María Vera-Cabello

The Long-Run Relationship Between R&D and Regional Knowledge: The Case of France, Germany, Italy and Spain

This paper incorporates time-dependence into a regional knowledge production function framework. Within this setup, the long-run dynamic behaviour of R&D and knowledge has been analysed in four European countries - France, Germany, Italy and Spain - using unit root tests and cointegration techniques. We find that the regional stock of knowledge is cointegrated with R&D employment and external knowledge. Nonetheless, knowledge spillovers play a more important role in the generation and accumulation of new ideas. This suggests that innovation policies should aim at enhancing regional absorptive capacity through improvements in education and training.

The demographic impact of terrorism: evidence from municipalities in the Basque Country and Navarre

ABSTRACT This paper studies the persistence of the effects of terrorist attacks on the urban structure at the regional level. With this aim, a dynamic differences-in-differences approach is applied to all the municipalities of the Basque Country and Navarre autonomous communities in Spain during the period 1986–2014. The results show that terrorism had a negative and transitory effect on population growth. We also find that incidents with deaths implied more adverse shocks. Terrorist attacks had more significant effects in bigger municipalities and in the provinces with a stronger ideological polarization. Finally, we provide evidence of demographic spatial effects derived from violence.

REGIONAL GROWTH, INNOVATION, AND LATENT NONLINEAR EFFECTS: GROWTH, INNOVATION, AND NONLINEAR EFFECTS

This paper studies the link between knowledge, innovation, and growth in European regions using nonparametric methods. Our findings suggest that knowledge inputs and the share of innovative firms have a heterogeneous and nonlinear relationship with growth. This evidence has been exploited to examine the consequences of alternative policies using a counterfactual estimation setup, the results of which imply that increasing the formal knowledge base may be optimal in most regions. Less knowledge and innovation intensive regions will also benefit from a higher innovation potential and from a trustworthy and entrepreneurial economic environment.

Regional Growth, Innovation, And Latent Nonlinear Effects

This paper deals with the relationship between knowledge, innovation and regional growth. The study is carried out through the application of nonparametric estimation methods to European data at NUTS2 level. We provide evidence that the share of innovative firms plays a more relevant role in explaining regional growth than R&D expenditures. Further, inward FDI turns out to be a robust growth determinant. Our results also suggest that the effects induced by these variables are of a heterogeneous nature. As a byproduct of the analysis, we show that the estimation results from a local-linear kernel regression can be used for the identification of spatial patterns. In this respect, we find a cluster of innovation-driven labour productivity growth in Germany.This paper studies the link between knowledge, innovation, and growth in European regions using nonparametric methods. Our findings suggest that knowledge inputs and the share of innovative firms have a heterogeneous and nonlinear relationship with growth. This evidence has been exploited to examine the consequences of alternative policies using a counterfactual estimation setup, the results of which imply that increasing the formal knowledge base may be optimal in most regions. Less knowledge and innovation intensive regions will also benefit from a higher innovation potential and from a trustworthy and entrepreneurial economic environment.

The Socioeconomic Determinants of Terrorism: A Bayesian Model Averaging Approach

ABSTRACT This paper introduces model uncertainty into the empirical study of the determinants of terrorism at country level. This is done by adopting a Bayesian model averaging approach and accounting for the over-dispersed count data nature of terrorist attacks. Both a broad measure of terrorism and incidents per capita have been analyzed. Our results suggest that, among the set of regressors considered, those reflecting labor market conditions and economic prospects tend to receive high posterior inclusion probabilities. These findings are robust to changes in the model specification and sample composition and are not meaningfully affected by the generalized linear regression model applied. Evidence of a geographically heterogeneous relationship between terrorism and its determinants is also provided. Abbreviation: BMA- Bayesian Model Averaging; GLM- Generalized Linear Models

Physical Capital Investment and Growth: Panel Data Evidence from European Regions

This article empirically assesses the validity of alternative growth models at regional level. This is done by comparing the stochastic properties of physical capital investment and growth using a panel unit root test statistic that is robust to cross-sectional dependence of a spatial nature. Our results for European NUTS 2 regions provide evidence more favorable to the predictions of AK-type endogenous growth models.

The Causal Relationship between Military Spending and Unemployment in the EU15

This paper analyses the possible presence of Granger causality between military spending and unemployment rates in the EU15 countries. The panel bootstrap test applied allows us to control for both the presence of cross-country heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. Considering two alternative measures of military spending, we find little evidence against the null hypothesis according to which it does not cause unemployment. These statistically significant causal relationships are found in countries that devote a higher share of their defence budget expenditures to personnel.