Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Functional Regions

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of entrepreneurship and innovations for economic development in functional regions and in doing that highlighting the different conditions offered for entrepreneurship and innovations in functional regions of various sizes. In conclusion, the conditions for entrepreneurship and innovations vary substantially between functional regions, since the necessary knowledge resources tend to be local and to cluster in certain regions and not others. Functional regions with a high capacity to generate new ideas, create knowledge, organizational learning and innovations are characterized as learning regions. Large functional regions offer a large market potential and a superior accessibility to knowledge and knowledge resources and they will further develop their creative capabilities due to an accumulation of innovative and entrepreneurial knowledge.