Towards a different regional innovation policy : eight years of European experience through the European Regional Development Fund innovative actions

This article argues for a different regional innovation policy, on the basis of lessons drawn from the European Regional Development Fund innovative actions experience since 1993. Based on physical infrastructure improvement, direct grants to firms and foreign investments attraction, traditional regional policy has proved to be little successful in promoting innovation, in particular in less favoured regions in the European Union. In these regions, innovation promotion policy has been faced with a limited capacity to absorb public funds efficiently, despite the comparatively greater need for innovation support policies in this particular regional context. This ‘regional innovation paradox’ can be explained by the fragmented and underdeveloped nature of the regional innovation system in these regions (e.g.: little or no tradition of public-private and inter-firm co-operation, weak research base, lack of interfaces for Research, Development and Technological Innovation (RDTI), insufficient social/relational capital, etc.). As the Regional Innovation Strategy (R.I.S. and R.I.S.+ projects) pilot experience has shown in over 30 regions from a dozen different countries, effective regional innovation policies require a new set of objectives, instruments and policy delivery systems in order to set the foundations of an efficient regional innovation systems in less favoured regions. This article explores these new requirements on the basis of lessons drawn form empirical testing