Government-affiliated intermediary organisations as actors in system-level transitions

The article draws from two theoretical fields, innovation intermediation and sustainability transitions, to examine the role of government-affiliated intermediary organisations in system-level transitions. The role of intermediaries working between actors – producers and users, entrepreneurs and adopters, idea generators and funders – has seldom been specifically addressed in the transitions literature. Thus, the role of intermediary organisations in enacting change in socio-technical regimes, particularly of intermediaries falling between traditional public sector and private sector actors, is of interest in this article. Empirical analyses of two Finnish organisations, Sitra and Motiva, show that government-affiliated intermediaries are likely to engage in strategic niche management processes in diverse ways, each organisation having its own distinct characteristics. The analysis also points out that to get from niches to transition, sustained systemic intermediaries are crucial in articulating new visions and expectations. Government-affiliated intermediaries may make an important contribution to sustainability transitions by initiating and managing new policy or market processes and by acting as an impartial contact point or voice for new networks of actors. While independence from public administration is likely to facilitate networking, too neutral a stance or limited temporal engagement may reduce the transition-facilitating effects.     

Mapping and navigating transitions—The multi-level perspective compared with arenas of development

Transitions of socio-technical systems imply the reconfiguration of institutions and politics making made evident the need to understand and intervene in existing patterns of growth and socio-technical practices in more sustainable directions. In recent decades, theories of transitions have been introduced, which include the multi-level approach indicating ways to govern transitions through understanding the interactions between niches, regimes and landscapes. An alternative approach is suggested, which takes its outset in arenas of development and increased awareness of actors and their way of interpreting context and performing interventions.Building on three cases covering aspects of transitions since the 1970s, the article compares the two approaches based on three concerns in relation to transition studies. The first concern reflects that conflicts are important elements of change helping actors to navigate. The second concern builds on the observation that actors engage at all levels in society including visions, institutions, and innovations. The third concern addresses the role of academic theories and advice regarding governance of transition processes in which they function as entrenched actors.The article ends by emphasising the need to help actors navigate in a field in flux. The study of arenas of development may help interpret transitions in the making, and provide a background of information about how different actors can navigate and perform strategic interventions that support sustainable transitions.     

Structure reconsidered: Towards new foundations of explanatory transitions theory

The most prominent framework for studying socio-technical transitions to date is the multi-level perspective (MLP). While appreciated for its flexibility and usefulness for studying socio-technical transitions it has not been without its critics. In this paper we focus on the ontological foundations of the MLP and its (in)ability to explain transitions and how they come about. The purpose is to initiate development of an explanatory theory for socio-technical transitions, by carrying out an immanent critique of the ontological foundations of the MLP together with a methodological critique. We show that the ontological foundations of the MLP to a large extent inhibits explanatory capacity. The argument is fourfold: since structure and agency are understood as inseparable, (i) the causal influence of material properties are undervalued, and (ii) different degrees of structural constraint and freedom of actors are ignored. As a consequence (iii) transitions are reduced to shifts in the maturity and spread of socio-cognitive rules, without analysis of systemic change. Moreover, (iv) mechanisms are reduced to recurring patterns of events which cannot explain why some transitions fail while others succeed. To remedy these limitations we outline alternative critical realist foundations for transitions theory.     

Uncovering the link between governance as an innovation process and socio-economic regime transition in cities

A major proportion of the world’s population will be located in cities by 2030. With cities globally facing challenges due to the social exclusion of significant proportions of their populace, new thinking is needed on ways to correlate the competing socio-economic goals of various actors. This study sought to uncover the link between governance in cities as an innovation process and socio-economic regime transition towards a more equitable urban society. To do so, we draw on transition management thinking to consider urban regime transitions evolving in a temporal and incremental manner and in a multi-level context. We sought expansion from a delimited focus on socio-technical regimes in transition management literature to incorporate the notion of urban socio-economic regimes. This involved integrating aspects of reflexive governance and politics in a city context with a basic ontology of complex social systems and their evolutionary dynamics that underlies transition management approaches. Our focus is on learning by doing and experimentation as well as participation of citizens with other key city actors in a radically new process of mutual learning that creates social inclusion. The juxtaposition of national, city and community level interactions and their impact on socio-economic regime transition brings into sharp relief the issue of spatial scale and a lack of consideration in transition approaches generally. The study findings reveal a spatial orientation for creating new urban forms of reflexive governance as an innovation process taking place in transition arenas that can trigger new pathways to socio-economic change.     

