Title: The regional dynamics of innovation: a comparative study of oil and gas industry development in Stavanger and Aberdeen

Authors: Sachi Hatakenaka, Petter Westnes, Martin Gjelsvik, Richard Lester

Addresses: Industrial Performance Center, MIT, 292 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ' International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), P.O. Box 8046, 4068 Stavanger, Norway. ' International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), P.O. Box 8046, 4068 Stavanger, Norway. ' Industrial Performance Center, MIT, 292 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract: This paper reports on a comparative case study of the development of local innovation systems in two key gateways to the North Sea oil and gas province: the Stavanger region on the southwest coast of Norway and the Aberdeen region in northeast Scotland. These two regions provide an ideal setting for a matched pair comparison, since the global market conditions and local geotechnical environment within which they developed into |oil capitals| are strikingly similar. Despite these similarities, the development of local technological and industrial capabilities followed different paths in the two locations. Yet these differences do not appear to have led to significant differences in industrial competitiveness. Although Stavanger and Aberdeen are characterised by very different local innovation systems, the available evidence suggests that outcomes have been similar along significant dimensions of industry performance.

Keywords: regional innovation systems; learning regions; oil and gas industry; Stavanger; Aberdeen; UK; Norway; United Kingdom; Scotland; technological capability; comparative case study; regional development; dynamics of innovation; local innovation systems; industry performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIRD.2011.040528

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 2011 Vol.3 No.3/4, pp.305 - 323

Published online: 29 Nov 2014 *

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