Balancing spatial equalities by place-based inclusive innovation policy: the cases of Israel and Korea

Abstract While innovation-led economies enjoy significant growth rates, they often suffer from rising social inequities. Inclusive innovation policies are government interventions designed to address such inequities, including place-based ones. Because place-based inclusive innovation could have differential effects related to different spatial levels—for example increasing inter-regional but reducing intra-regional equity simultaneously—the impact of innovation-driven place-based policies on three spatial levels should be considered: international, inter-regional, and intra-regional. Furthermore, we contend that to achieve “balanced equalities”—that is to improve equity on both inter- and intra-regional spatial levels—it is necessary to consider not just social equity, but also economic and political perspectives. From a policy standpoint, advancing this goal requires answering the questions of where governments should invest and what to invest in. Employing Israel and South Korea as illustrative case studies, we show that focusing the government’s innovation investment on large, yet peripheral, cities and balanced investment in firms and people are plausible answers to these questions.