A study on innovation capacity and entrepreneurial activity at a sub-regional level: The case of the Basque Country

José Luis González Pernía (), Aloña Martiarena Arrizabalaga, Mikel Navarro and Iñaki Peña Legazkue
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José Luis González Pernía: Instituto Vasco de Competitividad
Aloña Martiarena Arrizabalaga: Instituto Vasco de Competitividad, London School of Economics
Iñaki Peña Legazkue: Instituto Vasco de Competitividad, Universidad de Deusto

INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, 2009, issue 15, 55-88

Abstract: We aim at gaining our understanding on the relationship between innovation capacity, entrepreneurial activity and regional competitiveness at a sub-regional level, by taking into account the heterogeneity of inner locations within a region. Our results show, on the one hand, that high and rapid growth firms benefit from local agglomeration economies which lead to incremental innovation-type R&D activities (i.e., exploitation of synthetic–knowledge) emerged in non-metropolitan areas where new ventures are more focused on “Development” activities rather than on “Research” activities. On the other hand, ventures located in metropolitan areas are more related to “Research” activities (i.e., exploration of analytical-knowledge leading to radical innovation) which particularly take place in universities and technology centers sited in urban (or nearby) areas. Any advancement on regional development will depend on a balanced concentration of different types of innovation and entrepreneurial activities at a sub-regional level considering the idiosyncrasy and singularity of each sub-region.

Keywords: Innovation; entrepreneurial activity; regional competitiveness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M13 O33 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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