Ioannis Kaplanis, Director General of the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation, together with Ernest Miguelez (CNRS, Université de Bordeaux), Claire Economidou (University of  Piraeus) and Kyriakos Drivas (University of Piraeus), are organizing a Special Session at the Joint Conference of the Greek and French Sections of the European Regional Science Association, to be held in Athens, Greece, 5-7 July 2017.

The Special Session is titled "Intellectual property and regional development: innovation, proximity and smart specialization", and we invite contributions that examine the presence and role of both metropolitan and/or rural European regions in the ever-changing IP landscape. Papers that examine the IP landscape in any form (patents, geographical indications, trademarks, plant varieties, designs etc.) at the regional level are welcome. The role of regional stakeholders (universities, industries, government and society) is also of interest in this special session. We will also consider contributions analyzing the type of technological knowledge produced within specific places, the role of related and unrelated technological activities, and the concept of smart specialization.

Contributions can be at the macro level or micro level and can take these issues either empirically or theoretically. Other topics include, but are not limited to: comparison of IP quality and exploitation across regions; how IP and innovative activity relates to growth, trade, FDI and other economy-wide variables; how knowledge is diffused between developed regions and less developed regions (comparisons between North and South are welcome). PhD students and young researchers are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you are interested to contributing to our Special Session and join us in Athens, please go through the conference website and submit your abstract (http://www.asrdlf2017.com/en/call-abstracts). During the submission process you will be asked if your paper goes to a specific themed or special session. Make sure you click our special session, S10.

Deadline to submit abstract is March 17, 2017