regions

The paper discusses the concept of "traditional knowledge": its definition, economic significance and role in shaping regional development trajectories. After outlining a conceptual framework for the analysis of traditional knowledge, the paper examines the changing position of traditional knowledge in two Italian regions that have followed quite different development trajectories since the 1950s.

This paper analyses the wage cost and labour productivity differentials in the European Union for period 1995-2000, from a regional and sectorial perspective. Results show the existence of high regional disparities, that differ with the sector.

In this paper, the authors group territorial units, following the methodology of cluster analysis, making use of official statistics like the population census of 2001. The goal is to obtain homogenous NUTS II in economic and social terms, therefore challenging the 2002 nomenclature modifications.

The paper analyses the effects of the Mercosul commercial block on export intensity of different regions in Brazil. A gravitational model is employed to explain the intensity of exports of different Brazilian regions according to destination countries, differentiating those pertaining to Mercosul.

The article discusses the case of Finnish universities and polytechnics in re-defining their roles in regional development and especially in regional innovation environment. The article introduces the concept of “third task organisations” to describe these units within universities and polytechnics with regional effectiveness as their primary mission.

A regional e-cluster system and its cybernetics are characterised by a high degree of complexity which requires a comprehensive strategy, according to the authors. The identification of the key components of this e-cluster system and its interrelationships show that the component “knowledge management” is a critical and decisive process in an e-cluster system.

The authors examine whether discretionary government grants influence the location of new plants. Findings indicate that Grants have a small effect in attracting plants to specific geographic areas, but their effectiveness increases with agglomeration externalities,
measured by the number of other plants in that location in the same industry.

This article presents network-facilitating innovation policy as a policy tool for promoting regional innovative capability. The new policies are crying out for new means for evaluating changes in regional innovation systems.

The paper focuses on measuring the spatial differentiating influence of ICT factors within Hungary. By the means of regression models it is presented what explanatory force can be connected to ICT factors in determining the level of regional competitiveness and development.

The authors investigate the contribution of different inputs, particularly different knowledge sources, on regional patenting output in the framework of a knowledge production function. One main finding is that the quality of the university research makes some contribution to regional innovation while the mere size of the universities is unimportant.