Regional concentration of innovation related resources

In a knowledge-based economy, many drivers of productivity are linked to innovation-related investments, such as skilled human capital or research and development (R&ampD). While it is expected that R&ampD investments or patenting activity concentrate in the most productive regions so as to maximize the return, such a concentration of innovation-related resources in just a few regions may limit the prospects for other regions to catch up if innovation does not travel across regions. Given this, a common goal for regional development policy is to reduce inter-regional disparities in these innovation factors by boosting performance in the lagging regions.