This work provides an extensive evaluation of the numerous policy instruments used by regional governments in Europe to promote innovation activity in Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). The instruments are compared and benchmarked in order to identify good practice, in an effort to bridge the gap between the theory of regional innovation and real-world policy implementation. interactive style of policy intervention. Since the majority of SMEs have a limited resource base with regard to innovation, they need external orientation to understand and adapt to their environment. Thus, the...

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Over the past 25 years, the regional innovation system (RIS) approach has become a powerful framework for explaining the uneven geographical distribution of innovation, as well as for developing policies geared towards boosting the innovation capability of regional...

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Over the past 25 years, the regional innovation system (RIS) approach has become a powerful framework for explaining the uneven geographical distribution of innovation, as well as for developing policies geared towards boosting the innovation capability of regional...

This comprehensive volume presents key contributions to the topic of regional economic advantage. The gathered literature helps the reader to understand how regions build advantage for industrial development through the use of endogenous and exogenous resources, how regional industrial development can be supported by place-based policy, and how the form and mechanisms of regional advantage change over time in a path dependent manner. Articles within each section are presented in chronological order, from research on industrial districts and new industrial spaces to regional clusters and...