Exploiting innovations and transforming them into regional growth is a challenging task that requires a deep understanding of the factors that facilitate or hinder their local exploitation. Regional institutions, the presence of local entrepreneurs, regional innovation policies, local public-private collaborations, the availability of relevant skills and infrastructures are just some examples of factors that are likely to effect if, and how, innovations affect regional development.

This session aims at exploring the link between different types of innovations – product, process, organizational, business model – and regional economic development in a broad sense. More can be done to unravel the mechanisms whereby these different types of innovations provide impetus for local growth, including growth in employment, productivity, market, and production.

The session has three objectives. The first objective is to analyze the factors that facilitate or hinder the exploitation of innovations for regional development. The second objective is to share empirical research findings that approach this issue in different localized contexts and theoretical perspectives. The third objective is to discuss the policy implications.  These objectives are in relation to the debate about whether, how and why innovations are linked to different forms of regional development.