This article aims to analyse how innovative, individual actions influence the evolution of local industries according to three stages. When discussing the evolution of industries or economies, the concept of path dependency is often a central element. Its vague nature makes it however difficult to be used as an interpretative lens when studying the evolution of local industries. In order to limit the broad concept, several aspects have been identified for discussion; all are explicitly linked to path dependency in economic geography literature and all are acknowledged to be of significance for stimulating the evolution of local industries. Based on a review of the evolutionary economic theory literature, the following three stages have been identified: First, the entering of new knowledge which may, or may not, be the starting point for a new local industry; second, the formation of the new local industry; third, the anchoring process of the new local industry. All three stages are intertwined and include the question how the new emerging industry and the existing local structures relate to each other. The three stages will be illustrated through the discussion of the evolution of the IT industry in Linköping, Sweden.

This paper uses path dependence as an interpretive lens to examine the relationship between innovative entrepreneurship and regional development. A literature review of path dependence explains why that concept is relevant for this paper. This paper reaches four conclusions about the relationship. First, in the study of innovative entrepreneurship in a regional context, the technological, social and cognitive dimensions should be taken into consideration. Second, the effect of the different types of innovative entrepreneurship on path dependence depends on specific, regional situations. Third, the dominant regional network forms an institutional foundation that may either hinder or support innovative entrepreneurship. Fourth, innovative entrepreneurs who introduce new knowledge from outside the region are more likely to alter the regional path.

Few attempts have been made to consider the role of individual activities in path dependence. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how local entrepreneurial activities can lead to a break in the cognitive local path. The theoretical framework rests on the literature on path dependence, but focuses mainly on cognitive frames as carriers of path-dependent behaviour. A qualitative case study has been used to analyse the formation and breaking of a local cognitive path through individual activities. Four main conclusions can be drawn. First, cognitive paradigms explain why the degree of adaptability differs between locations. Second, external shocks are translated to local change through individual activities. Third, acknowledging cognitive barriers to individual behaviour, the important role of outsiders is highlighted for breaking the cognitive path. Fourth, the long durability of cognitive paradigms and the importance of outsiders suggest the emergence of a parallel, alternative cognitive path.

This paper examines how an industrial legacy leads to the formation of a distinct local culture and how the culture’s survival provides a context for the subsequent entrepreneurial activities in new local industries. The discussion about culture as a key driver of entrepreneurship and economic growth is well established in the academic debate. However, we know little about how culture is formed. Through a qualitative case study of two polar Swedish cities, the study highlights four key factors which are instrumental in the formation of local culture: initial conditions, characteristics of key players, network activities and composition of newcomers. We show how the local entrepreneurs responded to the underlying assumptions of the two different cultures.