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.     

Regional Innovation Support Systems: Recent Trends in Germany and East Asia

Since the beginning of the 1990s, one can observe a clear shift in the aims of regional policy in industrialized countries from reducing regional inequalities to developing endogenous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and innovation in regions through regional innovation support systems. Innovation support systems are defined as a group of actively cooperating organizations that support the innovativeness of SMEs. An innovation support system consists of all agencies found in three support stages, namely the provision of general information, technological advice and joint R&D projects, between firms (of which technology-following SMEs are the main group), higher education institutes (HEIs) and public research establishments (PREs). Agencies found in these stages try to help to solve innovation problems mainly of technology-following SMEs by either giving them advice themselves or by referring them to other agencies in a further stage of support. The agencies can be mainly supra-nationally, nationally or regionally initiated. This paper aims at comparing these regional innovation support systems in Germany and East Asia, that is Japan and South Korea, both concerning the instruments used, their impact on regional economic development, their level of organizational embeddedness in regions and the ability of regions to coordinate innovation support policies. The main conclusions of the paper are that there are similarities between the regional innovation support systems found in the countries when it comes to policy instruments, but that the countries differ concerning their level of regional embeddedness and the abilities of regions to coordinate innovation support policies. The paper also tentatively concludes that in countries where regions have the ability to coordinate policies into integrative innovation support systems, the impact on regional economic development tend to be larger than in countries where these abilities are lacking, that is where dirigiste and grassroots support systems prevail. One important explanation for the different coordinating abilities lies in the different political-administrative systems found in the studied countries (centralized in South Korea versus federal in Germany). Other factors explaining differences are: a time lag of development policies between countries, differences between the history of supporting SMEs in regions, supra-national support frameworks, the commitment of the political leaders in regions, collective trust and the size of countries.     

European Corridors as Carriers of Dynamic Agglomeration Externalities?

Transport corridors are viewed as a promising way forward in European Union (EU) transport policy, assumed to contribute positively to regional economic development. However, the validity of this assumption is not evident. The aim of this paper is to empirically test whether agglomeration economies in European transport corridor regions are positively related to indicators of regional economic development compared to regions outside the scope of corridors. The results build on the notion that the type of agglomeration economy in combination with the structure of the economy matters for prospects of structural economic growth in different regions. In this way, the analysis not only contributes to enhancing the empirical scrutiny of the corridor concept in EU transport policy, but also provides new insights into how corridors contribute to regional economic growth. We find only limited evidence for a corridor effect across European regions on productivity and employment growth externalities. Instead, we find a large degree of spatial heterogeneity interacting with corridors—a heterogeneity that has been little recognized in EU policies. We suggest that recent attention to place-based development strategies may accord well with the kinds of agglomeration effects related to corridor development observed in this study.     

When Innovation Does Not Pay Off: Introducing the “European Regional Paradox”

In the last few decades, innovation has been widely recognized to be the engine of wealth and prosperity as it intensifies competition and increases productivity, which both in turn lead to significant economic benefits such as higher income per capita and increased employment. However, empirical evidence in this article illustrates that innovation seems not to have paid-off for some of the most innovative regions in Europe, as these regions, despite being highly innovative, grow at a slower pace than their national counterparts, as well as presenting poor economic outcomes such as low income per capita and high unemployment rates. The aim of this article is to communicate this intriguing observation to both innovation scholars and to policy-makers, since its very existence seems to cast doubt not only on one of the most principal assumptions in the field of innovation studies (i.e. innovation as the engine of growth) but also on one of the most fundamental pillars currently underpinning several regional, national and supranational economic policies.     

The Dynamics of Regional Invention and Innovation: Innovative Capacity and Regional Change in the Twentieth Century

The twentieth century dynamics of United States regional invention trends are explored in this study. Historically, regions that become major loci of invention have always gained much influence, through innovation diffusion, their human capital infrastructures, and their national economic and political projection. The United States has experienced a remarkable inversion of regional roles on invention since the middle of the twentieth century, where the predominant position of heartland regions (the Northeast and the Midwest) is being overturned. This analysis develops a macro-level measure of inventive output, innovative capacity, to evaluate changes in regional inventive performance and the potential for innovation. The analysis of patent age cycles provides insights on the temporal structure of the national and regional innovative capacity, and on the dynamics of crisis periods for U.S. scientific and technological invention. A consideration of regional income trends over the twentieth century and of innovative capacity performance shows the potential importance of endogenously generated inventions for regional development.     

