摘要：Cross-border regions are faced with the difficulty that resources for knowledge and innovation may be
nearby but difficult to connect to because of the border. Universities could play a supportive role in
building innovation environments, facilitating cross-border knowledge exchange. In this research we
attempt to understand the systemic roles that universities might play by considering the activities in
which they build these cross-border institutional arrangements. We focus upon activities of individual
actors, conceptualized as ‘institutional entrepreneurs’. We ask the research question: How can
universities through their institutional entrepreneurship activities contribute to the institutionalization of
cross-border innovation environments that facilitate cross-border resource access for innovating actors?
We address it by developing a conceptual framework for how these institutional entrepreneurs may
operate, and identify three repertoires of contributions. We then explore how university actors in a
specific cross-border region have built linkages that have acquired a degree of permanence.
