2025/07/11 by Merethe Lerfald · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Social Sciences · #Education Systems and Policy #Rural development and sustainability #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/14616688.2025.2529899
openalex publication_date 2025/07/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/16
Spatial unevenness in resource distribution and economic activity presents challenges for regional development, particularly in peripheral regions. Second-home development has emerged as a strategy for rural restructuring and addressing socio-economic decline. This article examines how the interplay between endogenous and exogenous forces shapes second-home development outcomes, challenging the narrative that locally embedded development is inherently more beneficial for regional growth. Employing an agency-based approach, the study investigates two valley regions in southeastern Norway, addressing three sub-questions: (1) How has the interplay between endogenous and exogenous actors changed? (2) How does human agency shape outcomes? (3) What role do municipalities play in facilitating second-home development? Findings reveal that the endogenous–exogenous dichotomy is overly reductive, demonstrating that endogenous actors are no more likely than exogenous ones to prioritise local impacts. Instead, place-based leadership, exercised collaboratively by business managers and municipalities, emerges as decisive. Municipalities particularly influence development outcomes by framing the opportunity space and ensuring predictability. The study contributes empirical insights from clustered second-home development in Norway, with broader relevance for regional development. It advances the literature by highlighting how agency and leadership, rather than local embeddedness alone, shape development trajectories.