La presente tesis se encuadra dentro del debate sobre el papel de las universidades en el desarrollo socioeconómico de las regiones. En la primera parte de la tesis se presenta una revisión de la literatura sobre economía regional, centrada en cómo tres conceptos principales ¿distrito industrial, cluster y sistema local de innovación-- han tratado desde sus respectivos enfoques teóricos, el papel de las instituciones de educación superior. En la segunda parte de la tesis se presentan los aspectos metodológicos de cómo abordar el análisis de un fenómeno tan complejo como es el de la evolución del papel de una universidad, atendiendo a la selección del caso estudio, los diferentes niveles de análisis, así como las técnicas de investigación y de recolección y posterior análisis de datos. En la tercera parte de la tesis se muestran los resultados empíricos traducidos en la presentación, tanto del contexto en donde se inserta la universidad objeto de estudio, como de las tres etapas identificadas en la historia de la institución que, si bien presentan características propias de una región de baja tecnología, han sufrido cambios institucionales que conviene tener en cuenta no sólo desde el punto de vista de las políticas universitarias, sino también desde el punto de vista de la gestión de las instituciones de educación superior. Definitivamente, en la cuarta y última parte de la tesis se presentan las principales conclusiones que se desprenden del estudio realizado a lo largo de esta tesis. / This thesis is framed within the debate on the role of universities in the socioeconomic development of regions. It has three distinct parts. The first part of the thesis presents a review of the literature on regional economy, focusing on how three main concepts - industrial district, cluster and local innovation system - have addressed from their respective theoretical approaches, the role of Higher Education Institutions. The second part of the thesis presents the methodological aspects of how to approach the analysis of a phenomenon as complex as is the changing role of a university, based on the selection of the case study, different levels of analysis and research techniques and collection and subsequent data analysis. The third part of the PhD dissertation presents the empirical results of the thesis translated into the presentation of the context in which to insert the university under study, and the three stages identified in the history of the institution, although their characteristics specific to a region of low-tech, have been institutional changes should take into account not only from the viewpoint of university policies, but also from the standpoint of managing Higher Education Institutions. Definitely, the fourth and final part of the thesis presents the main findings from the study along this thesis. / Ortega Colomer, FJ. (2013). The evolution of a higher education institution's local role in a peripheral low-tech region [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/34789

National innovative capacity, a central driver of countries’ long-term economic growth, has been one of the focal points in innovation research for roughly thirty years. Initially proposed as an index to measure technologic invention over time, this concept has become the widely accepted standard for measuring the performance of (sub) national and sectoral innovation systems toward being an analytic tool attributed to innovation systems theory. Country comparison, knowledge flows, and R&D forecasting are in the center of analysis feeding the concrete practical use of innovation policy optimization. In this regard, a rich body of studies has contributed indispensable knowledge about the determinants of innovative capacity. However, the multi-dimensional interconnections have not been covered in depth. Thus, to gain a holistic understanding of the “DNA” behind national innovative capacity a new “comparative” view of these determinants is necessary. To this end, this dissertation proposes revisiting the focus, unit and parameters of analysis that predominate within current national innovative capacity studies and sets forth three interlinked academic articles that focus on different layers of innovative capacity in countries. Besides furthering academic discourse on the determinants of innovational outcome, this conceptual revision leads to a new approach on national innovation capacity research. Its intention is to make policy makers aware of certain pathways leading to the same outcome. This knowledge will enable them to pursue a dynamic approach of supporting the innovative processes in countries by defining appropriate innovation strategies that consider both the countries’ specific preconditions and the sub-systems perspective.:1. Introduction 2. The purpose of revisiting the NIC concept for innovation policy 3. The scientific contribution of this doctoral thesis 3.1 Article 1: Increasing the national innovative capacity: Identifying the pathways to success using a comparative method 3.2 Article 2: National Health Innovation Systems: Clustering the OECD countries by innovative output in healthcare using a multi-indicator approach 3.3 Article 3: Increasing the innovative capacity of European cities: Making use of proven concepts from the national level 4. References