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Technological innovation and productivity across Spanish regions

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Abstract

This article used a CDM three-stage structural model based on data from the Spanish technological innovation panel to analyse the differential impact of technological innovation on labour productivity in the three largest Spanish regions and the Spanish economy as a whole. Although a considerable number of studies have used national data to analyse this relationship, very few studies have done so using microdata at the regional level. The results suggest that in Andalusia and Madrid increases in labour productivity were only associated with the increased probability of product innovation, whereas in Catalonia they were only associated with process innovation. These results suggest a lack of convergence in business strategies to improve labour productivity in these regions. Therefore, business investment in R&D and public institution funding decisions on support for technological innovation should be aimed at improving these less effective innovation strategies for increasing labour productivity.

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Notes

  1. We eliminated companies with observations that were clearly anomalous according to a criterion similar to that established by Lööf and Heshmati (2006), Raymond et al. (2010), and Mohnen et al. (2006).

  2. The data for Spain as a whole could have been affected by the fact that it was impossible to obtain data from some other Spanish regions, such as the Basque Country, Navarre, and the Valencian Community, which have a high level of technological and economic development. The database used only offers regionalized data for Madrid, Andalusia, and Catalonia.

  3. See http://www.sepg.pap.minhap.gob.es/sitios/sepg/es-ES/Presupuestos/Documentacion.aspx.

  4. Cappellari and Jenkins (2003) employed the maximum simulated likelihood (MSL) method using the Geweke–Hajivassiliou–Keane (GHK) simulator.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, Department of Applied Economy (Economic Structure), University of Malaga, C/El Ejido nº6, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Alejandro García-Pozo, Juan Antonio Campos-Soria & J. Aníbal Núñez-Carrasco

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  1. Alejandro García-Pozo
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  2. Juan Antonio Campos-Soria
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  3. J. Aníbal Núñez-Carrasco
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Correspondence to Alejandro García-Pozo.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Variables and definition
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García-Pozo, A., Campos-Soria, J.A. & Núñez-Carrasco, J.A. Technological innovation and productivity across Spanish regions. Ann Reg Sci 67, 167–187 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-020-01044-9

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