European Regional Growth Research Articles

Structural Funds and European Regional Growth: Comparison of Effects among Different Programming Periods

Strengthening social, economic and territorial cohesion is a central objective of the European Union (EU) and the Structural Funds reflect the main financial effort of the EU to pursue this goal. So far we have gone through four programming periods; to what extent the EU Funds have become more effective in promoting growth and reducing the disparities between EU Member countries is a matter of concern. We investigate the existence (or not) of learning effects and efficiency improvements following the reforms of Regional Policy. The study is applied to data from EU regions (EU12) in the most recent programming periods where data are available. The results suggest an improvement of the Funds efficiency in growth in 2000–2006 when compared to the previous programming period. Moreover, the returns from investments of Funds tend to be higher in richer, higher-educated and more innovative regions. Finally, the Cohesion group has not been able to transform the large transfers received into additional growth.

Inequality and Growth in European Regions: Towards a Place-based Approach

Does agglomeration matter for growth? This paper addresses this question by evaluating the impact that intra-regional income distribution has on regional growth in Europe. By using a spatially augmented Solow growth model, we investigate the convergence process among 188 EU regions between 1991 and 2004 and extend the traditional growth models to account for the impact of regional inequality on growth, as well as the effects of interaction among regions. Our assumption is that existing levels of inequality between sub-regional territorial units could positively contribute to regional economic growth in Europe, through the positive effects generated by the emergence of agglomeration economies. Our results show that while we cannot find any overall significant relationship in Europe between agglomeration and growth, once we distinguish between Objective 1 and Non-objective 1 regions we are able to find that agglomeration positively impacts subsequent growth, but only in the less developed regions.

Analiza β-konwergencji. Od tradycyjnego modelu przekrojowego do dynamicznego modelu panelowego

The aim of the paper is to discuss the course of development of methodology of economic convergence analyses, which points up the necessity of taking into consideration spatial connections among regions in regional growth models. It presents empirical models of β-convergence concerning the economic growth of European regions using various methodological conceptions. In the paper the models offered by spatial econometrics are recommended. The empirical data refer to per capita GDP across the European Union regions at a NUTS-2 level over the period 1995–2009 (annual data).

Globalization and Regional Growth in Europe: Past Trends and Future Scenarios, by RobertaCapello, UgoFratesi, and LauraResmini. 2011. Series: Advances in Spatial Science: The Regional Science Series. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer. 339 + xxii. ISBN 978-3

Journal of Regional ScienceVolume 53, Issue 3 p. 542-544 BOOK REVIEW Globalization and Regional Growth in Europe: Past Trends and Future Scenarios, by Roberta Capello, Ugo Fratesi, and Laura Resmini. 2011. Series: Advances in Spatial Science: The Regional Science Series. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer. 339 + xxii. ISBN 978-3-642-19250-0, $139. Wolfgang Polasek, Wolfgang Polasek Department of Economics Institute for Advanced Studies ViennaSearch for more papers by this author Wolfgang Polasek, Wolfgang Polasek Department of Economics Institute for Advanced Studies ViennaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 24 July 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12039Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume53, Issue3August 2013Pages 542-544 RelatedInformation

R&D offshoring and the productivity growth of European regions

The recent increase in R&D offshoring has raised fears that knowledge and competitiveness in advanced countries may be at risk of ‘hollowing out’. At the same time, economic research has stressed that this process is also likely to allow some reverse technology transfer and foster growth at home. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the extent to which R&D offshoring is associated with productivity dynamics of European regions.We find that offshoring regions have higher productivity growth, but this positive effect fades with the number of investment projects carried out abroad. A large and positive correlation emerges between the extent of R&D offshoring and the home region productivity growth, supporting the idea that carrying out R&D abroad strengthens European competitiveness.

Tourism and Regional Growth in Europe

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of domestic and international tourism on the economic growth process for 179 regions in ten European countries, which are highly representative of total tourism flows. The econometric analysis is performed for the period 1999-2009 and is based on a spatial growth regression framework, where the rate of GDP per capita growth at the regional level depends on tourism flows in addition to traditional production inputs, such as physical, human and technological capital. In addition to controlling for initial conditions, we also include covariates for the geographical, social and institutional features of the regions. The results, which are robust to several robustness checks, demonstrate the positive effect of domestic and international tourism flows on regional growth.

Does Social Capital Matter for European Regional Growth?

