Innovation by imitation? Benchmarking success stories of regional innovation

In the hope to boost regional competitiveness, public authorities increasingly try to imitate success stories of regional innovation. For most areas, Silicon Valley is the dream scenario. Against this background, the chapter discusses the usefulness of benchmarking success stories of regional innovation. For this purpose, the authors review insights from Schumpeterian innovation theory, economic geography, and public policy studies. On the basis of this overview, they conclude that especially in the field of regional innovation, it is hard to reproduce the success of best practices. Therefore, the authors plea for more realism in regional innovation policy: regions may draw inspiration from success stories, but cannot turn themselves in a second Silicon Valley. Thus, the guiding principle for public authorities should be: don’t imitate – innovate!