Beyond ‘periphery’: a detailed and nuanced taxonomy of the Norwegian regions

Abstract

Increasing attention is being paid towards the influence of regional contexts on innovation activities within regional development studies. Some of the literature in economic geography tends to consider the various peripheral areas as being homogenous and partly characterized by their remote location, weak innovation inputs and lack of knowledge exchange. This paper questions this approach by examining the role of innovation activities in peripheral regions. We offer a detailed and multifaceted taxonomy of the Norwegian economic regions. From an empirical viewpoint, the adoption of cluster analysis and a broad set of innovation, economic and territorial indicators allowed us to provide a nuanced picture of the current fabric of Norwegian innovation and economic-production. With the benefit of insights from relevant strands of literature (e.g. regional development, innovation systems and multi-scalar innovation networks), the case of Norway presented in our paper contributes to the scholarly debate on the role of structural preconditions for the innovation of firms in diverse peripheral areas.