Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/286732 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Citation: 
[Journal:] Review of Regional Research [ISSN:] 1613-9836 [Volume:] 41 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin, Heidelberg [Year:] 2021 [Pages:] 131-155
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
(Former) old industrial regions are a specific kind of lagging regions that suffer from long-term restructuring problems and deindustrialization. They are back in the focus of many researchers as well as media observers, because of the rise of populist parties in many of these regions in North America and Europe. Therefore, new policy options are discussed in the literature. In this paper, we critically discuss the effects of smart specialization as the most recent regional policy strategy in Europe on solving the restructuring problems and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions and we illustrate our analysis with a view on the Ruhr in Germany. Since smart specialization focuses on existing endogenous potential and entrepreneurial discovery processes from the region, vested interests in (former) old industrial regions might hinder necessary restructuring. Although potentially path transformation might be fostered in some cases, overall, smart specialization is certainly not a quick fix for solving long-term negative effects of restructuring and deindustrialization in (former) old industrial regions.
Subjects: 
Lagging regions
(Former) old industrial regions
Smart specialization
The Ruhr
JEL: 
R10
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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