This article aims to examine the new mechanisms of accountability and incentives for higher education institutions (HEIs) that are emerging at regional level in relation to the development of knowledge-based economies and new structures of governance. A new landscape of higher education emerging in a particular region in the United Kingdom will be analysed, and the influence of multiple levels of public policy instruments will be considered, including national and European policy initiatives as well as the influence of the globalisation of the economy. The seeks a new conceptualisation of “accountability” in a decentralised national framework in light of the formation of “localised learning systems” in the global learning society. The different roles and functions ascribed to universities at various geographical levels, namely, local, regional, national and international, are becoming highly complex, and universities will need to share more effectively some of their key functions with other institutions in society. Incentive mechanisms are needed to create links between “entrepreneurial universities” and other stakeholders in society within a strategic framework.