La atracción de universidades extranjeras para estimular el desarrollo regional: experiencias internacionales e implicaciones para el País Vasco

This article analyzes how governments can attract foreign universities and public research institutes that contribute to stimulating regional innovation systems. Building on the analysis of a set of international experiences, we explore the possibility of deploying this strategy in the Basque Country. Indeed, one could dream about expanding the success of the «Guggenheim effect» through a «Harvard effect»; a new internationalization impulse, this time through science rather than art, based on the attraction of world class universities and public research institutes. But the opportunity cost of this type of initiative, and the globallocal conflicts it would generate, require a cautious analysis to guide public policies.