Institutionalization of cross-border regional innovation systems: the role of university institutional entrepreneurs

Cross-border regions are faced with the difficulty that resources for knowledge and innovation may be nearby but difficult to connect to because of the border. Universities could play a supportive role in building innovation environments, facilitating cross-border knowledge exchange. In this research we attempt to understand the systemic roles that universities might play by considering the activities in which they build these cross-border institutional arrangements. We focus upon activities of individual actors, conceptualized as ‘institutional entrepreneurs’. We ask the research question: How can universities through their institutional entrepreneurship activities contribute to the institutionalization of cross-border innovation environments that facilitate cross-border resource access for innovating actors? We address it by developing a conceptual framework for how these institutional entrepreneurs may operate, and identify three repertoires of contributions. We then explore how university actors in a specific cross-border region have built linkages that have acquired a degree of permanence.