This paper investigates over the way in which regions innovate. The conceptual framework departs from the simple idea that scientific activities equates knowledge, assuming that the presence of local knowledge produced by research centers, universities and firms was a necessary and sufficient...

The aim of the paper is twofold: a) it stresses the concept of collective learning from a theoretical point of view, and provides new insights into its definition; b) it provides a measurement of the presence of collective learning in three Italian milieux. An analysis of the definitions...

Normative interventions in the ICTs sector at the European level are in fact mainly driven by the idea that the impacts of advanced telecommunications technology adoptions are related both to their capacity to increase competitiveness and to their potential influence on regional disparities,...

After more than five decades since the recognition of the importance of a branch in Economics called Regional and Urban Economics, there is for sure sufficient scientific material for an ex-post evaluation of what has been achieved so far, where is the scientific frontier in this field, and what...

Innovative capacity of firms has traditionally been explained through intra-firm characteristics, being firms size the most important. A wave of empirical studies identifies small firms as the engines of technological change and innovative activity, at least in certain industries. This statement...

In this paper, we aim at re-assessing the undisputed positive relationship between innovation and economic growth by questioning the view that R&D (and formal knowledge in general) equates innovation and innovation equates regional growth. We rather propose that these linkages are strongly...

This paper presents conceptual and empirical reasons for moving from a thematically-regionally neutral innovation policy to a thematically and regionally focused innovation policy, in line with the smart specialization approach of the new cohesion policy framework. The paper starts by claiming...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the endogenous factors allowing regions to compete successfully in a globalized economy. These factors are expected to vary across different groups of regions, due to their different specialization and different endowment of structural connections with the...

Over the last few years, the world economy has gone through a severe period of economic downturn, the worst since the end of WWII. Although the crisis has been widely covered on the media, less common knowledge is the fact that the crisis has engendered responses in the economic systems, in the...