Introduction: knowledge intensive business services and regional competitiveness : an overview / João J. Ferreira, Mário Raposo, Cristina Fernandes and Marcus Dejardin -- KIBS and industrial dynamics -- Knowledge intensive business services research : a bibliometric study of leading international journals (1994-2014) / Alexandra Braga and Carla Marques -- Kibs and the dynamics of industrial clusters : a complex adaptive systems approach / Benoit Desmarchelier, Faridadh Djellal and Faiz Gallouj -- Bad news travels fast : the role of informal networks for SME-KIBS cooperation / Daniel Feser and Till Proeger -- KIBS and their Context -- Does the geographic distribution of knowledge intensive business services affect the use of services for innovation? : empirical evidence from Quebec KIBS manufacturers / David Doloreux and Richard Shearmur -- Institutions and spin-offs : determining factors for establishment and early market entry success of innovation based spin-offs from KIBS-firms / Kjersti Vikse Meland and Tatiana A. Iakovleva -- Survival of knowledge intensive business service firms : the role of agglomeration externalities / Sam Tavassoli and Viroj Jienwatcharamongkhol -- KIBS and their contribution to regional competitiveness and economic development -- Entrepreneurship and KIBS : key factors in the growth of territories / Joaquín Alcazar, Norat Roig-Tierno, Alicia Mas-Tur and Belén Ribeiro-Navarrete -- Contribution of knowledge intensive activities to regional competitiveness : production function approach / Anna-Leena Asikainen and Giovanni Mangiarotti -- KIBS as a factor in meetings industry competitiveness creation in Krakow, Poland / Krzysztof Borodako, Jadwiga Berbeka and Michal Rudnicki -- Interactive relationships, development effects and knowledge intermediaries among KIBS firms and their clients : a comparison of the Hsinchu and Tainan regions, Taiwan / Tai-Shan Hu, Chien-Yuan Lin and Hung-Nien Hsieh -- Regional competitiveness and localised knowledge intensive business services : the case of the Gold Coast (Australia) / Vanessa Ratten -- KIBS and public policy -- Skills, competitiveness and regional policy : knowledge-intensive business services in the West Midlands, UK / John R. Bryson and Peter W. Daniels -- Prospects and policies in the development of knowledge-intensive business services in Europe / Marja Toivonen and Antonella Caru