The Regional Impact of EU Eastern Enlargement: A View from Germany

Based on a relational concept of regional analysis this contribution emphasizes that European Union (EU) Eastern enlargement will primarily lead to a restructuring or intensification of interregional economic relations. However, it rejects the widespread view that at first the border regions at the present EU Eastern boundary would be affected by Eastern enlargement. This view relies on the problematic assumption that the regions' transnational relations are subject to a logic of geographical nearness. The most important nodes of transnational economic relations in an enlarged EU are not the border regions, but certain regional development centres in the interior of the European economic space. Thus the regional impact of EU Eastern enlargement should be differentiated with regard to different types of regions: Particular advantages come towards the structurally strong regions in the interior of the present EU as well as the accession countries, whereas the structurally weak regions at the present EU Eastern boundary can gain advantages from Eastern enlargement only to the extent that they manage to overcome their endogenous blockades concerning cross-border economic cooperation and a positive attitude of the regions' population towards European integration.     

Competing discourses of territorial development: tensions between cities and regions as a result of the new regionalism

Competition between metropolitan areas and old regions is one of the most visible results of the ‘new regionalism’ policy in the EU. The aim of this paper is to explain the newly emerged tensions between the regions and the cities within the EU in the context of the ‘new regionalism’. The newly introduced ‘Integrated Territorial Investments’ (ITI), a potentially powerful instrument of the cohesion policy of the EU was presented as ‘a flexible mechanism for formulating integrated responses to diverse territorial needs’. However, this flexibility produced a competitive relationship between cities and regions in their chase for money. Based on interviews with sub-state officials, the study focuses on two countries: Czechia and Slovakia. They are both major recipients of EU structural funds and the ITI tool is being implemented in both of them, however with different outcomes. Three variables have been identified as major factors causing the tensions: insufficient administrative capacity, political challenges and lack of shared understanding of priorities of regional development among sub-state actors.     

Institutional Arrangements and Political Mobilization in the New Italian Regionalism: The Role of Spatial Policies in the Piedmont Region

The paper focuses on the resurgence of the regions as protagonists of the process of the state rescaling in many European countries. In the EU countries this process can be seen as a result of a mix of economic and institutional factors, which have been producing an increasing competition between the central governments and the regional authorities. The rise of the multi-level governance and of the so-called Euroregionalism has reinforced the role of the regional scale in the territorial development: on one hand, with new actors like agencies and organizations engaged in the economic development (FDI attraction, place marketing, innovation and learning), on the other hand by the resurgence of “old” actors, such as the regions, in many cases empowered by processes of institutional devolution. The literature has investigated this re-composition of the political space with regard to the “hollowing out” and the “rescaling” of the state. On the base of these theoretical underpinnings, we discuss some empirical evidence from the Italian experience, in order to show whether and how the regional structures are not only “spaces for policies”, but also “spaces for politics”. Over the last decade, the changes in legal framework, the external inputs from supranational levels of government—the European Commission—and the re-territorialization processes have introduced many elements of innovation in the role of the regions. By illustrating the case of the Piedmont Region, we try to demonstrate that the transition towards the region as an active space of politics can be mediated by the sphere of the policies, especially the spatial ones.     

REGIONAL GROWTH,INNOVATION, AND LATENT 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.     

The Managerial Equation and Innovation Platforms: The Case of Linköping and Berzelius Science Park

This paper explores the political and economic origins of a science park in Linköping, Sweden. It shows how different “innovation platforms” emerged to develop the medical industrial sector. An innovation platform is a foundation for growth corresponding to a given set of organizations or networks that incubate and sustain innovative teams tied to a given sector. Large firms and incubator-linked science parks represent different kinds of innovative platforms. The paper centres on the concept of the “managerial equation”, arguing that growth projects like science parks build on coalitions and networks linking innovative resources, acquired knowledge tied to a given sector and power linked to decision-making power and financial resources. Changes within these elements of the equation explain the rise and fall of innovative platforms. Failures in learning in one platform lead to the rise of another. An absence of power (such as supporting resources) can also account for platform changes. Regional development decisions do not simply reflect path dependent specializations as regions use related capacities to break into “new” sectors. Commitments to Triple Helix formations linking universities, corporations and the government reflect changes within each branch of the Helix and political decision-making creating a diversity of development pathways.     

Governance, institutional capacity and partnerships in local economic development: theoretical issues and empirical evidence from the Humber Sub-region

Recent research on local and regional economic development has focused upon transformations in local governance and institutional capacity. It has been argued that local authorities have ceded power to other actors and institutions involved in economic development and regeneration, and that the success of local and regional economic development is closely related to the strength of 'institutional capacity' within an area. In this paper, we examine these claims with reference to the operation of EU Structural Funds in the Humber Sub-region of the UK. Previous research on local governance and institutional capacity has had a limited empirical focus, drawing conclusions from studies of either economically 'successful' regions or regions undergoing regulatory and institutional transformation and precluding analysis of the nature and conditions of local governance and institutional capacity in less developed regions. Our case study evidence not only suggests that arguments about the declining influence of the local state are overdrawn, but also indicates a need for more nuanced accounts of the role of institutional capacity in regional development.     

