The Role of Universities in the Regional Innovation Systems of the North East of England and Scania, Sweden: Providing Missing Links?

The increased popularity of and attention paid to innovation-based regional growth and development has, among other things, raised the importance of universities in regional innovation systems (RIS). The triple-helix literature especially underscores the value of increased interaction and interdependence between universities, industry, and government in modern, knowledge-based, economies by acclaiming the rise of the entrepreneurial. The author provides a comparative analysis of the RIS problems in the North East in the United Kingdom and Scania in Sweden and the role of universities in regional innovation policies addressing these problems. The results of this comparison question a one-size-fits-all (entrepreneurial) model to harness university-based knowledge resources for regional development. Instead, it is shown that various constellations are possible dependent on the characteristics of the RIS problems.

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