Gyeongsangnamdo’s Regional Innovation and Political Dynamism of Cooperation between the Provincial Government and Universities

이 연구는 2020년에 비수도권 대학 중심으로 새롭게 도입된 지역혁신 플랫폼사업과 거버넌스에 관한 연구이다. 지역혁신체계와 지역혁신의 주체로서 지역대학의 역할에 초점을 맞춰 플랫폼 사업의 배경과 특성을 설명한다. 이후 경상남도의 사례에 주목하여 플랫폼 사업 계획과정에서 드러난 거버넌스 문제에 대해 살펴보았다. 주요 논의 사항은 플랫폼 사업의 내용과 참여 주체가 기존 교육사업의 그것과 차별화 된다고 하더라도 재정지원과 평가의 주요 주체(교육부) 와 대상(지자체와 대학) 간의 정치역학적 구조가 크게 바뀌지 않는다면 계획서작성 및 평가 단계에서 실천되는 참여 조직들의 행동과 결정이 기존의 관행을벗어나기 어렵다는 것이다. 이는 교육정책 제도화 과정에 나타나는 조직 간 동형화 현상으로 설명되었다.

This study examines a newly introduced high-education program, called ‘the Regional Innovation Platform’ and its governance issues. What explains the introduction of the program, which enables provincial/local governments to play a vital role in its governance. In addition, can provincial/local governments change the hierarchial relationship between the central government and the universities when it comes to the government’s grant program for them. In order to answer these questions, this study explores the case of Gyeongsangnamdo which has won the biggest amount of grants from the ministry of Education, Korea. The analysis of this study is based on the literature reviews on the regional innovation system and the roles of universities as well as the researcher’s personal experience involving in planning and writing the proposal. This paper concludes that the political dynamism between regional/local universities and the central government is not likely to change although the provincial government participates actively in the governance. It is mainly because the ministries of the central government including the ministry of Education, still plays a role in evaluating and selecting the final winners of the project grants. A theory of Isomorphism provides an explanation for the unchanging political dynamism of universities as well as provincial/local government.