No 2019/7 Agency in regional path development

Towards a bio-economy in Värmland, Sweden

Abstract

Despite significant interest in regional industrial restructuring in economic geography, surprisingly scarce attention has been paid to the changing role of agency over time. The current paper develops a framework for understanding the role of multiple types of agents and the agency they exercise for new path development. The framework is employed in a longitudinal study of industry development in Värmland, Sweden, from forestry towards a bio-economy. The analysis highlights how actors exercise very different types of agency in different periods of path development.