Michael Kitson is University Lecturer in global macroeconomics at the Judge Business School, Cambridge; Director of the Programme on Regional Innovation at the Cambridge-MIT Institute; Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge; and Research Associate of the Centre for Business Research, Cambridge. His research interests include, economic policy, regional economics, corporate performance, technology transfer and the commercialisation of science. His publications include the The Political Economy of Competitiveness (with Jonathan Michie) and articles in the Economic Journal, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Economic History Review, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Review of International Political Economy, Bulletin of Economic Research, Regional Studies and Urban Studies. He has undertaken major research projects for the UK Department of Trade and Industry; the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts; the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He has also provided evidence as an expert witness for the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s enquiry into globalisation. His current work in concerned with assessing the factors that drive regional competitiveness and innovation and he is currently directing an ESRC research project on the impact of Higher Education