This volume provides a collection of theoretical articles and empirical studies on innovation and location by focusing on the institutions and systems that mediate knowledge spillovers. The objective is to provide an international comparison using a variety of approaches. The volume is organized around the three themes. The first focuses on theoretical work that attempts to advance our understanding of knowledge externalities and systems on innovation. The second section provides empirical studies that attempt to measure these impacts. The final section considers future challenges to regional economic development policy in the face of economic integration and globalization.

1 Location, Location, Location: Institutions and Systems in the Geography of Innovation.- I: Theoretical Understandings.- 2 Learning to Communicate in the Production of Collective Knowledge.- 3 The Knowledge Dilemma and the Geography of Innovation.- 4 University Technology Transfer and the System of Innovation.- 5 Globalization and Communication Technologies and the Role of Small Firms in Innovation.- 6 Urban Diversity and Intersectoral Diffusion: Some Insights from the Study of Technical Creativity.- 7 Innovation, Institutions, Space: Two Research Traditions in National Systems of Innovation.- II: EMPIRICAL STUDIES.- 8 The Role of Geographical Proximity in the Organization of Industrial R&D.- 9 The Geography of Knowledge Spillovers and Technological Proximity.- 10 The Regional Distribution of Technological Development: Evidence from Foreign-Owned Firms in Germany.- 11 Barriers to Innovation in Service Industries in Canada.- 12 Knowledge Spillovers in Biotechnology: Moving the Logic of Science Closer to the Logic of Firms.- III: POLICY.- 13 Public Policies, Regional Inequalities, and Growth.- 14 Technology Externalities and Compromise in Innovation Policy: The European Union Case.- 15 The Development of High-Tech Clusters: Theoretical Insights and Policy Implications.- 16 Future Challenges and Institutional Preconditions for Regional Development Policy.