4. Open Innovation and Clusters: Why Geographical Proximity Matters

The 2008 crisis is still casting a long shadow upon the European Union’s growth, and its magnitude has been felt well beyond the purely financial sphere, impacting Europe’s social fabric and mentality like few other events in the recent past (European Commission 2014). Above all, the last few years have shown the vulnerability of the international and European financial system and the perils large and small companies are unavoidably exposed to within an intensely interconnected, interdependent macroeconomic system. Like in previous periods of global financial downturn, market failures have led to a widespread loss of trust in the overall financial system on the part of small and large investors alike, as well as to a sensible increase in risk perception. It is therefore hardly surprising to find out that the crisis has exacted a heavy toll on a significant number of innovative activities, being risky and bold investment one of the foundations upon which revolutionary and forward-thinking research has always evolved.