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The purpose of this paper is to show the relevance of territorial innovation systems approach for non-central regions’ development strategies. The research made allowed to identify actions of collective efficiency to strengthen endogenous capacity for regional innovation, and also to detect some institutional weaknesses that inhibit the innovation dynamics in a particular rural region (Tagus Valley).

The research followed an interpretive case study, of explanatory type. Data collecting method comprised semi-structured face-to-face interviews with business agents and local government members, direct observation of innovation activities and documentary analysis. Statistical methods to analyse the firms’ innovation behaviour, as well as owners and managers’ perceptions, were also used in order to improve the trustworthiness of the research.

The results show that innovation is positively associated to a diverse set of institutional factors that shape a territorially embedded innovation system, in which the firms’ innovation activity is chiefly based on localized learning processes. Moreover, a path of smart and creative diversification area is detected, but there are substantial differences between firms belonging to agro-food supply chain. While food industries and wineries show very interesting levels of investment in innovation activities and external knowledge synergies, farmers/producers depend greatly from producers’ organizations.

Given the absence of generalizability and some speculative argumentation, further research needs to be done, especially about the critical role of higher education institutions to promote innovation.

The paper provides empirical insights about the role of actors belonging to the governance layer inherent to the territorial innovation system in discussion.

The paper fulfils an identified need to systematize institutional factors able to affect non-central regions innovation.

This paper aims to understand how the different stakeholders assess the adequacy of smart specialization policies defined for their regions.

This paper has followed a quantitative methodology through the application of questionnaire surveys to stakeholders of the various territorial regions in Portugal.

As a result, from the “resource-based view” approach applied to the various regions, the attained results highlight that the suitability of smart specialization policies defined for the Portuguese regions is not unanimous among its stakeholders.

The research can be used as a tool to assist regional policymakers in strategic reflection when defining and adjusting smart specialization strategies in their territories.

To conduct a cross-border transaction, participants need an exchange object (goods) and at least two direct parties (the seller and the buyer), forming the foundation of a significant exchange mechanism. Beyond the primary buyer and seller, the transaction involves intermediaries, representatives of actors, carriers, insurers, state officials, and other individuals. These stakeholders engage at various levels, ranging from international and national to regional and local communities. The authors propose a novel way to classify stakeholders based on their involvement in value-added distribution. Trading operations enable actors to gain a trading margin; many stakeholders participate in this process. One group of stakeholders contributes to shaping the “rules of the game,” establishing framework conditions and limitations for cross-border commodity exchange. Another larger group experiences the direct or indirect impact of export–import operations on their activities. This distinction among stakeholders leads the authors to develop a two-tier model for trade relations in border regions. The model differentiates between exogenous and endogenous factors influencing the dynamics of the resulting features, making it possible to examine border regions' development under the influence of cross-border trade dynamics.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of patterns that combine innovation and information and communication technologies (ICT) use, and the factors explaining them in the European Union.

The authors use data for firms and households at the regional level in the EU-27. Factorial and cluster analyses are used to the determine combined patterns for both dimensions and to elaborate a taxonomy of the European regions, respectively. Finally, the multiple discriminant analysis serves to identify the factors that characterize the patterns detected.

The results show the existence of three regional clusters that capture different combinations of patenting and ICT use. Research and development (R&D) expenditure in the business sector, government quality, gross domestic product per capita, the number of researchers, and employment by the highest level of education attained are the key variables explaining the disparities in innovation and ICT use in the European regions.

The conclusions point to the key role played by business R&D and knowledge resources within an institutional framework that facilitates actions oriented to benefiting regions through both knowledge creation and knowledge diffusion derived from the combined activities of innovation and ICT use.

The paper provides for the first time a characterization of the European regions that jointly considers innovation and ICT use. It also contributes to the literature by exploring differences in ICT use by households and firms, and the factors explaining them. The study can provide new insights into the design of public policies that may consider the common factors that explain combinations of innovation and technology use.

Departing from an ideal interpretation of the collaborative governance approach, the authors analyse the integrative and collaborative capacities of project-based regional development actions in spatially diverse city regions in Finland. Scrutinizing the relevance of collaborative ideals and their institutional prerequisites becomes all the more salient given the strong emphasis on collaborative approaches to regional diversities throughout Europe. The results show that the integrative potentials are related to specific types of areas. They also call the facilitating capacities of politico-administrative institutions into question. The results are interpreted in terms of an institutional duality that strongly corresponds to the public-private divide.