ABSTRACT
Innovation is a central process in driving economic growth through short-term productivity gains and long-term employment growth and innovative economic activities. In addition to the organizational characteristics of the firms, the environment within which the firms operate is a significant variable in achieving competitiveness. Competitiveness at the regional scale is explained by the presence of clusters of firms, spill-overs and geographic concentration of linked industries, available knowledge and technology (Saltelli, Annoni and Tarantola 2011). There is a positive correlation between regional innovation and regional competitiveness where policy and decision makers recognize the importance of innovation in designing policies to enhance the economic strength and resilience of cities, regions and nations (Seppänen 2008). Innovation process draws on knowledge that is often sourced locally (Almeida and Kogut 1999; Stuart and Sorenson 2003; Brechi and Lissoni 2009) and with strong path dependencies (Boschma and Iammarino 2009; Essletzbichler and Rigby 2007).
