This article presents estimates of the impact of regional variety and trade linkages on regional economic growth by means of export and import data by Italian province (NUTS 3) and sector (three-digit) for the period 1995-2003. Our results show strong evidence that related variety contributes to regional economic growth. Thus, Italian regions that are well endowed with sectors that are complementary in terms of competences (i.e., that show related variety) perform better. The article also assesses the effects of the breadth and relatedness of international trade linkages on regional growth, since they may bring new and related variety to a region. Our analysis demonstrates that regional growth is not affected by simply being well connected to the outside world or having a high variety of knowledge flowing into the region. Rather, we found evidence of related extraregional knowledge sparking intersectoral learning across regions. When the cognitive proximity between the extraregional knowledge and the knowledge base of a region is neither too small nor too large, real learning opportunities are present, and the external knowledge contributes to growth in regional employment. Copyright (c) 2009 Clark University.

Regional economic divergence has become a threat to economic progress, social cohesion and political stability in Europe. Market processes and policies that are supposed to spread prosperity and opportunity are no longer sufficiently effective. The evidence points to the existence of several different modes of regional economic performance in Europe, responding to different development challenges and opportunities. Both mainstream and heterodox theories have gaps in their ability to explain the existence of these different regional trajectories and the weakness of the convergence processes among them. Therefore, a different approach is required, one that strengthens Europe's strongest regions but develops new approaches to promote opportunity in industrial declining and less-developed regions. There is ample new theory and evidence to support such an approach, which we have labelled 'place-sensitive distributed development policy'.

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Innovating firms are likely to face several challenges and experience different types of barriers. In this paper we argue that it is necessary to distinguish between two kinds of barriers to innovation. The first corresponds to what we describe as revealed barriers and reflects the degree of difficulty of the innovation process and the learning experience consequent on the firm engaging in innovation activity. The second type of impediment, which we label deterring barriers, encompasses the obstacles that prevent firms from committing to innovation. We use data from the 4th UK Community Innovation Survey (CIS4) to investigate the relationship between firms' engagement in innovation and their assessment of the barriers to innovation. We show that the relationship is curvilinear in the case of costs and market barriers. These results have important implications for innovation policy and innovation management.

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Research collaborations between universities and industry (U-I) are considered to be one important channel of potential localized knowledge spillovers (LKS). These collaborations favour both intended and unintended flows of knowledge and facilitate learning processes between partners from different organizations. Despite the copious literature on LKS, still little is known about the factors driving the formation of U-I research collaborations and, in particular, about the role that geographical proximity plays in the establishment of such relationships. Using collaborative research grants between universities and business firms awarded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), in this article we disentangle some of the conditions under which different kinds of proximity contribute to the formation of U-I research collaborations, focussing in particular on clustering and technological complementarity among the firms participating in such partnerships.

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CANTWELL J. and IAMMARINO S. (2000) Multinational corporations and the location of technological innovation in the UK regions, Reg. Studies 34, 317‐332. In a rapidly globalizing economy, and particularly in the face of a process of economic integration such as that occurring in the European Union, regions forge an increasing number of linkages with other locations within and across national boundaries through the local technological development efforts of multinational corporations (MNCs). By using patents granted to the largest industrial firms ‐ arranged by the region host to the research facility responsible ‐ the paper explores the location of innovative activities in MNCs, and the relationship between the profiles of technological specialization of foreign-owned and indigenous companies in the UK regions. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the pattern of MNC networks for innovation conforms to a hierarchy of regional centres, and that the pattern of technological specialization of foreign-owned affiliates in different regional locations depends upon the position of the region in the locational hierarchy. CANTWELL J. et IAMMARINO S. (2000) Les sociétés multinationales et la localisation de l'innovation technologique dans les régions du Royaume-Uni, Reg. Studies 34, 317-332. Etant donné la rapidité de la mondialisation de l'économie et facè a un processus d'intégration économique, tel celui qui se produit au sein de l'Ue, les régions établissent un nombre croissant de liens avec des emplacements situés dans l'enceinte et au-delà des frontie ¤ res nationales par les efforts de développement technologique locaux des sociétés multinationales. A partir des brevets accordés aux plus grandes entreprises industrielles - classés en fonction de la région qui accueillit l'établissement de recherche en question - cet article cherchè a examiner la localisation des activités ¤ a caractère innovatif des sociétés multinationales et le rapport entre les profils de spécialisation technologique des sociétés ¤ a capital étranger et domestique dans les régions du Royaume-Uni. Les résultats correspondent à l'hypothèse que la distribution des réseaux d'innovation conformè a une hiérachie de centres régionaux, et que la distribution de la spécialisation technologique des filiales ¤ a capital étranger situées dans diverses zones dépend du positionnement de la région dans la hiérarchie des emplacements. CANTWELL J. und IAMMARINO S. (2000) Multinationale Firmenkorporationen und der Standort technologischer Innovation in den Regionen des UK, Reg. Studies 34, 317-332. In einer zunehmend globale Ausmaße annehmenden Wirtschaft, und besonders angesichts des Vorgangs wirtschaftlischen Zusammenschlusses wie er z.Zt. in der EU stattfindet, gehen Regionen mit Hilfe der technologischen Entwicklungsanstrengungen multinationaler Firmenkorporationen (multinational corporations = MNCs) eine wachsende Anzahl von Verbindungen mit anderen Standorten innerhalb und über Staatsgrenzen hinweg ein. Mit Hilfe von Patenten, die sich im Besitz...