Heli Kurikka

Tampere University | UTA · Faculty of Management and Business

Non-metropolitan regions are considered more exposed to external shocks than their metropolitan counterparts, while having lower capacities to change. However, there is considerable variation among non-metropolitan regions. We argue that this variation can be captured theoretically by modelling the dynamic interplay between perceived and real oppor...

This paper further explores the novel concept of the opportunity space, which refers to the limits and possibilities of regional development trajectories and the idea of deliberative agency. Opportunity spaces are formed, perceived and used by individual agents or groups of agents and serve as a bridge between structure and agency. Drawing on six c...

This paper investigates the role of human agency in 40 phases of regional economic development in 12 Nordic regions over 30 years. It contributes with a theoretical framework to study agency over time and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis based on a unique dataset combining over 200 interviews, with printed and online sources, and quanti...

In this paper, we identify the patterns of change agency in peripheral regions and the forces shaping them. The following are the main research questions: (a) what are the patterns of local change agency like in peripheral regions and (b) what causes patterns of local change agency? We seek answers to these questions by carrying out a detailed anal...

The resilience of the regions, the flexibility for change, has attracted growing interest as a number of crises have disrupted the traditional logic of growth. Crises have also been found to have longer-term effects on regional development paths. However, in Finland there has been a need for more information on regional variation of resilience and...

The chapter investigates the organizational resilience of the regional higher education institutions (RHEIs) located in the peripheries of Estonia and Finland, focusing on two case studies: Kuressaare College, Estonia and the University Consortium of Seinäjoki, Finland. The aim is to explore the sources and strategies of the organizational resilien...

In this chapter, we study the relationship between regional economic resilience and agency. Especially since the 2008 recession, regional resilience has raised a lot of interest in economic geography. However, the resilience research has focused mostly on the structural perspective and the role of agency has gained less attention. Intentional and p...

The aim of this article is to make a general overview to regional economic resilience in the sub-regions of Finland after the 2009 recession. Resilience is studied from perspectives of resistance, recovery, renewal and reorientation of employment and gross domestic product. In addition, the relationship of different kinds of structural background f...

This chapter argues for the need to focus more explicitly on patterns of place leadership in different types of regions. It aims to shed light on leadership patterns by exploring by whom and how local path development is promoted in two different types of peripheral regions in Finland; Eastern Lapland and Jacobstad. The main objective of the paper...

In this chapter, we study the relationship between regional economic resilience and agency. Especially since the 2008 recession, regional resilience has raised a lot of interest in economic geography. However, the resilience research has focused mostly on the structural perspective and the role of agency has gained less attention. Intentional and p...

This paper investigates the concept of opportunity space as a driver and a fundament for regional economic growth. In the regional context, opportunity space outlines the limits and possibilities of the regional path development. The concepts of opportunity and opportunity space include the idea deliberative agency. Opportunity space is formed and...