Rocco Luigi Bubbico

Laurea Specialistica (MSc) in Business Management, Faculty of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy, 2005

Laurea (BSc) in Business Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy, 2003.

Effectiveness and key drivers of local partnerships for innovation: the case of Objective 1 Regions of EU.

Supervisor: Michael Hebbert and Mark Baker

Regional innovation policies, regional development.

Innovation, entrepreneurship, participation, the growth of a knowledge economy based on research and, in brief, competitiveness, are the main objectives of the European regional policies in the current 2007-2013 policy cycle. Objective 1 regions (in the 2007-2013 CSF called “Convergence regions”), which are characterised by low level of information society performance and low performance in competitiveness indicators, are expected to concentrate and improve the effectiveness of local innovation policies, boosting the process of catching up by the achievement of the strategic objectives, and by the implementation of participative models. The official evaluations of European Union underline how almost half of the difference in GDP per capita amongst the 215 European regions is explained by four knowledge economy factor scores: public knowledge, urban services, private technologies and learning families..Develop a strong knowledge economy means, as a consequence, support a strong catching-up process for less developed regions. In perspective, an effective RTDI policy can help to overcome the regional differences faster than other policies. The experiences of the most advanced and innovative economies demonstrate that building economical development driven by innovation does not originate by individual efforts of a single actor. Innovation is a team game in which the involvement of each actor in a cooperative and interactive environment is considered fundamental for the achievement of regional competitiveness objectives. European Union has already emphasized the general role of private and local actors involvement with the instrument of the partnership, widening their role in the definition of the strategies, in the implementation, and in the funding of all the cohesion-convergence policies. On the other side, the official evaluations of the Regional Operational Programmes for Mediterranean Objective 1 Regions underline an insufficient level of stakeholder participation in the definition and in the realisation of these policies.

The Strategic Evaluation of Structural Funds underlines the absence of in-depth, quality evaluations of regional innovation measures supported through the Structural Funds. The improvement of evaluation practice in this field is considered a necessity for 2007-13, applying a case study approach to identify good practice cases. This research will attempt to answer to this gap, investigating the creation of local partnerships and focusing on the networks between Higher Education Institutions, Regional administrations and their development agencies. As a consequence, the main aim of this research is to assess how innovation policies contributed to socio-economic strategic goals of regional policies in Mediterranean Objective 1 Regions, understanding the policy implementation process of local innovation policies through co-operation and partnerships, analysing roles and the contributions of each actor involved, with a particular focus on Universities and regional agencies for innovation,.

The main objectives are:

1. Analyse regional innovation policies funded by Structural Funds in Mediterranean Objective 1 Regions
2. Identify the key drivers in regional innovation policies
3. Analyse and evaluate the processes of cooperation, participation and involvement
4. Assess the effectiveness of local partnerships for innovation
5. Assess the effectiveness of regional innovation policies

The aim and objectives of the research are focused on the analysis and evaluation of different dynamics, programmes and outcomes. As a consequence, multiple methodologies of analysis are required. The methodology of this research is based on a mixed-method approach combining qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative tools include: documentation review, observation, face-to-face semi-structured interviews.

On the other side, the quantitative analysis is mainly related to: first, analyse the socio-economical background of the regions analysed; second, assess the contributions of each actor in innovation policies and the interactions between them; third, the effectiveness of the partnerships and of the cooperative programmes implemented; finally, to assess the effectiveness of regional innovation policies. The case studies are 4 regions which at the starting of the 2000-2006 CSF were (at different stages, i.e. phasing-out) under the Objective 1 programme: Puglia, Sardegna, Comunidad Valenciana, Regiòn de Murcia. The selection of the case studies has been conducted with the aim to analyse experiences from different countries (Italy and Spain) with similar regional powers to contrast the experiences in large regions and small regions.

Funding

Funding: Graduate Teaching Fellowship scheme, SED.