Research Policy at the Local Level of Government: The Establishment of a Foundation for Research Funding by the Municipality of Norrköping

It is often claimed that research has become more important for many areas of policy-making. However, many studies about the relationship between policy and research have shown that the reasons for public actors to support and use research are complex, and not always instrumental. Most studies about the relationship between policy and research are focused on the central level of government. In Sweden, local governments are increasingly developing research policies to meet new demands and expectations. This development raises several interesting research questions about the relationship between knowledge and local policy-making: How are these policies constructed in the specific institutional context of local self-governance? What political functions do these policies play for how the role of municipalities is changing? In this paper I will analyze these questions through a study of the establishment of a foundation for research funding by the municipality of Norrköping in Sweden.