Deadline for Submission: December 1, 2019

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The link between innovation and regional and urban growth has been subject of extensive

research in the last years. Inter alia, Rosenthal and Strange (2003) or Glaeser et al. (2010, 2015)

found that entrepreneurs as a potential source of innovation are an important ingredient for

regional growth. Frenken and Boschma (2007) argue that grains from variety at the firm and

regional level provide the important feedback mechanism for urban and regional specialization

and growth. Moreover, many policymakers point to the role of cluster policies for regional and

urban growth.

However, the relevant cluster policy is often associated with incremental rather than with

radical innovation. Thus, despite the notable progress in this line of research, our understanding

of radical innovations as the source for urban and regional economic growth and the explicit

role of clusters is still very limited (Audretsch and Aldridge 2008).

The aim of this special issue is to shed light on this important link between radical innovation,

entrepreneurship and regional growth, both from a systematic empirical as well as from a

theoretical point of view.