Giorgio Fazio

Social capital formation across space: proximity and trust in European regions

An extensive economics and regional science literature has discussed the importance of social capital for economic growth and development. Yet, what social capital is and how it is formed are elusive issues, which require further investigation. Here, we refer to social capital in terms of “civic” capital and “good culture,” as rephrased by Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales and Tabellini. The accumulation of this kind of capital allows the emerging of regional informal institutions, which may help explaining differences in regional development. In this article, we take a regional perspective and use exploratory space and space–time methods to assess whether geography, via proximity, contributes to the formation of social capital across European regions. In particular, we investigate whether generalized trust, a fundamental constituent of civic capital and an ingredient of economic development, tends to be clustered in space and over time. From the policy standpoint, the spatial “path dependence” of regional trust may contribute to the formation of “spatial traps” of social capital and act as a further barrier to regional economic development and convergence.

Social Capital Formation across Space

An extensive economics and regional science literature has discussed the importance of social capital for economic growth and development. Yet, what social capital is and how it is formed are elusive issues, which require further investigation. Here, we refer to social capital in terms of “civic” capital and “good culture,” as rephrased by Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales and Tabellini. The accumulation of this kind of capital allows the emerging of regional informal institutions, which may help explaining differences in regional development. In this article, we take a regional perspective and use exploratory space and space–time methods to assess whether geography, via proximity, contributes to the formation of social capital across European regions. In particular, we investigate whether generalized trust, a fundamental constituent of civic capital and an ingredient of economic development, tends to be clustered in space and over time. From the policy standpoint, the spatial “path dependence” of regional trust may contribute to the formation of “spatial traps” of social capital and act as a further barrier to regional economic development and convergence.

The verdoorn law at the regional level: evidence from europe

In quest’articolo utilizziamo diverse metodologie per stimare l’equazione di Verdoorn con l’obiettivo di saggiare l’ipotesi della presenza di rendimenti crescenti di scala nel settore manifatturiero nelle regioni europee NUTS-2 per l’intervallo temporale 1995-2006. Estendiamo l’equazione di base di Verdoorn considerando la dimensione spaziale sia in termini di prossimita sia di gerarchia geografica. I nostri risultati corroborano la presenza di effetti spaziali, identificano rendimenti crescenti di scala a diversi livelli gerarchici ed evidenziano un certo grado di eterogeneita spaziale. L’analisi svolta evidenzia il ruolo dello spazio nei processi di crescita della produttivita regionale, sia in termini di prossimita sia di gerarchia geografica. La produttivita delle regioni Europee e caratterizzata da rilevanti spillover spaziali sia positivi, possibilmente legati alla diffusione della tecnologia, che negativi, possibilmente dovuti a effetti di competizione spaziale.

Divari economici e variabili di contesto : un'analisi non parametrica per le regioni italiane

Economic disparities and context variables. A non-parametric analysis for Italian regions Objectives The paper provides a ranking of performance scores, originated by indicators of economic and social context, in order to compare the position of each region relative to the others over the period 1997-2003. Methods and Results Indicators of economic and social context are associated to development indicators. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in bootstrap version allows us to define the worst and the best case scenarios of regional performances. The results show a persistent disparity between Center-North and Mezzogiorno over the period 1997-2003. However, some relevant differences amongst regions, within macroareas, provide interesting points to debate. Conclusions Notwithstanding some differences within macro-areas, Italy still appears a dualistic country. The results show that the social context is relevant to accurately analyse the development disparities amongst the Italian regions. Finally, an interpretation of our results indicates a possible risk of failure of the current Government’s intervention.