Michał Męczyński (p)

Renato Garcia

The green transformation and technological development are key drivers of efforts to mitigate global warming, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution. However, the transition to a new energy paradigm—based on innovative green energy solutions—creates both opportunities and uncertainties for the future development of many old industrial regions, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
Silesia and Eastern Greater Poland exemplify such regions; despite differences in size and industrial heritage, both face similar challenges related to green transformation. This paper examines the green transformation processes in these regions and their attempts to escape from traditional industries lock-in. A key focus is on the adoption of eco-innovations (EIs) by regional enterprises, especially those that generate environmental benefits in manufacturing, such as reduced energy consumption, lower CO₂ emissions, and increased use of renewable energy sources.
The study explores the roles of resources, capabilities, public policy, and stakeholder influence in implementing EIs within industrial companies across the two regions. The research aims to identify key similarities and differences in how old industrial regions escape traditional industries lock-in, using the green transformation of Silesia and Eastern Greater Poland as case studies.

Renato Garcia (p), Mauricio Serra , Suelene Mascarini, Caio Cezar Fernandes

Yihan Wang

One of the central topics in economic geography is understanding why some regions grow faster while others struggle to sustain economic prosperity and well-being. Studies on regional performance indicate persistent variations in economic growth, productivity, employment, and innovation. In Europe, research has identified “development clubs”, where regions experience divergent growth trajectories, with middle-income regions often facing stagnation. A similar pattern is observed in developing countries, where some regions achieve sustained growth while others remain trapped in low or middle-income stagnation. The notion of middle-income traps at the national level describes economies that transition from low- to middle-income but fail to progress further. When applied to subnational regions, this concept requires adaptations, as developing regions are often trapped at lower GDP per capita levels than their European counterparts. These traps manifest through long-term income decline, weak productivity gains, and employment stagnation. Moreover, policy efforts tend to focus on dynamic regions, neglecting those at risk.
This paper introduces the Regional Development Trap Index (RDT) for Brazil, adapting the development trap framework to subnational regions. Following Diemer et al. (2022), we construct a synthetic indicator of regional economic dynamism, considering productivity, employment, and income trends over time. Our findings reveal significant regional disparities, shaped by historical, structural, and institutional factors. The study covers a period of economic growth (2002–2014) followed by crisis and stagnation (2014–2020), demonstrating uneven regional impacts.
Results show that highly industrialized regions are at high risk of falling into development traps, while low-income areas also face significant risks. The geographic concentration of these risks suggests spatial dependence on regional economic stagnation. Between 2014 and 2022, shifts in regions most vulnerable to development traps indicate a procyclical behavior influenced by economic downturns. Notably, central Brazilian regions, major agricultural exporters, showed resilience due to their integration into global commodity markets. Their economic performance remained stable despite national economic slowdowns, reducing their exposure to development traps. In conclusion, the risk of regional development traps in Brazil is driven by economic, social, and institutional factors, deeply tied to historical path dependencies. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive understanding of the structural determinants shaping regional trajectories, paving the way for targeted policies to mitigate long-term stagnation risks.

Yihan Wang (p), Sébastien Bourdin (p), Ekaterina Turkina

Michał Męczyński

The establishment of regional innovation ecosystems involving interdependent stakeholders (e.g., multinational enterprises, innovative startups, universities, R&D centers, incubators, accelerators, government bodies, financial institutions, and civil society organizations) contributes to a region’s economic growth and industrial competitiveness . In this configuration, the innovation intermediaries, which are the public or private entities that facilitate and support inter-organizational collaboration among stakeholders, play a vital role in the governance of regional innovation ecosystems. By organizing social events and innovation projects in designated places and spaces, the innovation intermediaries create a “middleground” within the complex network structure of the regional innovation ecosystem where “upperground” formal organizations (e.g., enterprises, government bodies, universities, and R&D organizations) and “underground” creative individuals can connect. In turn, connected stakeholders can achieve network-based competitive advantages thanks to the middleground intermediation.
This study examines how affiliation with middleground associations impacts stakeholders’ network embeddedness in regional innovation ecosystems and explores mechanisms for achieving network-based advantages, including (1) relational embeddedness, which arises from having direct and cohesive ties that enhance trust and information sharing (Granovetter, 1973; Gulati, 1998), and (2) structural embeddedness, which stems from a stakeholder having a strategic position in the broader network that enables them to broker knowledge flows and bridge structural holes (Burt, 1992; Gulati & Gargiulo, 1999). We analyze co-participation in social events and innovation projects to assess how stakeholders leverage their broker roles to gain competitive advantages and evaluate their proximity to the core of the network. Furthermore, we explore whether foreign affiliates have higher levels of network embeddedness than domestic affiliates and examine whether foreign stakeholders face “liability of outsidership” (Johanson & Vahlne, 2009).
To test these hypotheses, we analyzed the two-mode network of stakeholders and events in the BioQuébec pharmaceutical cluster in Canada. We determined the degree of relational and structural embeddedness of both middleground affiliates and non-affiliates and assessed the moderating effect of foreignness. Finally, we discuss the strategic implications for business managers and propose policy recommendations for regional innovation intermediaries and government bodies to enhance stakeholder integration and cluster performance.