Higher education institutions,economic growth and GDP per capita in European Union countries

This paper presents an estimation of the contribution of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to economic growth and the Gross Domestic Product per capita of the European (EU) countries over the period 2000–2015. For this purpose, we analyse the universities’ effects on the supply side of their national economies, especially the contribution of the R&D of HEIs to technological capital of the European (EU) countries. We proposed a methodology of counterfactual scenarios, which assume a hypothetical situation in which HEIs do not exist, to estimating the effects of HEIs, applying techniques of growth accounting. The results obtained indicate that these effects are a significant source of growth in European (EU) countries, contributing to mitigating the adverse effects of the periods of crisis. The estimates show that GDP per capita would currently be more than 11% higher than that corresponding to a scenario without HEIs. The results obtained also show significate differences in GDP per capita between European (EU) countries associated with the activity of HEIs.     

Multi-level Science Policy and Regional Innovation: The Case of the Munich Cluster for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Knowledge-based industries tend to develop within regional or local clusters that allow for knowledge spillovers, the generation of a critical mass of complementary competencies and skills as for spatial proximity to academic organizations out of which many highly innovative firms have been founded. The prototype of that development certainly is the biotechnology industry which has emerged since the 1970s first in the US where especially small and medium-sized research companies have been established around leading science bases. Following the example of the US biotechnology industry, public policies in many industrialized countries aimed at stimulating cluster formation in biotechnology. This holds true especially for member states of the European Union (EU) where public policy initiatives have been initiated at different territorial levels. This article refers to the Munich pharmaceutical biotechnology cluster and applies institutional and organizational indicators that have been developed in various systemic analyses of technological development and innovation. It will be shown that reforms of the institutional environment in which the innovative organizations are embedded were crucial for the commercialization of biotechnological research in Germany. These reforms have occurred mostly at the regional and national level, whereas the EU played a role especially in establishing the regulatory framework for the biotechnology industry. Organizational indicators will be applied in order to assess the modes of knowledge production within the cluster.     

Social enterprises in regional innovation systems: a review of Finnish regional strategies

The aim of modern innovation policies is to enhance the innovation capability of regions, their organizations and people. Regional innovation system (RIS) theory has been one of the most popular frameworks for realizing innovation policies. Yet, adopting the perspective of sustainable innovation policy where innovation is also seen as a solution to various societal and environmental problems has been slow. Social enterprises (SEs) are discussed here as a means to address those problems, particularly through collaboration between sectors and focusing on social sustainability. The aim of this paper is to identify whether and in what way SEs are communicated as an innovative solution and as a source of innovations for economic and development activities through regional strategies. The data consist of regional innovation and business strategies from all Finnish regions, analysed using qualitative content analysis. We argue that there is a need to go deeper and include effective support mechanisms for SEs in these documents. Better inclusion of SEs as part of innovation systems and communicating this through regional strategies would help to develop SEs and to have them perceived as potential innovators and active entrepreneurial actors in innovation systems contributing to economically, environmentally and socially sustainable development.     

基于行业差异的欧盟旅游与经济增长关系研究

作为旅游经济领域内的热点问题,旅游发展和经济增长间的关系在学界一直未能形成较为统一的结论。鉴于将旅游业作为单一行业来研究其和整体经济间关系可能是分歧产生的重要原因,本文使用异质面板协整技术实证检验了欧盟4个核心旅游行业与经济增长之间的关系。研究结果表明,欧盟各旅游行业与经济增长之间均存在长期协整关系;进一步格兰杰检验的结果揭示了欧盟航空、住宿和旅行社等3个核心旅游行业与经济增长之间存在双向因果关系,但影响程度各异。住宿业与航空、旅行社和餐饮业间表现为显著的双向促进发展关系。     

Governance,Policy Innovation,and Local Economic Development in North Carolina

This article examines the extent to which local governments in North Carolina embrace innovation in their economic development activities. The study makes a distinctive theoretical contribution by examining the relationship between innovation in how economic development policies are administered and implemented (using concepts associated with governance and NPM), and innovation in what is substantively done (policy innovation). An analysis of the results from a statewide survey of local governments in North Carolina finds that certain governance/management variables are significant determinants of economic development policy innovation. An implication of this finding is that new ways of doing economic development may go hand‐in‐hand with new ways of governing and managing. Many of the governance/management variables are also positively associated with the use of a greater number of traditional economic development strategies and tools. This suggests that local governments may find it helpful to be innovative in how they implement economic development irrespective of the substantive policy orientation of particular strategies and tools.     

