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Regional Leadership: A Systemic View

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Abstract

New innovation and industrial policies contribute to the development of an informal economy and have increased collaborative processes across sectors and social spheres within regions. This paper addresses the role of regional leadership in the informal economy. By themselves, network processes increase complexity and create a series of uncertainties that differ from processes that are steered through the hierarchical procedures of public bureaucracy or regulated through the judicial and competitive mechanisms of the market. These collaborative and steering challenges must be addressed by regions that seek to succeed with their development efforts. Empirical findings show us that relatively similar regions do not respond in a uniform fashion to the challenges raised by network based development processes. This paper argues that regional leadership anchored in representative democracy can reduce some of the uncertainties and complexities of network based regional innovation policies, increase sustainability and long term effectiveness, and strengthen local democracy.

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Notes

  1. Norway has a three layered governmental structure; municipalities, counties and the state level. The Norwegian government failed in 2010 with its efforts to establish the region as a new fourth formal level, leaving the definition of what constitutes a region in Norway up to both the local level and various state level sectors. This has resulted in the concept of what a region is in a Norwegian setting to be relatively confusing, e.g. does hospital represent one type of regions, the police has another, the research council of Norway divided into another set of regions and so on. If we look at the regions as planning and development units most typically a region covers between one and three counties. But in the case of the Stavanger region it actually only comprises 14 of the 26 municipalities in Rogaland County, and in addition one municipality in Vest-Agder County.

  2. After the mayors in Stavanger Arne Rettedal and Leif Johan Sevland.

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  1. Agderforskning and University of Agder, Gimlemoen 19, 4630, Kristiansand, Norway

    Roger Normann

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  1. Roger Normann
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Normann, R. Regional Leadership: A Systemic View. Syst Pract Action Res 26, 23–38 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-012-9268-2

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