Institutions and regional development: the case of the aquaculture industry at the lake region of La Araucanía

Abstract

The aim is to explore the different sub-systemic dimensions of institutions that affect the competitiveness of a territory, taking as an object of study the relationships and perceptions generated by the aquaculture sector in the lake area of the region of La Araucanía. Based on the theoretical models of local economic development and systemic competitiveness, a theoretical reflection on the capabilities of using growth opportunities is generated, and how this is determined by a local environment that enables the articulation of public and private institutions in the territory. A distinction was drawn between different levels of analysis, facilitating the use of a mixed methodology, where each level has been analyzed using a different technique, enabling a comprehensive view of the phenomenon.

Our initial proposition is that the use of territorial opportunities for the promotion of competitiveness is not only determined by economic factors, but by a grid of different institutional levels that constitute balance and control mechanisms for the sector’s sustainability and growth, but that its top-down structure generates disengagements between the different levels caused by laws, regulations and the negative perception of the aquaculture sector in the territory.