Emanuela Marrocu

Education or Creativity: What Matters Most for Economic Performance?

Abstract There is a large consensus among social researchers on the positive role that human capital plays in economic performances. The standard way to measure the human capital endowment is to consider the educational attainments of the resident population, usually the share of people with a university degree. Florida (2002) suggested a different measure of human capital—the “creative class”—based on the actual occupations of individuals in specific jobs like science, engineering, the arts, culture, and entertainment. However, the empirical analyses conducted so far have overlooked a serious measurement problem concerning the clear definition of the education and creativity components of human capital. This article aims to disentangle this issue by proposing a disaggregation of human capital into three nonoverlapping categories: creative graduates, bohemians, and noncreative graduates. Using a spatial error model to account for spatial dependence, we assess the concurrent effect of the human capital indicators on total factor productivity for 257 regions of EU27. Our results indicate that highly educated people working in creative occupations are the most relevant component in explaining production efficiency, noncreative graduates exhibit a lower impact, and bohemians do not show a significant effect on regional performance. Moreover, a significant influence is exerted by technological capital, cultural diversity, and industrial and geographic characteristics, thus providing robust evidence that a highly educated, innovative, open, and culturally diverse environment is becoming more central for productivity enhancements.

Estimation of Total Factor Productivity for Regions and Sectors in Italy. A Panel Cointegration Approach

In this paper a complete set of estimates of long-run production functions for 20 regions and 17 sectors in Italy is provided over the period 1970-1994. Our approach features two important aspects. First, this paper represents the first attempt to provide such a comprehensive set of estimates for the Italian economy. Moreover, we allow the estimated production functions for heterogeneity across sectors and regions. This is particularly appropriate when analysing the Italian economy since the Italian regions have been experiencing fairly different and, in certain cases, divergent development paths. Secondly, on the basis of specific panel tests, we show that there is a considerable empirical evidence which suggests the presence of unit roots in our series; therefore, we apply panel cointegration tests to guard against the spurious regression problem and to detect long-run relationships. Evidence of long run relationships is found for most of the regions and the sectors on the basis of the cointegration tests; thus, the problem of spurious regressions is ruled out allowing us to offer rigorous inference on the estimation of regional production functions. We find that factor elasticities highly differ across regions and sectors. This is an important result since most previous studies by employing unique national elasticities introduce a serious bias in the productivity comparisons.

The Complementary Effects of Proximity Dimensions on Knowledge Spillovers

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of various proximity dimensions on the innovative capacity of 276 regions in Europe within a knowledge production function model, where R&D and human capital are included as the main internal inputs. We combine the standard geographical proximity with the technological, social and organizational ones to assess whether they are substitutes or complements in channelling knowledge spillovers. Results show that all proximities have a significant complementary role in generating an important flow of knowledge across regions, with technological closeness showing the most important effect.

The effects of public capital on the productivity of the Italian regions

This article investigates the role played by public capital in increasing the productivity levels in Italy. For construction of the regional series for the public capital stock over the period 1996 to 2003, the study benefits from the use of the rich dataset on public expenditure, recently published by the Italian Ministry of Economy. We have estimated panel production functions with the inclusion of traditional factors and also intangible inputs like research and development (R&D) expenditure, human capital (HK) and social capital (SK). The results point out that public capital has a positive and significant effect on production. Moreover, the effects of all production factors vary considerably between the two macro-areas of the country, namely Centre-North and Mezzogiorno. More specifically, while private capital is more effective in the South, labour exhibits an elasticity much higher in the Centre-North with respect to the Mezzogiorno. The disaggregation of the public capital stock into functional categories indicates a significant different impact in the two macro-areas. In addition, when the analysis is carried out by distinguishing among government levels it turns out that the decentralized administrative bodies are much less efficient in the South in delivering public expenditure.

Regional Development and Creativity

The aim of this article is to assess the role played by creativity and other components of human capital on the process of economic growth for 257 regions in the twenty-seven-member countries of the European Union. We first decompose the regional human capital endowment to distinguish between the educational component (the share of individuals with a university degree) and the creativity component, which considers the actual occupations of individuals in specific jobs like science, engineering, education, arts, and entertainment. We define three nonoverlapping categories of human capital (creative graduates, bohemians, and noncreative graduates), which are simultaneously included in a spatial model as determinants of regional growth measured by labor productivity. After extending the analysis to control for other relevant factors which may affect regional development, such as physical, technological, and social capital, cultural diversity, industrial and geographical characteristics, we provide robust evidence on the growth-enhancing effects of graduates, in particular for those of the creative category.

