In the last years, and particularly since the publication of the famous Barca Report (Barca, 2009), the European Union (EU) is starting to acknowledge the importance of spatially targeted regional policies and to understand how crucial a territorial approach can be in order to achieve desirable...

While international capital flows are rising, the role of banks in the economy is changing and stock markets in OECD and eastern European countries play an increasing role for financing investment and innovation. Economic catching up of eastern Europe, European Monetary Union and problems of...