Mission-oriented innovation policy: effects on regions and implications for place-based policy

The Entrepreneurial State has provided a powerful framework to consider how industrial policy can be shaped, particularly as it relates to innovation. Popularised by Mariana Mazzucato (2013, 2018, 2021), this perspective challenges the conventional view of the state as merely a market fixer that only responds to market failures to instead argue that governments have historically been — and must continue to be — a proactive agent in shaping and creating markets. Mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP) has emerged as a key instrument of this entrepreneurial role, wherein the state articulates bold goals to mobilise public and private actors towards solving complex societal challenges, such as climate change, public health crises and digital transformation (Larrue, 2021). This represents what scholars have identified as ‘third generation’ innovation policy, moving beyond market failure correction, or a broader focus on engaging systems of innovation, towards active market creation and system transformation (Diercks et al., 2019; Wanzenböck et al., 2020). The popularity of MOIP stems from its ability to mobilise science, technology and innovation towards solving urgent and complex societal challenges. Unlike traditional, more diffuse innovation policies, strategic objective, defined as missions, guide public investment and coordinate across sectors. The European Union (EU)’s Horizon Europe programme, Germany's High-Tech Strategy and the United States’ CHIPS and Science Act, all signal a resurgence of public purpose in industrial policy (Larrue, 2021; U.S. Congress, 2022). These initiatives reflect a paradigmatic shift from passive government support of science and technology to active, problem-driven intervention (Foray et al., 2012). The adoption of missions by regional and city authorities, either as translations of national MOIP objectives (Larrue, 2021; Mazzucato, 2021) and sometimes as independent policy frameworks, warrants closer attention. Emerging studies show that subnational governments are increasingly using mission-oriented approaches to address locally salient challenges, from climate adaptation to inclusive growth, sometimes in alignment with national priorities and sometimes in deliberate divergence (Barca, 2009; Foray, 2018; Kattel and Mazzucato, 2018). This raises questions about cross-scale alignment, institutional capacity and the role of place-based experimentation in reshaping mission design. The rapid diffusion of the MOIP concept risks rhetorical overuse unless accompanied by rigorous conceptual unpacking and greater operational clarity (Schot and Steinmueller, 2018). Integrating a critical perspective could enrich the analysis of MOIP's multi-scalar dynamics and help realise its potential. Limited attention has been paid to how these ambitious mission agendas impact regions — the specific places where innovation activities are conducted, institutions are embedded, societal challenges are felt and social outcomes unfold. MOIPs are not spatially neutral endeavours but ‘deeply embedded in, and shaped by, the places where they unfold’ (Uyarra et al., 2025b, 8). There is growing awareness that societal challenges manifest themselves differently across various geographical contexts, and that regional economies differ widely in their capacity to respond to and benefit from mission-oriented policies (Coenen et al., 2015; Hansen and Coenen, 2015; McCann and Soete, 2020; Uyarra et al., 2025a). Disparities in industrial composition, research infrastructure, human capital and institutional readiness mean that some places are better positioned than others to align with mission objectives and attract associated resources (Rodríguez-Pose, 2018; Trippl et al., 2020). The MOIP bias towards global problems and solutions can also mean that the challenges of implementing public policies involve the coordination of multiple tiers of governance. A more grounded understanding of how missions are received, interpreted and implemented at the regional level is therefore critical for both policy design, implementation and evaluation. This issue explores the implications of MOIP for regional development, drawing on theory, empirical research and case studies to examine how national missions are translated into local action. It seeks to bridge the gap between high-level mission frameworks and the regional institutions that are vital for their success, highlighting both opportunities and risks in the evolving relationship between place and purpose in innovation policy. An initial definition of mission-orientated policy was provided by (Ergas, 1987: p.16) as “big science to be deployed to meet big problems”. Mission orientated policies were charcateristic of countries engaged in the search for international leadership, and in which defence expenditure dominated a large share of government expenditure on R Uyarra et al., ambitious, defined missions, MOIP systemic change, and socio-technical systems to support towards and social (Schot and Steinmueller, 2018). the of these missions on their to regional the is in its it to that local industrial and all the capacity to national or global objectives into outcomes and 2018; 2020). recent studies of local of missions to this et al., 2022). widely in their innovation with in research infrastructure, human capital and institutional readiness their ability to with mission objectives et al., Trippl et al., 2020). 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