ABSTRACT
The strategy of diversification goes hand in hand with theories of economic development (Rodrik, 2014). This literature stream addresses several strategies for economic restructuring at the national level including product space (Hidalgo et al., 2007; Hausman et al., 2011), and smart specialisation (Foray, 2015). Although the product space approach is applicable for emerging economies, its mechanism seems not to be able to explain growth in some advanced economies where firm R&D investments are crucial for growth. The smart specialisation strategy, however, explains the basic mechanism of economic growth through the entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP), where entrepreneurs are drawn from the realms of science, policy and the economy. Accordingly, the current chapter discusses the ambidextrous capability of firms to simultaneously explore and exploit as a competency crucial for innovators to survive technological change and to boost economic growth. Norway serves as a case in point to analyse how government can use the smart specialisation strategy and the EDP to foster economic restructuring by moving beyond the related variety approach and facilitating ambidexterity in firms. This means connecting micro level (innovation actors) and macro level (innovation policies) to promote economic restructuring.