This article analyzes the role of different elements of social capital in economic growth for a sample of 85 European regions during the period 1995-2008. Much has been said about social capital in the last two decades, but studies for the European regional context are scant, and those analyzing periods after the nineties are nonexistent. The improvements in data availability allow us to consider the traditionally disregarded Central and Eastern European regions. This is especially interesting, since they are all transition economies that recently joined to the European Union and show remarkably low levels of social capital. Additionally, we follow the Bayesian paradigm, which not only allows us to make direct inference on the parameters to be estimated, but also deals with parameter uncertainty, leading to a deeper understanding of the data. Contrary to other contributions for the European context, results suggest, among other findings, that trust and social norms might have the major implications for regional growth, whereas the role of active participation in groups does not seem to be so well defined.

Internal and External Sources of Regional Growth

This paper examines the pattern of regional growth due to their ability to adopt technology. Whether regions exhibit a ‘high’ or ‘low’ path of growth depends on the adoption of technological improvements. Technology adoption can be either ‘internal’ or ‘external’ to the region. This approach is tested empirically using data for 247 European regions. The results suggest that adoption of technology has a significant and positive effect in regional growth in Europe.

The Determinants of Economic Growth in European Regions

Crespo Cuaresma J., Doppelhofer G. and Feldkircher M. The determinants of economic growth in European regions, Regional Studies. This paper uses Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to find robust determinants of economic growth between 1995 and 2005 in a new data set of 255 European regions. It finds that income convergence between countries is dominated by the catching-up of regions in new member states in Central and Eastern Europe, whereas convergence within countries is driven by regions in old European Union member states. Regions containing capital cities are growing faster, particularly in Central and Eastern European countries, as do regions with a large share of workers with a higher education. The results are robust when allowing for spatial spillovers among European regions.

Technological interdependence and regional growth in Europe: Proximity and synergy in knowledge spillovers

AbstractThe economic growth literature suggests that knowledge spillovers are subject to distance decay effects. In this paper the main aim is to provide a theoretical framework and empirical evidence on the role played by other kinds of proximities, namely relational, social and technological proximity, in explaining productivity growth. Using a sample of 249 EU 27 NUTS 2 regions in the period 1990–2004, semiparametric spatial autoregressive models are estimated. Results provide evidence of a positive role of social and relational proximities as important channels of knowledge spillovers, and on the fact that, when simultaneously present, different kinds of proximities generate synergic effects on growth.ResumenLa literatura sobre el crecimiento económico sugiere que los spillovers de conocimiento están sujetos a efectos de deterioro por distancia. El objetivo principal de este artículo es proporcionar un marco teórico y pruebas empíricas sobre el papel desempeñado por otros tipos de proximidades (relacional, social y tecnológica), a la hora de explicar el crecimiento de la productividad. Utilizando una muestra de 249 regiones NUTS 2 de la UE 27 para el período 1990‐2004, se estiman modelos autorregresivos espaciales semiparamétricos. Los resultados aportan pruebas del papel positivo de las proximidades sociales y relacionales como canales importantes de spillovers de conocimientos, y del hecho de que, cuando se presentan simultáneamente, los diferentes tipos de proximidades generan efectos sinérgicos sobre el crecimiento.

Agricultural support as a Pigouvian subsidy for landscape amenity benefits: revisiting European regional convergence

European regional per capita income levels may be underestimated if the positive external effects of landscape amenity benefits are omitted. This may impact β -convergence models of regional growth. Agricultural support has been used as a conditioning variable in a number of studies of European regional growth. Without correction for a possible Pigouvian subsidy, we would expect a negative relationship between agricultural support and regional growth. If agricultural support is intended to act as a Pigouvian subsidy aiming at internalising landscape amenity benefit, we would expect to see upward shifts in coefficient values and possibly a sign change. Because landscape amenity benefits cannot be readily measured, we will be obliged to explore the parameter space of models including such a correction, in particular to see whether positive coefficient values for agricultural support can be found for representations of amenity benefit that harmonise with economic theory.

Regional convergence and growth in Europe: understanding patterns and determinants

The paper examines the pattern of regional convergence and the determinants of regional growth in Europe, providing a discussion of the issues that are of relevance to the theoretical conceptions and the subsequent design of regional development policy, supported by an illustrative empirical analysis. The analysis covers 249 NUTS II regions of the European Union in the period 1990–2003. Using as its basis the standard framework of (absolute) β-convergence, the paper detects a mirror-image J-shaped relationship between regional growth and regional development levels. This type of relationship indicates that regional divergence factors are getting stronger, and, eventually, dominate, at more advanced levels of development. On the basis of a regional growth model, factors such as agglomeration economies, geography, economic integration and economic structure seem to create an overall unfavourable economic environment for lagging (and, possibly, less favoured) regions. Such an environment generates dilemmas and questions concerning the mix of policies that may promote growth and at the same time reduce regional inequalities in the European Union.

