In a globalising economy, territories and not just firms increasingly find themselves in competition with each other. In fact, differently from the case of countries, cities and regions compete, on the international market for goods and production factors, on the basis of an absolute advantage...

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...