Theme issue: open innovation and 'catch-up': globalist or localist?

This collection on 'Open Innovation and Catch-Up: Globalist or Localist?' is introduced with an appreciation of three key transitions for spatial development today, viewed through seven comparative case analyses from Asia, the US and Europe. 'Institutional path dependence' is the first issue. The second has been 'hyperglobalization' now under moderate challenge from 'de-globalization'. Third, is the process of 'open innovation' that accompanied the 'globalist' turn, nowadays a slur of extreme populists. A 'pattern recognition' exercise follows to discern types of path dependence, agency ('dark' and 'lighter') and institutional co-evolution, then the Theme Issue contributions are summarized.