The role of policy in an evolving regional economy - A case study of the moving media cluster in Skåne

Abstract: By studying the role of policy in the emergence of the moving media cluster in Skåne, this paper contributes to the understanding of how change in Regional Innovation Systems occurs and how it is change dependent by nature. The study shows how policy played a major role in the early stages of new path creation in the case of the moving media cluster. By assessing existing resources and competences, policy actors took the initiative to create novelty in the intersection of existing industrial sectors. Policy still plays an important role in the current evolution of the cluster, however in the role of a supporting actor rather than in the one leading the development. When analyzing the results with the theoretical framework, it reveals that a successful use of policy is based on a path dependent economic evolution and can be a tool for deliberate actions to alter future development trajectories. The role of policy is given the status of a key agent of change in the transformation of Regional Innovation Systems and through a co-evolution between institutions and the industrial structure, the economic evolution becomes place-dependent.