Regional innovation systems within a federation: Do national policies affect all regions equally?

Abstract

SummaryThe concept of national innovation systems was first developed to describe the process of innovation in developed economies. The approach has shifted from solely a national perspective to one including regional or local systems. This focus on spatial aspects has two major advantages: it recognizes that innovation is a social process and a geographic process. For federations, the national system of innovation is more complex than that of a unitary system, since there are often provincial/state level institutions and actors that parallel national level institutions and actors. Canada is one of the few true economic and social (as well as political) federations in the developed world. Consequently, it provides a unique laboratory for studies on the processes of innovation in regions and regional innovation systems. This paper reports on the initial results of research on the characteristics of industrial clusters being carried out through the (Canadian) Innovation Systems Research Network – ISRN.