The paradox of ‘on-path’ development: what are the structure–agency dynamics of avoiding negative lock-in?

Abstract A fundamental concern for entrepreneurial ecosystems, industrial districts, clusters, regional innovation systems and other types of industrial pathways is the (in)ability to avoid or resolve potential negative lock-ins and continue ‘on-path’ development, making the question of how to avoid such negative lock-ins critical for local and regional development. Reworking path-dependent lock-in through a critical realist perspective on opportunity spaces, this paper investigates how actors (re)produce system institutional configurations that both structure path dynamics and facilitate the trinity of change agency required to overcome potential negative lock-ins. The findings raise important questions for how system-level agency such as place-based leadership and institutional entrepreneurship is conceptualised through structure–agency dynamics in evolutionary economic geography.