Exploring agency–structure dynamics in green path development: evidence from the emerging battery industries in Arendal and Gothenburg
本文研究了瑞典哥德堡和挪威阿伦达尔两个地区新兴电池产业中，企业能动性与系统结构之间的互动关系，发现企业层面和系统层面的能动性有时会融合形成“联盟能动性”，推动绿色路径发展。
The paper investigates agency – structure dynamics in green regional industrial path development in contrasting regional innovation systems (RISs). Empirically, the article draws from the emerging battery industries in the thick and diversified RIS of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the thick and specialised RIS of Arendal, Norway. Following a path tracing method, the paper highlights how Volvo Cars played a key role in initiating a battery partnership with Northvolt in Gothenburg. In contrast, the emergence of the battery industry in Arendal relied more on system-level agency and institutional support. Furthermore, the article demonstrates that the distinction between firm- and system-level agency in green path development processes may be blurry. Actors at both levels sometimes merged their actions and pursued shared objectives from a unified platform. We call this merger of firm- and system-level agency ‘coalition agency’ and identify it as a key driver of green path development in the two cases.