Blinded by the sun: The role of prosumers as niche actors in incumbent firms’ adoption of solar power during sustainability transitions

While extant research discusses how niche innovations develop in protected market niches and trigger regime shifts along sustainability transition pathways, we know less about the direct role of different niche actors as competitors in affecting regime incumbents’ investments in niche innovations. This study addresses this gap and builds on Strategic Niche Management and the Multi-level Perspective to distinguish two different niche actors: prosumers on the demand-side applying a niche innovation in a disruptive way to regime incumbents’ business model, and new entrants on the supply-side applying the niche innovation symbiotically with the regime. We examine incumbent responses to these different niche actors in different competitive and policy environments. Studying the United States’ electricity industry's sustainability transition toward solar from 2010-2017, we find that as more niche actors enter, regime incumbents are more likely to invest in the niche innovation, but the effect is influenced by policy and competitiveness of the environment. In competitive environments, incumbents are more likely to respond to disruptive niche actors (prosumers), while in traditional monopoly-like markets they are more likely to respond to symbiotic niche actors. We also find that the prosumer effect is stronger when the time that policies in support of the niche innovation have existed is shorter, indicating a potential substituting relationship of niche actors and policy. Our work contributes to the extant literature by demonstrating that the interplay between different niche actors needs to be understood within the context of policy, and that considering policy without accounting for the competitive environment may omit an important aspect of how regime actors become active participants in sustainability transitions.     

Causality and explanation in socio-technical transitions research: Mobilising epistemological insights from the wider social sciences

In response to criticisms about the status of causal explanation in socio-technical transitions research, this article elaborates the epistemological underpinnings of this emerging research field, mobilising insights from the wider social sciences where foundational debates have started to transform the understanding of causality and explanation. The article shows that socio-technical transitions are a special kind of research topic with phenomenological characteristics that pose challenges for mainstream explanatory formats and therefore warrant particular approaches to causality and explanation. It first discusses three philosophical positions on causality and explanation (positivism, pragmatism, critical realism), and concludes that critical realism is most suited to address phenomenological characteristics of socio-technical transitions. Elaborating the critical realist approach, the article then discusses the relevance of complex causalities (especially conjunctural, configurational, and event-chain causality) for explaining transitions and how existing transition frameworks (MLP, TIS, SNM) can improve their use of these causalities. The article subsequently discusses the role of theories in explanations (including heuristic roles), and the relevance of conceptual frameworks, causal mechanisms, process tracing and narrative explanation in socio-technical transitions research. Theoretical and methodological suggestions for improving transition research are provided throughout.     

Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies

There has been an increasing interest in science, technology and innovation policy studies in the topic of policy mixes. While earlier studies conceptualised policy mixes mainly in terms of combinations of instruments to support innovation, more recent literature extends the focus to how policy mixes can foster sustainability transitions. For this, broader policy mix conceptualisations have emerged which also include considerations of policy goals and policy strategies; policy mix characteristics such as consistency, coherence, credibility and comprehensiveness; as well as policy making and implementation processes. It is these broader conceptualisations of policy mixes which are the subject of the special issue introduced in this article. We aim at supporting the emergence of a new strand of interdisciplinary social science research on policy mixes which combines approaches, methods and insights from innovation and policy studies to further such broader policy mix research with a specific focus on fostering sustainability transitions. In this article we introduce this topic and present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on policy mixes in both fields as well as their emerging connections. We also introduce five major themes in the policy mix literature and summarise the contributions made by the articles in the special issue to these: methodological advances; policy making and implementation; actors and agency; evaluating policy mixes; and the co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems. We conclude by summarising key insights for policy making.     

Global socio-technical regimes

This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions follow similar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different regions and countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies’ socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative ‘global’ regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities, which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography, we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional rationalities that are diffused via international networks and thus become influential in various places around the world. In so doing, we shed light on the multi-scalar interrelatedness of institutional structures and actors in socio-technical systems and elaborate on the implications for the conceptualization of transition dynamics. The paper illustrates this with the case study of an unsuccessful transition in the Chinese wastewater sector. Recent studies indicate that key decisions on wastewater infrastructure expansion were not only influenced by path-dependencies stemming from China’s national context, but equally (or even more critically) by the dominant rationality of the water sector’s global socio-technical regime. We conclude by discussing the contours of a new research agenda around the notion of global socio-technical regimes.     

社会-技术范式视角下的低碳转型

透过社会-技术范式视角,低碳转型是一个打破高碳锁定、从高碳的社会-技术范式向低碳的社会-技术范式转型的过程。这一过程是多要素参与、复杂、动态和长周期的。从多层视角来看,转型过程离不开三个层面的相互作用：利基（niche）培育了破坏式低碳创新,使之成为推动范式更迭的内在动量;地景（landscape）对高碳社会-技术范式施加压力,为低碳创新的成长提供了机会之窗;最终原先主导的高碳社会-技术范式瓦解,高碳“锁定”被打破,新的动态稳定的低碳社会-技术范式形成。中国汽车低碳交通转型的案例,说明了社会-技术范式及多层视角对上述复杂和不确定性过程进行认知和分析时的有效性。相关行动者特别是政策制定者在引导低碳转型时,需要改变相对线性的技术替代认识论立场及相应的政策手段,采用范式更替的认识论立场和转型策略。     

