Ron Boschma, PhD Professor at Utrecht University, The Netherlands
R.A.Boschma@uu.nl
"Complementary Inter-Regional Linkages and Smart Specialization: an Empirical Study on European Regions"
Regional capabilities are regarded a pillar of Smart Specialization Strategy (S3). There is yet little focus in S3 policy on the role of inter-regional linkages. Our study on 292 NUTS2 regions in Europe finds that inter-regional linkages have a position effect on the probability of regionals to diversitfy, especially in peripheral regions. What matters is not being connected to other regions per se but being connected to regionas that provide complementary capabnilities. Finally, we propose a new indicator that enables regions to identify other regions as strategic partners intheir S3 policy,depending on the presence of complementary capabilities in other regions.
AND
Ariaster Chimeli, PhD Professor at University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
chimeli@usp.br
