مدل نوآوری سرزمینی گرنبل: GIANT: آیا سرمایه گذاری در زیرساخت های تحقیقاتی ارزشمند است؟  Grenoble–GIANT Territorial Innovation Models: Are investments in research infrastructures worthwhile?

1. Introduction To catalyze economic growth, the European Union nations are developing Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3). RIS3 strategies “focus on policy support and investments on key national/regional priorities, challenges and needs for knowledgebased development, [and] they are evidence-based and include sound monitoring and evaluation systems” (European Commission 2011, p. 2). Overall, the aim is to promote coherent and structured investments, to catalyze innovation and research, to support the economic development in Europe, and to reduce the differences between European regions (Midtkandal and Sörvik, 2012). In that context, Foray et al. (2012) argued that the knowledge triangle of education, research, and innovation is relevant in the context of smart specialization. In that sense, the concept of “smart cities” raised important questions related to human capitals, social capitals, economic aspects, training, and education. Caragliu et al. (2011) argued that the availability of an educated labor force and long-term investment explains the rapid urban growth and the success of cities. Moreover, past researches have shown spending on infrastructure has been very important in the EU over the last decade (Del Bo and Florio, 2012). However, we know much less about the impact of infrastructure on economic activities, which prompts these questions: What are the investments worth? What are the expected returns of such investments? Considering the scarce availability of public resources, the question of returns on public funds/public infrastructures is of increasing interest. For instance, Breznitz et al. (2008) argued that there is increasing pressure on universities to generate economic returns and to contribute to employment of a skilled workforce. Lee et al. (2013) also argued that “In a world of increasing uncertainty, policy makers are recommended to focus on the implications of that long-lasting variability for societal value creation.” (p. 342).