ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the role of university and research institutes as regional collective agents and the evolution of their links with regional high-technology firms. It seeks to identify how knowledge institutions engage in different processes in different contexts within innovative milieu, and their places in local history as well as in national innovation systems. The chapter examines the contribution made by universities and research institutes to the evolution and composition of high-technology clusters, through processes of interaction and local knowledge development. These include firm spin-offs, attraction of inward investment, innovation stimuli, image creation and the establishment of science parks. In the definition of an innovative milieu, proximity contributes to synergistic effects and in the case of the relationships between knowledge institutions and local firms this would take the form of contributing to their innovative capacity. The impact of universities on the quality of milieux through the development of localised markets for highly skilled labour is country and/or institution specific.
