Regional Development, Endogenous

Endogenous regional development is a concept that has been stated as a counterthesis to the external development doctrine. Core ideas are the understanding of development as a bottom-up process, suggesting a key role of regional actors and initiatives, and of social agents and civil society. Furthermore, it places a high importance on regional institutions, policy competences, and decision-making functions. It is an integrated approach, taking account of economic and social interdependencies, and it emphasizes a sustainable use of natural and other resources. Endogenous regional development has been inspired by theories of economic development, innovation, and learning. It has appeared and been applied in different variants such as regional entrepreneurship, learning, innovation systems, and place-based development. These variants partly differ from the original concept, but they also share many elements. Such common elements are the search for regional uniqueness and identity as a source of competitive advantages; a high importance of regional institutions, social capital, and networks; and a key role of entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition, they share the view that despite strong tendencies of globalization and the use of modern information and communication technologies, learning and innovation remain to a high degree territorially embedded processes, based on tacit knowledge and local capabilities, and on a specific setting of institutions at local, regional, and higher scales.