Geography of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Regional Innovation: Empirical Evidence and Policy Design

This paper aims to assess the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) to the innovation performances in EU regions. Empirical evidence shows that HEIs are a necessary but not sufficient component of regional innovation systems, contribute to the performance of their regional community and make regional innovation policies more efficient. Due to the increasing focus on HEIs as drivers of regional innovation, this paper discusses the need for a holistic approach that operates from the perspective of higher education policy that involves removing barriers to collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship and creates synergies with other policy areas, such as innovation and regional development. We therefore ask (i) how the presence, quality and connectedness of HEIs map onto regional innovation outcomes and (ii) under which conditions their effects are amplified. Using an EU-wide regional dataset (EIS indicators, patents, co-publications, R&D and human capital) we estimate PLSR/PCR models to address multicollinearity and reveal latent drivers. Findings confirm that HEIs raise performance when embedded in strong R&D and policy environments; on their own, effects are limited. We classify regions into practical archetypes (leaders, over-performers, under-performers) to guide place-sensitive strategies. Policy implications include removing collaboration barriers, incentivizing university–industry–public co-creation, and aligning higher education with innovation and regional development through multi-level governance. Robustness checks support the stability of results across specifications.