These workshop proceedings discuss releasing the potential of SMEs by enhancing their access to global markets.

Entrepreneurship and Regional Development aims to make a theoretical and practical contribution meeting the need for studies on the impact of clusters on entrepreneurship and societal outcomes. This book aims to answer the following research question: Do clusters matter to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship outcomes at the societal level?

SMEs that grow have a considerable positive impact on employment creation, innovation, productivity growth and competitiveness. Digital technologies and global value chains offer new opportunities for SMEs to participate in the global economy, innovate and strengthen productivity. Yet SMEs are lagging behind in the digital transition and are disproportionately affected by market failures, trade barriers, policy inefficiencies and the quality of institutions. A cross-cutting approach to SME policy can enhance SME innovation and scale-up, as well as their contributions to inclusive growth. This includes a business environment conducive to risk-taking and experimentation by entrepreneurs, as well as access to entrepreneurship competencies, management and workforce skills, technology, innovation, and networks.

This book sets out a vision of devolved economic development policies capable of responding to the challenges of globalisation.

This book examines the principal routes through which enterprise creation can have a positive impact on local economies.

Patrick Llerena and Mireille Matt BETA, Strasbourg, E-mail: pllerena@coumot. u-strasbg. fr BETA, Strasbourg, E-mail: matt@coumot. u-strasbg. fr 0. 1 Why Analyze Innovation Policies From a Knowledge- Based Perspective? It is broadly accepted that we have moved (or are moving) to a knowled- based economy, characterized at least by two main features: that knowl edge is a major factor in economic growth, and innovation processes are systemic by nature. It is not surprising that this change in the economic paradigm requires new analytical foundations for innovation policies. One of the purposes of this book is to make suggestions as to what they should include. Underpinning all the chapters in this book is a conviction of the impor tance of dynamic and systemic approaches to innovation policy. Nelson (1959)^ and Arrow (1962)^ saw innovation and the creation of new knowl edge as the emergence and the diffusion of new information, characterized essentially as a public good. The more recent theoretical literature regarded the rationale for innovation policies as being to provide solutions to "mar ket failures". Today, however, knowledge is seen as multidimensional (tacit vs. codified) and open to interpretation. Acknowledging that the creation, coordination and diffusion of knowledge are dynamic and cumu lative processes, and that innovation processes result from the coordination of distributed knowledge, renders the "market failure" view of innovation policies obsolete. Innovation policies must be systemic and dynamic.

This publication presents the proceedings of a conference that took stock of achievements China has made in agricultural finance and credit infrastructure and discussed how China could best address future challenges in this area.