Legitimation dynamics in industrial path development: new-to-the-world versus new-to-the-region industries

While economic geography has contributed deep insights into the knowledge-related determinants of industry emergence, less is known about the legitimacy that people confer to the new industries. Based on a comparative case study in the potable water reuse industry (California, United States) and the video games industry (Hamburg, Germany), this article explores the legitimation dynamics in regional industrial path development. We elaborate on how system-building/reconfiguration and institutional work processes differ between industries that are new-to-the-world versus new-to-the-region. Our framework contributes to specifying the embedded agency that supports legitimation and thus path development in these two distinct industry formation trajectories.

Automated summary

Through a comparative case study of the potable water reuse industry in California and the video games industry in Hamburg, this article explores the dynamics of legitimation in regional industrial path development. The study elaborates on the differences in system-building/reconfiguration and institutional work processes between new-to-the-world and new-to-the-region industries. The framework contributes to understanding the embedded agency that supports legitimation and path development in distinct industry formation trajectories.