Clusters, technological districts and smart specialisation: An empirical analysis of policy implementation challenges

Recent debate on industrial policy has shifted toward innovation-related issues and economic geography. The conceptual strength and practical implementation of some of these approaches is of concern, particularly the strategic approach termed ‘smart specialisation’ and its focus on prioritising economic activities with greater potential for growth by relying on processes of ‘entrepreneurial discovery’. The cases of Lower Austria, Lithuania and Saskatchewan reveal a wide variety of developmental pathways and associated structures, suggesting that innovation systems should not strive toward a single shape or format of innovation cluster. Mechanisms for identifying a region’s technological and knowledge strengths are identified, as well as the existing or possible access points to the market available to a region.