Title: New entrepreneurship policy and the encounter between policy implementers and entrepreneurs - a case study from Finland

Authors: Miira Niska; Kari Mikko Vesala

Addresses: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 54, FI-00014, Finland ' Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 54, FI-00014, Finland

Abstract: Both the new regional policy and the new entrepreneurship policy aim to establish public-private partnerships to generate global competitiveness. Previous studies, however, have indicated that the relationship between public policy implementers and entrepreneurs is not trouble-free. This paper explores the construction of partnership, or co-agency, between local policy actors and entrepreneurs by analysing a case of Finnish food industry cluster promotion. The analysis demonstrates how co-agency can be achieved when both parties position themselves and each other as agents serving third party principals who share similar interests. However, the entrepreneurship policy implementation may also face novel relational challenges stemming from the objection of local communities and the denial of the partnerships' legitimisation.

Keywords: entrepreneurship policy; regional policy; social psychology; positioning theory; agency; co-agency; Finland; case study; public-private partnerships; PPPs; food industry clusters; cluster promotion; local communities; legitimisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2015.068632

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2015 Vol.14 No.3, pp.321 - 339

Received: 17 Jan 2014
Accepted: 26 Aug 2014
Published online: 07 Apr 2015 *

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