Knowledge, innovation and regional development: new evidence

The Great Recession has had a profound but uneven impact on European regions and cities, fueling economic disparities. In this scenario, the understanding of the determinants of regional and local development is an essential step towards a successful recovery and to achieve Europe’s 2020 (H2020) goals for smart, sustainable and regional inclusive growth for the period 2014-2020.

Within this framework, scholars highlight the need for regional heterogeneity and call for placed-based policies that reinforce local strengths. These policies are mostly based on the importance of innovation and the generation and diffusion of knowledge, which ultimately results in economic prosperity. However, the links between innovation patterns and the relevance of regional contextual conditions are complex and difficult to disentangle and, therefore, efforts to shed light on the factors that determine the links between knowledge, innovation policies, and local and regional development are welcome.

This workshop aims to be a forum for debate on these topics. Some topics will be discussed in detail, including  state-of-the-art contributions by scholars specialized in the economics of intangibles, knowledge spillovers, innovation, and their ultimate impact on regional economic activity. Participation of the audience, which is expected to come from diverse backgrounds, will be particularly encouraged in the debate.

The workshop is addressed not only to academics interested in these topics but also to students (both undergraduate and graduate) and, in particular, to practitioners. These include not only policy-makers with responsibilities at different levels of government, especially local and regional governments and agencies, but also managers responsible for university knowledge transfer strategies and innovation policies.

The workshop is organized in two parts. The first contributions presented will be more focused on the explicit links between knowledge and innovation (in its broadest meaning, which includes factoring in the role of universities) and regional development, at different levels. While, the second part of the workshop will focus more on different interactions between knowledge, knowledge transfer and innovation, also taking into account the role of universities.

The speakers are all recognized scholars in the topic of the workshop and come from a variety of prestigious national and international institutions