Growth poles and reconversion of industrial territories in a new market economy: A study applied to the case of the economy of Gdansk (Poland).

Summary Since economic liberalization, the growth poles built under state supervision have undergone major institutional and organizational transformations in centrally planned countries. The new forms of industrial organization, which are at the origin of these transformations, give priority to territorial logics. Local economies, underestimated during the centrally planned economy, have become priority areas for the application of economic policy. In this context, work on industrial districts, innovative environments, and clusters is regaining interest. On the other hand, the question of the conversion of growth poles through economic liberalization remains largely unexplored in terms of its impact on the development of innovation in the former centrally planned countries. The impact of economic liberalization in centrally planned countries is manifested in the new practices of cooperation, sharing and collective action that are part of the "new" market economy. The resulting convergence of public and private interests and the emergence of collective learning play an essential role in the development of innovation. Theoretical studies on growth poles do not take these transformations into consideration, and remain focused on the role of the driving industries that are able to drive the other components of the productive system thanks to their size or productivity. However, the economic reality approves of the fact that the growth poles have been transformed by relying on the articulation between the various local actors, specific local resources, relationships developed on and off the market and the implementation of innovation. To describe the innovative capacities of local actors, we propose a concept of the territorialized innovation system. From this analysis, the interest of targeting the study on a particular growth pole stems. The economic history, the implementation of the new local economic policy (after 1989), the choices made by local authorities, the notable though emerging growth of the high-tech sector and the absence of previous studies on this issue are all factors that make the Gdansk region an interesting case to analyze the extent to which economic liberalization has been an incentive for the development of innovation in its territory. To this end, we analyze the innovation potential of the Gdansk region that is being forged during the establishment of the market economy in Poland, first through a statistical analysis of the Gdansk economy since the end of the Second World War to give an overview of the initial set of conditions. Then, through the study of survey data conducted by the National Statistical Office (GUS), which we mobilize to complete our analysis and present the innovation potential of the Gdansk region. The empirical analysis shows that liberalization has contributed to the development of innovation in the Gdansk region, firstly by promoting the accumulation of secondary assets, secondly by improving its scientific and technical potential, and thirdly by encouraging the emergence of innovative companies. The latter are the result of a process of creative destruction that has allowed the renewal of the local productive fabric. All the results allow us to approve that the Gdansk region, during its reconversion, has undergone institutional, economic and social changes that have transformed it into a territorialized innovation system. This system is the result of the articulation between the action of local authorities and the activities of private actors likely to innovate.