Explaining varieties of regional innovation policies in Europe

Since the 1990s the 'region' has been widely acknowledged as an appropriate arena for innovation policies. While regional innovation policies and the creation of regional innovation systems and local clusters are highly propagated by the European Union and the OECD, there are still significant differences in regional activities even among nation states which are equally exposed to global competition, and are similarly dependent on technological innovations, such as Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The article aims to explain this variation in regional innovation policies by arguing that a country-specific pattern consisting of the geographical concentration of the science and research system, the vertical fragmentation of the political system, the degree of Europeanization, and the endowments of the regions shapes the way innovation policies are pursued in the regions.