Rethinking asset modification in regional industrial path development: toward a conceptual framework

Asset modification is a key concept in the regional industrial path development literature. Extant research mainly focuses on the process of redeploying pre-existing assets and creating new assets, while little attention has been paid to asset reconfiguration. This article establishes a holistic conceptual framework that describes regional industrial path development as one in which regional actors (1) draw on their pre-existing assets and/or create new assets to prepare assets needed for the new industry; and (2) reconfigure these assets into a configuration that gives birth to the new industry. Finally, a typology linking this understanding to differentiated path development is proposed.