Motives for participation in Internet innovation intermediary platforms

Internet innovation intermediaries are the key role of an organization that affects on innovation processes and driving a potential contributor to economic development. Therefore, understanding what are the main motivations that drive the participation of users into these innovation intermediaries is increasingly relevant. This is why this paper aims to develop an understanding on this matter with UTAUT framework in order to examine the effects of major factors on behavioral intention and actual use of Internet innovation intermediaries and topic discussions. An empirical study was conducted in 10 Internet innovation intermediary platforms using a survey instrument targeting 735 respondents and mainly from China and Taiwan. The findings show that there is a significant relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behavior proving that intermediaries can influence the usage of Internet innovation intermediary platforms. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed, offering recommendations and future research directions.     

创新中介在开放式创新过程中的功能研究——以InnoCentive为例

将开放式创新过程划分为技术获取和技术利用两个阶段。开放式创新过程中参与主体所面临的阿罗信息悖论、技术买卖双方地位不对等、确认有效的信息来源、培育双边市场等问题。创新中介功能包括建立联系、提供联盟和支持服务以及提供技术服务。InnoCentive作为典型的创新中介,通过科学的机制设计和功能组合,解决了开放式创新过程中面临的问题。     

新能源汽车产业的政策保护与利基构建——基于多层次产业演化的分析

依据产业演化观点,将新能源汽车视为是在原有交通运输体系中出现的利基,探究社会技术体系的转变和产业政策的保护性作用对新能源汽车利基演化的影响。研究结果表明,在利基层次上,存在着新能源汽车技术利基向市场利基的演化过程,且技术利基宽度与市场利基宽度显著正相关。在社会技术体系层次上,一方面产业政策所形成的保护性空间有助于新能源汽车技术转化,另一方面反映社会技术转变的因素对新能源汽车利基的形成具有显著影响,其中新能源汽车产销比和废气治理投入与市场利基的形成负相关,而燃油价格、消费者购买力和基础设施建设水平与市场利基的形成正相关。据此提出根据产业演化阶段和层次设计产业政策的思路和方案。     

The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions

Understanding how policymaking processes can influence the rate and direction of socio-technical change towards sustainability is an important, yet underexplored research agenda in the field of sustainability transitions. Some studies have sought to explain how individual policy instruments can influence transitions, and the politics surrounding this process. We argue that such individual policy instruments can cause wider feedback mechanisms that influence not only their own future development, but also other instruments in the same area. Consequently, by extending the scope of analysis to that of a policy mix allows us to account for multiple policy effects on socio-technical change and resultant feedback mechanisms influencing the policy processes that underpin further policy mix change. This paper takes a first step in this regard by combining policy studies and innovation studies literatures to conceptualise the co-evolutionary dynamics of policy mixes and socio-technical systems. We focus on policy processes to help explain how policy mixes influence socio-technical change, and how changes in the socio-technical system also shape the evolution of the policy mix. To do so we draw on insights from the policy feedback literature, and propose a novel conceptual framework. The framework highlights that policy mixes aiming to foster sustainability transitions need to be designed to create incentives for beneficiaries to mobilise further support, while overcoming a number of prevailing challenges which may undermine political support over time. In the paper, we illustrate the framework using the example of the zero carbon homes policy mix in the UK. We conclude with deriving research and policy implications for analysing and designing dynamic policy mixes for sustainability transitions.     

BOP电商包容性创新案例研究——社会中介视角

从社会中介的视角出发,以遂昌县网店协会三合一综合体为案例研究对象,探讨了BOP电商实现包容性创新的内在机理。研究结果表明:聚集是促进BOP电商发展并最终实现包容性创新的关键因素;社会中介作为值得信赖的第三方,通过组织和职能的演变推动BOP电商的聚集和发展以实现包容性创新;社会中介作为电子信任平台的核心主体,通过与企业中介和技术中介的功能合作推动BOP电商的聚集和发展以实现包容性创新。本文从研究背景、研究内容和研究视角三方面对现有的包容性创新理论进行了拓展,同时对电商情境下的包容性创新活动亦具有实践指导意义。     

Agency in regime destabilization through the selection environment: The Finnish food system’s sustainability transition

The growing urgency of environmental threats combined with the slow pace of sustainability transitions has turned attention towards a better understanding of regime destabilization. Focusing excessively on niche innovations could be incumbent regimes’ diversion and resistance strategy and could reinforce the ‘business as usual’ mindset instead of contributing to system-wide changes. Historical cases of system transition have most often been used to understand the dynamics of regime destabilization. However, these insights have limitations when the focus is on ongoing transitions. Moreover, it is argued that more attention should be paid to agency and actors. Herein, regime destabilization is understood through an internally structured selection environment, implying that agency is assumed not only in variation at the niche level but also in the selection processes: (1) the selection environment is shaped by active and strategic actors and actor networks; (2) the selection environment is shaped by diverse discursive framings; and (3) the selection environment is shaped by various actors beyond the regime and even beyond the system in question. The argument is empirically tested in the case of the Finnish food system by constructing prevailing storylines in the sustainability transition. Four contrasting but partially overlapping storylines and their associated actor networks are identified. The empirical case supports the view that actors across all levels aim to influence the selection environment’s formulation with their framing of the problem and the strategic response. Thus, more attention must be paid to the content and diversity of different discursive framings in sustainability transitions.     

