ABSTRACT
This chapter presents four regions of Spain with different entrepreneurial traditions so as to determine how appropriate each region's regional development agency policies are for their different entrepreneurial bases, for their different realities. The regions are Andalusia, Galicia, Catalonia and the Basque Country. The four regions' entrepreneurial cultures hold different traditions which can make a comparative policy analysis of their respective regional development agencies (RDAs) quite enlightening. In contrast to the 'traditional' regional theory, a new policy approach focuses on endogenous development, i.e. development not dependent on external assistance. When focuses on industrial activity, the chapter observes significant differences between the industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The chapter provides a comparative study of the four RDAs corresponding to the four regions: The Institute for the Promotion of Andalusia (IFA), The Gallegan Institute of Economic Promotion (IGAPE), The Society for the Promotion and Reconversion of the Basque Country (SPRI), and The Centre of Information and Entrepreneurial Development (CIDEM).
