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Place-Dependent Path Creation of the Regional Industry: Concrete Research on the Locational Process of Photovoltaic Lead Firms in Solar Valley, Chungbuk Province

  • Journal of the Association of Korean Geographers
  • Abbr : JAKG
  • 2020, 9(1), pp.157-175
  • DOI : 10.25202/JAKG.9.1.11
  • Publisher : Association of Korean Geographers
  • Research Area : Social Science > Geography
  • Received : March 10, 2020
  • Accepted : March 25, 2020
  • Published : April 30, 2020

Jae-Youl Lee 1 JANGGEUNYONG 2

1충북대학교
2충북대학교 지리교육과

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The Province of Chungbuk has risen to the largest photovoltaic industry region, which is called Solar Valley and specialized in solar cells and modules, in South Korea for a decade now. Crucial to the path creation of a new regional industry is attracting and locating industry lead firms including Hyundai Energy Solution, Shinsung E&G, and Hanwha Solution. Against this backdrop, this study examines the place-dependent nature of the new regional path creation in Chungbuk from an evolutionary economic geography perspective focused on such place-dependent processes as economic geohistories and purposeful strategic actions in the region, critiquing geographical economics and California School approaches centered on historical ‘accident’ and geographical ‘randomness’ in their explication of regional path creation. Particular attention is paid to how the geohistorical trajectory of branch plant economy and the unfolding of proactive policy strategies condition and contextualize the formation of Solar Valley. Coupled with detailed explications on the issues, this paper also offers a discussion of potential problems rising from such an ‘entrepreneurial’ mode of regional policy-making, as well as a reflection on the study’s policy implications.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.