ABSTRACT
One of the attributes presumably affecting the predisposition towards knowledge enhancement of the kind discussed in the first part of this book is the size of the economy in question (Grossman and Helpman 1991). This is one motive for our focusing on regions as an important analytical category when addressing issues of competitiveness through interactive learning processes. It is also a motive for directing particular interest towards some specific features of smaller countries. We argued in the introductory chapter that the difference between countries and regions is increasingly in degree, rather than in kind. This is particularly so for the small countries. Their general degree of openness and exposure to international competition makes them in important respects similar to regions, seen as parts of broader economic and political entities.
