Path interdependence and Resilience : a case study of photonics in Wales By :

In response to an economic shock, regional paths can adapt in a number of ways, including co-evolution of paths, or path interdependence. According to recent research by Cooke (2010; 2011), examples of this path interdependence abound in the field of eco-innovation, particularly between unlikely collaborators including automotive engineering to biofuels, or milk coolers to wind turbines. The emergence of ‘unlikely collaborators’, and the emphasis on connectivity and innovation, suggest that this path interdependence could be viewed using a complex adaptive systems approach. Using data collected in 2012 through semistructured interviews with firms in the photonics cluster in the North Wales region, this paper focuses on understanding what prompts path interdependence and how this interdependence occurs. The findings point to an evolution of the firms in the photonics cluster branching into solar energy with cross-sectoral collaboration between regional solar energy firms and steel firms that produced an innovation through preadaptation. The photonics firms are altering their growth paths but the cause of this change cannot be solely linked to one specific shock. These findings have implications for both resilience theory as well as the policy debate relating to the role of regional governance in facilitating adaptation. Introduction The concept of resilience has become increasingly prominent in economic geography and regional studies as regional economies and societies struggle to respond and adapt to shocks and change. The concept is developing particular traction within evolutionary economic geography (EEG) where it resonates strongly with non-equilibrium and pathdependent notions of adaptive change (Martin, 2012). Indeed much recent work within EEG views the economic landscape as a ‘complex adaptive system’ (Martin and Sunley, 2006; p. 573) and asserts that major shocks exert a formative influence over how this landscape evolves and changes over time (Boschma and Martin, 2010; Simmie and Martin, 2010; Martin, 2012). This approach to economic change rejects neo-classical inspired notions of adjustment mechanisms towards any notion of equilibrium (Dawley et al, 2010). Instead in EEG, resilience is defined as the adaptive capacity of a local or regional economy or ‘the ability of the region’s industrial technological, labour force and institutional structures to adapt to the changing competitive, technological and market pressures and opportunities that confront its firms and workforce’ (Simmie and Martin, 2010; p. 30). Much of the emerging debate within EEG around resilience focuses upon the causal concepts of adaptation – the ability to respond to an economic shock with a movement back towards a pre-conceived development path, and adaptability – where a different kind of