Cross-region analysis through a myopic leader-follower model

The paper is a contribution to the empirics of cross-country and cross-region literature on growth economics. Its aim is to assess the role of the global component in the development of European regions during the period 2000–2005. For this purpose a simple leader-follower model is set up in which all countries imitate the technology of the leader. The model is applied to cross-country data of the period 1870–2003 as corroboration and to the cross-region data. This approach makes it possible to rank the regions based on the rate of return of broadly understood capital and the impact of global forces as compared to local ones. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the extent of the role of imitations in the growth of European regions.

Regional Growth in Europe: The Role of European and National Policies

We conduct a systematic study of the impact of European Union (EU) regional policies on regional economic growth that controls for national policies and geographic characteristics. Special care is taken in distinguishing between the impact of EU policies and of national policies on economic growth. Our empirical study tries to answer two different questions. First, is there convergence across EU regions, and if so, do regions converge to a common European steady-state or to a national one? Second, how do European and national policies affect regional growth? We find evidence of regional convergence at the national level but not at the European level. In addition we find that trade openness at the national level is associated with regional convergence while European regional policies contribute, though weakly, to regional convergence. Our results suggest that policies that foster market integration - and convergence to a common steady-state - such as the promotion of labour and capital movements across countries and common regulatory policies are as important for European-wide regional convergence as regional structural funds.

Model-Based Clustering of Non-Gaussian Panel Data Based on Skew-t Distributions

We propose a model-based method to cluster units within a panel. The underlying model is autoregressive and non-Gaussian, allowing for both skewness and fat tails, and the units are clustered according to their dynamic behavior, equilibrium level, and the effect of covariates. Inference is addressed from a Bayesian perspective, and model comparison is conducted using Bayes factors. Particular attention is paid to prior elicitation and posterior propriety. We suggest priors that require little subjective input and have hierarchical structures that enhance inference robustness. We apply our methodology to GDP growth of European regions and to employment growth of Spanish firms.

The spatial hierarchy of technological change and economic development in Europe

This paper discusses the possibility of a spatial hierarchy of innovation and growth dynamics in Europe. A spatial hierarchy is understood as a geographical clustering of regions, where important differences exist in terms of innovation and growth dynamics between the clusters. The literature on regional growth and innovation is briefly scanned. After this, a database on European regional growth and innovation dynamics is presented. Spatial correlation analysis and spatial principal components analysis are used to explore the possibility of a spatial hierarchy in Europe. The results point to a hierarchy consisting of four groups: South Europe, East Europe, and two groups in West and North Europe. Growth and innovation performance in these clusters are discussed, and some policy conclusions are drawn.

The Determinants of Economic Growth in European Regions

The Determinants of Economic Growth in European Regions

What Does Endogenous Growth Theory Tell about Regional Economies? Empirics of R&D Worker-based Productivity Growth

