Dense cooperative networks breed three distinct kinds of regional lock-in

Evidence

Functional lock-in means that close cooperation within strongly tied networks impedes contacts with other regions. Future trends that occur outside these networks may be overlooked, with external resources poorly identified and used. Cognitive lock-in means that personal relations lead to shared common ideas, feelings and beliefs that prevent the adoption of new ideas. Political lock-in describes situations where historical trajectories of economic development are maintained by cooperative relations between regional actors which are then unable to see and adopt new ways of thinking and policy-making. Generally, it can be assumed that breakthroughs are difficult to achieve in the case of existing institutional thickness and established, distinct economic structures within a certain region. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 915

Categorization

• DEFINE: A clean, portable taxonomy: functional, cognitive, and political lock-in, each with its own mechanism.
• XREF: Grabher’s cognitive/functional/political lock-in pairs well with the book’s earlier QWERTY and path-dependence material as the institutional counterpart to technological lock-in.