The role of exogenous and endogenous factors in the growth of regions in Central and Eastern Europe: the metropolitan/non-metropolitan divide in the pre- and post-crisis era

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper is to analyse regional growth factors in Central and Eastern European Countries in the pre- and post-crisis era. The comparison is focused on core (metropolitan) and non-core (non-metropolitan) regions. The study found that the development processes of the analysed groups of regions were in many respects similar. Achieving a high level of development in the context of post-socialist transformation was possible mainly owing to exogenous factors such as the influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) and multimodal transport accessibility. In the case of endogenous factors, the number of small- and medium-sized enterprises per capita was of cardinal importance for a high level of development, but it was no guarantee of fast growth dynamics in non-core regions. The main differences between the core and non-core regions included the role of human capital and migrations as metropolitan regions represented growth poles which trained qualified specialists and served as destinations for migrants from non-core regions. However, the share of people with tertiary education played an important role in the development process of non-core regions. The crisis strengthened the role of exogenous growth factors, that is, the role of FDI inflow as well as the role of EU funds.     

Innovation Networks and Regional Development—Evidence from the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS): Theoretical Concepts,Methodological Approach,Empirical Basis and Introduction to the Theme Issue

A general consensus exists in the debate on innovation-oriented regional development, in which cooperation in innovation between manufacturing firms, service firms and research institutions continues to grow in importance with respect to business success and the economic performance of a region—at least for some region types. The academic discussion, thus far, has been shaped by a large number of outstanding theoretical studies focusing on this topic from the perspective of the innovative milieu concept, the network theory (spatial version), the regional innovation systems approach or the transaction cost theory. Up to now, comparative empirical studies have not been performed evaluating the significance of innovation networks over a sufficiently large and statistically representative data set for the various types of regions. This is the goal of this issue of European Planning Studies, which is introduced in this article. Briefly, the basic concepts for explaining network-oriented regional development are described and the essential features of the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS) are presented—developed by a research team of German economic geographers and regional economists. Between 1995 and 1999 ERIS carried out three extensive surveys in 11 European regions with a total return of 8635 questionnaires, in an effort to identify, systematize, and quantify linkages between innovative players. The question of the range of such innovative linkages plays a central role in this analysis.     

Regional technological change and path dependency in the Danish food processing industry

Evolutionary theories of technological change arguably exert the greatest impact on our understanding of technological change. According to evolutionary economic theory the process of technological change is driven by the continual creation of technological variety through innovation and innovative firm entry and the destruction of variety through the processes of imitation (diffusion), selection and plant exit. This joint process of variety creation and destruction translates micro-economic diversity into technological progress. A third principle of evolutionary economic theory is the principle of heredity, the communication of information and knowledge over time. The dependence of technology on past and existing knowledge tends to move firms, regions and countries along relatively well-defined technological trajectories. In this paper technology is measured as a pair of capital and labour input coefficients. Empirical analysis of the Danish food processing industry reveals that technology varies markedly across regions and that differences in regional technological performance persist over time. Multivariate analysis of variance confirms that spatial variation in techniques of production is significant. This study underpins the evolutionary theory of technological change confirming that in the Danish food processing industry, regions move along relatively well-defined technological trajectories.     

With or Without Clusters: Facilitating Innovation through a Differentiated and Combined Network Approach

Over the past decades, economic and innovation policy across Europe moved in the direction of creating regional clusters of related firms and institutions. Creating clusters through public policy is risky, complex and costly, however. Moreover, it is not necessary to rely on clusters to stimulate innovation. A differentiated and combined network approach to enhancing innovation and stimulating economic growth may be more efficient and effective, especially though not exclusively in regions lacking clusters. The challenge of such a policy is to mitigate the bottlenecks associated with “global pipeline”, “local buzz” and “stand alone” strategies used by innovative firms and to combine these strategies with a view to their complementarity in terms of knowledge effects. Private and semi-public brokers will be key in the evolving policy, as timely organizational change is crucial for continued innovation, while brokers also need to mitigate governance problems. This requires region-specific knowledge in terms of sectors, life cycles, institutional and socio-cultural factors, and yields spatially differentiated and differentiating adjustment strategies. The role of public policy is to assist in recruiting, provide start-up funding and monitor brokers. With this, policy moves towards a decentralized, process-based, region-specific, spatially diverging and multi-level system of innovation that is geared towards the evolving innovation strategies of firms.