Review of Regional Research - Call for Papers - Innovation and Path Dependence

Like a dirt track, innovation can be radical, unconventional, adapted to human requirements, sometimes arising in a spontaneous order, and, most importantly, always evolving. This characteristic of continuous development has fascinated scientists ever since and has led to a huge corpus of literature on the geography of innovation. Therein, and since innovations happen in most parts of everyday life, innovations can be highly diverse. It is known, for instance, that self-reinforcing dynamics can weaken the innovativeness of regions (Arthur 1990). Also, we see that geographical and/or topical proximity can be the reason for a higher innovativeness in a region (see e.g., Baptista 1999; Fritsch & Slavtchev 2010). But still, innovation always happens within the (edges of the) known, also depending on the paths that someone already took. Following Brenner and zu Jeddeloh (2023), those paths can be identified, categorized, and used to analyze systems that do not only depend on their history but also are reproduced, shaped, and created by human action. Several examples can be found for this, may it be the famous example of “QWERTY”, or more recent developments like technological trajectories of Biogas, the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in regional labor markets, political regulations that influence how and under which conditions food is produced, or the identification of development traps and lock-ins. 
Given the complexity and diversity of today’s economic and innovation systems, further detailed analyses are still needed to improve our knowledge of path dependence in innovation processes and economic development. In the 21st century, humankind faces several global challenges like climate change, the dependence on fossil resources, and the alteration of the labor market and industrial structures. Therefore, we need to ask questions and find solutions that cope with priorities for innovation policies, technological development, and possibilities to shape sustainable industries in all of its facets and dependencies. 
This special issue follows those questions of how and why innovations emerge, evolve, and (maybe) end within path-dependent systems. Since those are complex and diverse issues, we highlight the necessity to do research with the same amount of diversity. Therefore, we encourage scientists from all fields and methodological backgrounds to contribute on, but not limited to:

• Innovations in emerging markets, e.g., electric mobility, and the dependence on previous markets, resources, and (technological) developments 
• Lock-ins, development traps, or other constraints, e.g., political decisions that influence the development of a path
• Innovativeness and path dependence in developing and emerging economies (including the aspects of fragmented innovation systems, the role of FDI, natural resources, quality of institutions, international organizations, reverse brain drain and social capital)
• The role of geographic circumstances in technological developments and innovation
• The implementation of an (alternative) path in the existing economic, social, geographical, and political structures
• The role of path dependence and innovation for the 21st century challenges, e.g., in the context of climate change, political instability, food supply, energy, and the (demographic) change of labor markets
• (Empirical) applications of path dependence models (referring to Brenner and zu Jeddeloh 2023)
• The diverse roles of different stakeholders in the field of innovation and path dependence
• The drivers and barriers of innovation in path-dependent systems (including their variation between regions)

We invite authors from all fields to submit their conceptual, empirical, and/or policy-oriented research with a spatial focus and interest in path dependence and path-dependent processes. 
Please notice the following requirements if your paper should be taken into account for this Special Issue: 
All papers submitted will be part of the normal mutually anonymous peer-review process by the journal. 
Submitted papers must not be part of the review process of any other journal. 
Further information on the submission process, guidelines, and information in general can be found here: https://link.springer.com/journal/10037/submission-guidelines (this opens in a new tab)

Please submit your work by May 31, 2024 at https://www.editorialmanager.com/jfre/ (this opens in a new tab)

Guest Editors:
Abdulhak Anwer Alsharif, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, abdulhak.alsharif@uni-marburg.de
Thomas Brenner, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, thomas.brenner@uni-marburg.de
Sonja zu Jeddeloh, University of Vechta, Germany, sonja.zu-jeddeloh@uni-vechta.de
Felix Schmidt, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, felix.schmidt@uni-marburg.de

References:
Arthur, W.B. (1990) Positive Feedbacks in the Economy. Scientific American 262, 2: 92-99
Baptista, R. (1999) The Diffusion of Process Innovations: A Selective Review. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 6, 1: 107-129
Brenner, T., zu Jeddeloh, S. (2023) Path dependence in an evolving system: a modeling perspective. Cliometrica. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11698-023-00266-z
Fritsch, M., Slavtchev, V. (2010) How does industry specialization affect the efficiency of regional innovation systems? The Annals of Regional Science 45: 87-108. DOI 10.1007/s00168-009-0292-9