Over the past decade, the study of cities and regions has been marked by an increased concern with institutions and their relationship to economic and political change. This 'institutional turn' has been particularly prominent in studies of local and regional economic governance. This book brings together internationally renowned authors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to take critical stock of the field, assess the merits and limits of the 'institutional turn', and examine directions for future work. Drawing together a range of theoretical and empirical contributions, the book seeks to move forward the debate on institutions and their relationship to local and regional governance. The individual chapters examine the theoretical underpinnings of institutionalist work, the critical relationship between institutions, collaboration and local and regional economic performance, as well as questions of local and regional economic governance and its politics.