The course aims to provide students with the basic notions for a critical analysis of public intervention in support of firms, research and innovation. The course is structured in three Sections. The first one provides an introduction to main concept in Economics of Innovation theory. The second one refers to the Italian case that is analyzed with reference to industrial, science and technology policies. The third Section is devoted to the description of the European regional policies. Particular attention will be given to the study of public policies for the development and diffusion of new environmental-friendly technologies.