Coastal Regions As Innovation Gateways: the New Industrialization Development Trajectory
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Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 240 2nd International Scientific Conference on New Industrialization: Global, National, Regional Dimension (SICNI 2018) Coastal regions as innovation gateways: the new industrialization development trajectory Andrey S. Mikhaylov Anna A. Mikhaylova Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI” Kaliningrad, Russia Saint-Petersburg, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5155-2628 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6807-6074 Oksana V. Savchina Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, Russian Federation https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3568-576X Abstract—Coastal regions are conceived as innovation The coastalization effect that has been present for gateways. Being open to the world the territories adjacent to centuries resulted in hyper-concentration of human activity marine and ocean coasts absorb latest trends in technologies, along the coast. According to [3] the settlements of the coastal techniques, business models, and other advancements. The full zone exceed the global average numbers threefold and are spectrum of innovative solutions are transmitted upcountry after expected to increase. Researchers estimate that before 2040 being assimilated with respect to regional and national over three-quarter of world population will live within 100 km legislation, business culture, available resources, market of a coast [4-6]. Along with population, the coastal zone expectations and other particularities of the territorial features an exponential increase in infrastructure density [7]. community. Exclave position of a region imposes restrictions to The urban sprawl within 200 km wide coastal lowlands is the process of knowledge and innovation diffusion, resulting from both its spatial isolation and differences in properties of the observed worldwide [8; 9]. Similar trend is found in southern regional innovation system from the national innovation system Europe [10]. domain. The study focuses on new industrialization of the Reverse dynamics is often registered in outlying Kaliningrad region, which by the end of 1991 during perestroika border regions, especially those developing under the became an isolated part of Russia – the enclave on the Baltic Sea. alienation or co-existence scenarios [11]. Borderlands are The paper provides an in-depth case study on regional innovation characterized as economic outskirts dominated by low-tech system dynamics of the Kaliningrad region. The study concludes production facilities [12]. Despite numerous opportunities that with policy implications on resetting the innovation gateway role emerge from neighboring location (e.g. customs-related of the region activities), many frontier areas suffer from volatile geopolitics, limited access to resources, missing or underdeveloped Keywords—innovation; coastal region; coastalization; exclave infrastructure, largely due to predomination of a barrier region; Kaliningrad region function of the border [13]. Coastal borderland regions can be seen as areas of opportunities and insecurity featuring the I. INTRODUCTION potential for cooperation and conflict. The objective of this study is to determine the new National innovation system constitutes of a mosaic of (post)industrialization dynamics of a coastal border region. territorial innovation ecosystems, each featuring a unique set The study is grounded on evaluating the innovation activity of of competences and an individual profile that has formed over a coastal enclave – the territory that would display the external time. Their roles within the general open innovation process influence over the local innovation environment at its extreme. differ as regional actors are subjected to distinct contextual The study case is the Kaliningrad region – the territory that factors affecting their development trajectories. Geoeconomic became part of the Soviet Union after World War II and found position of a region largely predefines its status, ranging from itself in the position of the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea a core to periphery. Whereas attribution of a region to a in the 1991. The resource limitations of the region’s economy certain type is rather subjective and depends on the assessment against the background of its isolation from the Russia’s methodology being used, the general worldwide pattern mainland and strained geopolitical relations force the suggests that coastal regions exhibit higher values in socio- Kaliningrad region to seek new approaches to self- economic and innovative development [1; 2]. development, perforce, balancing between the roles of ‘development corridor’ and ‘double periphery’, with an ever Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). 605 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 240 clearer understanding of the need to protect its innovation planning and the overall stability of the regional innovation security. system, thus, hampering post-industrialization. In the next section, we review background studies on Kaliningrad region with a focus on its strategic development. III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Section 3 provides an in-depth case study on the evolution of The study is based on an in-depth analysis of the the regional innovation system of the Kaliningrad region. regional innovation system of the Kaliningrad region. The Section 4 closes the paper with some discussion and official data of the Statistical Office of the Kaliningrad region conclusions. (Kaliningradstat) and the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) are used. The research period is II. LITERATURE REVIEW 2000-2015, with individual indicators focusing on 2006-2015 The Kaliningrad region is often described as ‘double period. periphery’ [14] or ‘double borderland’ [15]. Exclave position Indicators used are: The share of enterprises engaged of the region implies geographical isolation from the main in innovation activity, The volume of private expenditure on territory of the country and emphasizes the importance of technological innovations (million rubles), The volume of cross-border cooperation and integration for overcoming innovative products, works and services registered (million bilateral alienation (e.g. socio-cultural, economic, scientific rubles), The share of innovative products, works and services and technological). The breakthrough in the intensification of in the total production volume, The share of high-tech and cross-border activity was the implementation of the agreement knowledge-intensive industries in the gross regional product on Small Border Traffic (SBT) zone between the Republic of (GRP), The volume of commercial exchange of technologies Poland and the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation with foreign counterparts. in 2012. This agreement allowed residents of the borderland to A comparative assessment is undertaken threefold: undertake visa-free multiple border crossings in order to firstly, by type of innovation activity: new product maintain public, cultural or family contacts for a period of a development; industrial design; acquisition of machinery and one-time stay for no longer than 30 days. It changed the equipment related to technological innovation; acquisition of blockade function of the border and reduced the social and new technologies; acquisition of software; other preproduction functional distance between Poland and Kaliningrad [16]. At activities; training of innovation related staff; marketing present, this regime has ceased to exist, but along with other research; other expenditure on technological innovation; measures it enabled promote entrepreneurship and cross- secondly, by economy sector: industrial production; services; border activity, and to recreate a network of new socio- thirdly, by national and federal district average values. economic links in place of those lost in the 1990s. Another perspective on the Kaliningrad region is IV. THE CASE OF KALININGRAD REGION from defining it as semi-enclave, focusing on the competitive The market and geographical conditions force the advantage of the Baltic Sea and the marine infrastructure. companies of the Kaliningrad region to be in competitive Kaliningrad has the only ice-free port in Russia on the Baltic relations not only between themselves but also with Sea. This provides an excellent opportunity for fishing and companies from other Russian regions and from abroad, trade. The most important institutional decision in utilizing the mainly the Baltic States and Poland. The most important marine advantage was the implementation of the Free factor for long-term competitiveness is innovation, the Economic Zone (FEZ) regime in 1991, which by 1996 introduction and generation of which creates the basis for transformed into the status of Special Economic Zone (SEZ). increasing the companies’ comparative advantage in At present, the special legal regime for conducting economic, competition. Evaluation of innovation activity of economic industrial, investment and other activities in the Kaliningrad entities in the Kaliningrad region in the last decade has region has been extended until April 1, 2031. The basic idea demonstrated a decline in the interest of regional businesses in behind SEZ regime is to provide a limited added value to the innovation. While in 2006 14.1% of all organizations in the products shipped (reimported)