Proximity, Networks and Knowledge Production in Europe

This paper aims at investigating the role of different types of proximity on the technological activity of a region within the context of a knowledge production function where R&D expenditure and human capital are the main internal inputs. We intend to assess if, and how much, the creation of new ideas in a certain region is the result of knowledge flows coming from proximate regions. In particular, we examine in detail the concept of proximity combining the usual geographical dimension with the institutional, technological, social and organizational proximity. The analysis is implemented for an ample dataset referring to 276 regions in 29 European countries (EU27 plus Norway, Switzerland) for the last decade. Results show that human capital and R&D are clearly essential for innovative activity but with an impact which is much higher for the former factor. As for the proximity and network effects, we find that geography is important but less than technological and cognitive proximity. Social and organizational networks are also relevant although their role is modest.

The Concurrent Impact of Cultural, Political, and Spatial Distances on International Mergers and Acquisitions

The paper explores the concurrent effects of cultural, political, and spatial distances on M&A flows occurring between any two countries belonging to the whole European Union (27 States) or to the European Neighbors group (16 States) over the period 2000-2011 . By employing zero-inflated negative binomial specifications, entailing both a binary and count process, we adequately model the two different mechanisms which may generate zero observations in the cross-border bilateral deals. Zeros may be due to either the lack of any transactions or unsuccessful negotiations. We find robust evidence that the multi-dimensional distance between two countries negatively affects the probability that they will engage in M&A deals, while the recurrence rate of these deals is positively related to population, gross domestic product, and technological capital and negatively related to geographical distance.

Networks, Proximities, and Interfirm Knowledge Exchanges

Building on previous literature that provides extensive evidence concerning flows of knowledge generated by interfirm agreements, in this article, we aim to analyze how the occurrence of such collaborations is driven by multidimensional proximity among participants and by their position within firms’ networks. More specifically, we assess how the likelihood that two firms set up a partnership is influenced by their bilateral geographical, technological, organizational, institutional, and social proximity and by their position within networks. Our analysis is based on agreements in the form of joint ventures or strategic alliances, announced over the period 2005–2012, in which at least one partner is localized in Italy. We consider the full range of economic activities, which allows us to offer a general scenario and to investigate specifically the role of technological relatedness across different sectors. The econometric analysis, based on the logistic framework for rare events, provided three noteworthy results. First, all five dimensions of proximity jointly exert a positive and relevant effect in determining the probability of interfirm knowledge exchanges, signaling that they complement each other rather than function as alternative channels. Second, the highest impact on probability is due to technological proximity, followed by organizational, geographical, and institutional proximities, while social proximity has a limited effect. Third, we find evidence concerning the positive role played by networks, through preferential attachment effects, in enhancing the probability of interfirm agreements.

Interregional patient mobility in a decentralized healthcare system

ABSTRACT Interregional patient mobility in a decentralized healthcare system. Regional Studies. Interregional patient mobility, measured as origin–destination patient flows between any two regions, is analysed within a dynamic spatial panel data framework using 2001–10 data on Italian hospital discharges. The aim is to assess the effects of the main determinants of patient flows, distinguishing between the impacts of regional health policies and those exerted by exogenous factors (geography, size, neighbouring regions, national policies). Empirical results indicate that the main drivers of mobility are regional income, hospital capacity, organizational structure, performance and technology. Moreover, neighbouring regions’ supply factors, specialization and performance largely affect mobility by generating significant local externalities.

Spatial, Cultural and Political Distances as Drivers of M&A Deals in EU and Neighbouring Countries

The paper explores the role of spatial, cultural and political distances as drivers of M&A deals in the European Union 27 countries and in the 16 European Neighbouring Countries (ENC). The econometric analysis is based on a general gravity model framework for count data estimated using a Zero-inflated Negative Binomial specification which allows to model differently the mechanism generating the zero observations (absence of bilateral transactions) and the one generating positive events. Using the Zero-inflated model we first explore how spatial, cultural and political distances affect the probability that two countries effectively implement an initial bilateral deal and afterwards the rate of recurrence of these links.