Many recent studies maintain that regional characteristics influence the innovative performances, innovation processes and innovation patterns of firms. Based on a representative sample of knowledge-intensive firms in Norway, this paper analyses the innovation output, innovation partners, knowledge sources, and localization of sources and partners for knowledge-intensive firms in three types of region: large urban regions, small urban regions and rural areas. The empirical results contradict some of the assumptions of the literature dealing with agglomeration economies, regional clusters, and so on. We find, for example, that the firms' innovation partners and knowledge sources are quite similar irrespective of location. This may indicate that the relevant innovation systems in knowledge-intensive industries in Norway are sectoral and national rather than regional. The paper also finds that the small urban regions and the rural regions have a higher share of innovating, knowledge-intensive firms than the large urban regions, which may partly be explained by a much higher rate of public funding of innovation activity in the first two regional types. However, the large urban regions have higher new firm formation rates and more radically innovating firms than the other two types of region. The paper discusses to what extent the concept of open innovation may contribute to explaining the empirical results, because firms in large urban regions can rely more on open innovation than firms in other regions. Keywordsinnovation, knowledge flow, knowledge-intensive industries, Norway, regional industrial development E u r o p e a n U r b a n a n d R e g i o n a l S t u d i e s European Urban and Regional Studies 17(3) 227-243

This paper compares learning, knowledge flows and innovation processes in the high-tech clusters in four small Norwegian cities, which are specialized in high-tech industries. It addresses how the clusters have developed historically with important national stimuli and engagement, examines what existing knowledge sources and innovation networks the high-tech firms use and are integrated in, and identifies which of these are particularly locally rooted vis-à-vis relying more on global pipelines. The paper underlines the importance of glocal (global and local) networks for the innovation capabilities of high-tech firms in small regional clusters. However, it also critically examines the concepts of glocal networks and "local buzz and global pipelines", and argues in particular for the need to take into account some other types of proximities and spatial levels that directly and indirectly are focused by these concepts. Thus, the national level is found to be central in initiating the building of clusters in new industries, particularly in "resource thin" peripheral regions.

How can we understand head office location in a knowledge-intensive urban economy? This is the basic question addressed in this paper. Even if proximity is important in understanding location, a study must also emphasise the multiplicity of connections that surpass the cluster or city level, which are critical for the operation of the head office. The study offers new insights into the categorisation of head office location and illustrates the importance of a multilevel perspective by analysing head offices as nodes within a system of internal, regional and external flows of knowledge and information. This theoretical approach is inspired by the work of Amin and Thrift. The paper's theory-informed discussion is based on empirical data from a survey of the largest companies in Norway and on intensive case studies from a selection of these firms.

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