Legitimizing path development: The case of Israel's desert tourism

Keywords: path development, legitimization, evolutionary economic geography, institutions
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 59

Abstract

The role of legitimization has recently moved to the fore of path development studies both in regional development and in transition studies. In institutional theory, legitimacy has been identified as a pillar of institutionalization and institutional change. Bringing together these two streams of literature and combining them with approaches on expectations and visions in path development, the paper argues that a major mechanism for legitimizing new regional paths is through agents imagining institutional and industrial change, mobilizing other agents, and enacting it accordingly. This mechanism of legitimizing change through visions offers a way for conceptualizing the link between institutional or industrial structure and agency in path development. The empirical case of two local tourism destinations in Israel’s Negev desert illustrates this mechanism. Hence, the paper contributes to a more thorough conceptualization of the role of the future in regional industrial path development.