Izushi H. What does endogenous growth theory tell about regional economies? Empirics of R&D worker-based productivity growth, Regional Studies. Endogenous growth theory emerged in the 1990s as ‘new growth theory’ accounting for technical progress in the growth process. This paper examines the role of research and development (R&D) workers underlying the Romer model (1990) and its subsequent modifications, and compares it with a model based on the accumulation of human capital engaged in R&D. Cross-section estimates of the models against productivity growth of European regions in the 1990s suggest that each R&D worker has a unique set of knowledge while his/her contributions are enhanced by knowledge sharing within a region as well as spillovers from other regions in proximity. Izushi H. Quelles sont les leçons à tirer de la théorie de croissance endogène pour ce qui est des économies régionales?, Regional Studies. La théorie de croissance endogène a vu le jour aux années 1990 comme ‘théorie de croissance nouvelle’ qui expliquait le rôle du progrès technique dans le processus de croissance. Cet article cherche à examiner l'importance des travailleurs R et D, ce qui sous-tend le modèle Romer (1990) et ses modifications ultérieures, et le compare à un modèle basé sur l'accumulation du capital humain dans la R et D. Des estimations transversales des modèles, faites en fonction de la croissance de la productivité des régions d'Europe aux années 1990, laissent supposer que chaque travailleur R et D est doté d'un ensemble de connaissance unique, alors que ses apports sont augmentés par le partage de la connaissance au sein d'une région aussi bien que par les retombées en provenance des autres régions à proximité. Théorie de croissance endogène Retombées de connaissance Croissance de la productivité Progrès technique Recherche et Développement (R et D) Economie basée sur la connaissance Izushi H. Was sagt die Theorie des endogenen Wachstums über regionale Wirtschaften aus? Empirische Belege des Produktivitätswachstums von Arbeitnehmern im Bereich Forschung und Entwicklung, Regional Studies. Die Theorie des endogenen Wachstums entstand in den neunziger Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts als ,neue Wachstumstheorie' zur Erklärung des technischen Fortschritts im Wachstumsprozess. In diesem Beitrag wird die Rolle von Arbeitnehmern im Bereich Forschung und Entwicklung im Rahmen des Romer-Modells (1990) sowie seiner späteren Änderungen untersucht und mit einem Modell verglichen, das auf der Ansammlung von mit Forschung und Entwicklung befasstem Humankapital beruht. Querschnittsschätzungen der Modelle im Vergleich zum Produktivitätswachstum in den europäischen Regionen während der neunziger Jahre lassen darauf schließen, dass jeder Arbeitnehmer im Bereich Forschung und Entwicklung über einzigartiges Wissen verfügt, während seine Beiträge durch die Wissensweitergabe innerhalb einer Region sowie durch Übertragungen von anderen Regionen in der Nähe verbessert werden. Theorie des endogenen Wachstums Wissensübertragung Produktivitätswachstum Technischer Fortschritt Forschung und Entwicklung (F&E) Wissensbasierte Wirtschaft Izushi H. ¿Qué dice la teoría del crecimiento endógeno sobre las economías regionales? Datos empíricos sobre el crecimiento de la productividad entre trabajadores de I + D), Regional Studies. La teoría del crecimiento endógeno surgió en la década de los noventa como una ‘nueva teoría del crecimiento’ para explicar el papel del progreso técnico en el proceso del crecimiento. En este artículo se analiza el rol de los trabajadores de I + D bajo el modelo Romer (1990) y sus posteriores modificaciones, comparándolo con un modelo basado en la acumulación de capital humano involucrado en I + D. Los cálculos transversales de los modelos en comparación con el crecimiento de la productividad en las regiones europeas en los noventa indican que cada trabajador de I + D posee una serie de conocimientos especiales mientras que su contribución es aumentada por el conocimiento compartido dentro de una región así como los desbordamientos de otras regiones próximas. Teoría del crecimiento endógeno Desbordamientos de conocimiento Crecimiento de la productividad Progreso técnico Investigación y Desarrollo (I + D) Economía basada en el conocimiento

R&D, higher education and regional growth: Uneven linkages among European regions

This paper examines the relationship between the economic growth of European regions and their knowledge and human capital endowments. The share of adult population with tertiary education and the intensity of R&D expenditures in value-added emerge as the most effective factors enhancing the growth of GDP per capita recorded, during 1995–2002, by the regions belonging to twelve countries of the former EU15. However, while the educational variable is effective for the whole regional set, the impact of R&D is significant only for the regions that are above a given threshold of per capita GDP. Moreover, remarkable disparities arise among the regions of different countries. In particular, only within North European countries there is a significant relationship between regional growth and the intensity of R&D and higher education. The policy implications of both findings are discussed.

Research and Development, Spillovers, Innovation Systems, and the Genesis of Regional Growth in Europe

Rodriguez-Pose A. and Crescenzi R. Research and development, spillovers, innovation systems, and the genesis of regional growth in Europe. Regional Studies. Research on the impact of innovation on regional economic performance in Europe has fundamentally followed three approaches: (1) the analysis of the link between investment in research and development (RD (2) the study of the existence and efficiency of regional innovation systems; and (3) the examination of the geographical diffusion of regional knowledge spillovers. These complementary approaches have, however, rarely been combined. Important operational and methodological barriers have thwarted any potential cross-fertilization. This paper tries to fill this gap in the literature by combining in one model R&D, spillovers, and innovation systems approaches. A multiple regression analysis is conducted for all regions of the group of 25 European Union countries (EU-25), including measures of R&D investment, proxies for...