ABSTRACT
Entrepreneurial discovery is a key element in the Smart Specialization policy concept (Foray 2009, McCann and Ortega-Argiles, 2016). It is advanced as a main mechanism, or driving force, through which development is instigated, and it is motivated with reference to Schumpeterian ideas of recombinations of local resources for innovation (Schumpeter 1912, Frenken and Boschma 2007). Smart specialization is meant to develop regional economies by stimulating diversification and expansion of industry. This involves entrepreneurship and scaling up of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through experimentation, for example by entering new market niches, as well as embeddedness in (global) value chains.