Assessing transitions through socio-technical configuration analysis – a methodological framework and a case study in the water sector

Classic accounts of transitions research have predominantly built on reconstructions of historical transition processes and in-depth case studies to identify and conceptualize socio-technical change. While such approaches have substantively improved our understanding of transitions, they often suffer from methodological nationalism and a lack of generalizability beyond spatial and sectoral boundaries. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology – socio-technical configuration analysis (STCA) – to map and measure socio-technical alignment processes across time and space. STCA provides a configurational and dynamic perspective on how social and technical elements get aligned into “configurations that work”, allowing for the identification of differentiated transition trajectories at and across spatial and sectoral contexts. The methodology's value is illustrated with the empirical case of an ongoing shift from centralized to more modular infrastructure configurations in the global water sector. Building on this illustration, we outline potential contributions of STCA to configurational theorizing in transition studies, sketching the contours of what we believe could become a generative epistemological approach for this field.     

Can cities shape socio-technical transitions and how would we know if they were?

This paper asks two - relatively simple - questions: can cities shape socio-technical transitions? And how would we know if they were? There are three key objectives. The first of these is to set out emerging, and in our view, convincing evidence, that large world cities have political aspirations to develop purposive and managed change in the socio-technical organisation of infrastructure networks that can be characterised as ‘systemic’ transitions. The second objective is conceptual in orientation and seeks to address how we understand transitions at the scale of the city, the role of ‘the city’ in undertaking transitions, and review both the strengths and shortcomings of the multi-level perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions in addressing this. The third objective is to identify what an urban transition would look like, and then constructs a new framework to conceptualise and research urban transitions. The paper then summarises the key aspects and implications of our argument.     

责任式创新的多过程理论框架：价值冲突转化链

转型期我国将创新驱动摆在国家发展全局的核心位置,然而技术创新过程中衍生出的责任结构错位、阶段性价值冲突等科技伦理问题亟待研究。基于责任式创新研究视角,本文首先引入建构性技术评估、价值敏感分析等社会技术价值分析方法构建价值载体,解构价值冲突的责任结构;进而从技术生态位视域重新审视责任式创新的新内涵,提出价值冲突转化链--按照价值冲突的态势将价值冲突转化的动态情境划分为价值冲突预警、价值冲突升级、价值冲突调适与价值冲突稳定四个主要阶段及其特征,构建责任式创新的多过程动态研究框架。     

Policy-mix evaluation: Governance challenges from new place-based innovation policies

The policy mix concept has become popular in innovation policy literature. It is particularly relevant for complex challenges such as sustainable industrial transitions that require joined-up interventions from different policy domains. Yet finding the right policy mix for a given challenge is strongly conditioned by the governance context in which individual policies emerge and evolve over time. In particular, the evaluation of policy mixes in a regional context is often neglected.This paper aims to deepen understanding of the interaction between governance processes and policy mix evaluation in the specific context of smart specialisation strategies. These newly popular regional innovation strategies are ideal laboratories for analysing policy mixes due to their place-based nature, their directionality, their experimental character and potential orientation towards grand societal challenges, and their complex governance context.The paper builds on the smart specialisation literature, the innovation policy and policy evaluation literature, and the literature on governance in pluralistic contexts to build a conceptual framework for analysing the governance of policy-mix evaluation. The conceptual arguments are illustrated by the Basque Country case in Spain, providing insights on the establishment of a strategic innovation policy mix evaluation process in a complex setting of institutions and actors.     

试论颠覆性技术保护空间的协同治理框架

颠覆性技术为后发国家技术突袭和弯道超车提供了抓手,探索其保护空间的协同治理框架对科技强国建设和创新治理发展具有重要意义。鉴于颠覆性技术保护空间现有研究中治理框架的不足,在社会-技术系统转型理论的基础上,通过结合三螺旋系统和政策干预多级效应,研究了颠覆性技术保护空间的多元治理主体及其互动、多层次治理过程及其政治进程、多情境协同模式及其治理结构,构建了颠覆性技术保护空间的协同治理框架,为政府和非政府主体协同应对新兴技术治理挑战提供了思路。