfs
Animal genetics for breeding
Towards advanced ceramics
Photonics for renewable energy systems
Knowledge economy convergence
Sleeping giants, excited goblins and hungry dwarfs
Inclusiveness
SMEs
Training
Finance

12. After n years, the new activities are not new anymore? ? ?
Knowledge economy convergence
After n years, the new activities are not new anymore
Evolving prioritization
SMEs
Training
Finance

13. Merci! Collège du Management de la Technologie – CDM
Chaire en Economie et Management de l'Innovation – CEMI