Abstract
This paper discusses the possibility of a spatial hierarchy of innovation and growth dynamics in Europe. A spatial hierarchy is understood as a geographical clustering of regions, where important differences exist in terms of innovation and growth dynamics between the clusters. The literature on regional growth and innovation is briefly scanned. After this, a database on European regional growth and innovation dynamics is presented. Spatial correlation analysis and spatial principal components analysis are used to explore the possibility of a spatial hierarchy in Europe. The results point to a hierarchy consisting of four groups: South Europe, East Europe, and two groups in West and North Europe. Growth and innovation performance in these clusters are discussed, and some policy conclusions are drawn.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abramovitz MA (1986) Catching up, forging ahead and falling behind. J Econ Hist 46: 385–406
Ammermuller A, Heijke H, Wossmann L (2005) Schooling quality in Eastern Europe: educational production during transition. Econ Educ Rev 24: 579–599. doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2004.08.010
Arrow KJ (1962) Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In: Nelson RR (eds) The rate and direction of inventive activity: economic and social factors. National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, pp 609–625
Barro RJ, Sala-i-Martin X (1991) Convergence across states and regions. Brookings Pap Econ Act 22: 107–182. doi:10.2307/2534639
Begg I (2007) Cohesion in the EU. Structural policy and economic convergence. CESifo Forum 9: 3–9
Bottazzi L, Peri G (2003) Innovation and spillovers in regions: evidence from European patent data. Eur Econ Rev 47: 687–710
Breschi S, Lissoni F (2001) Knowledge spillovers and local innovation systems: a critical survey. Ind Corp Change 10: 975–1005. doi:10.1093/icc/10.4.975
Caniëls MCJ, Verspagen B (2001) Barriers to knowledge spillovers and regional convergence in an evolutionary model. J Evol Econ 11: 307–329. doi:10.1007/s001910100085
Cohen WM, Levinthal DA (1989) Innovation and learning: the two faces of R&D. Econ J 99: 569–596. doi:10.2307/2233763
Criscuolo P, Narula R (2008) A novel approach to national technological accumulation and absorptive capacity: aggregating Cohen and Levinthal. Eur J Dev Res 20: 56–73. doi:10.1080/09578810701853181
Cuadrado-Roura JR (2001) Regional convergence in the European Union: from hypothesis to the actual trends. Ann Reg Sci 35: 333–356. doi:10.1007/s001680100054
Dosi G (1988) Sources, procedures and microeconomic effects of innovation. J Econ Lit 26: 1120–1171
Edler J, Kuhlmann S, Behrens M (2003) Changing governance of research and technology policy: the European research area. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
European Commission (2001) European innovation scoreboard 2001. SEC, Luxemburg, p 1414
Fagerberg J (1994) Technology and international differences in growth rates. J Econ Lit 32: 1147–1175
Fagerberg J, Verspagen B (1996) Heading for divergence? Regional growth in Europe reconsidered. J Common Mark Stud 34: 431–448. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5965.1996.tb00580.x
Fagerberg J, Verspagen B, Caniëls M (1997) Technology, growth and unemployment across European regions. Reg Stud 31: 457–466. doi:10.1080/00343409750132252
Frenken K, Van Oort F, Verburg T (2007) Related variety, unrelated variety and regional economic growth. Reg Stud 41: 685–697. doi:10.1080/00343400601120296
Glaeser EL, Kallal H, Scheinkman J, Shleifer A (1992) Growth in cities. J Polit Econ 100: 1126–1152. doi:10.1086/261856
Griliches Z (1990) Patent statistics as economic indicators: a survey. J Econ Lit 28: 1661–1707
Grupp H, Mogee ME (2004) Indicators for national science and technology policy: how robust are composite indicators. Res Policy 33: 1373–1384. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2004.09.007
Henderson JV (2003) Marshall’s scale economies. J Urban Econ 53: 1–28. doi:10.1016/S0094-1190(02)00505-3
Hollanders H, Dunnewijk T, Wintjes R (2008) Benchmarking regions in the Enlarged Europe. In: Nauwelaers C, Wintjes R (eds) Innovation policy in Europe. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Jacobs J (1969) The economy of cities. Vintage, New York
Jaffe AB, Trajtenberg M, Henderson R (1993) Geographic localization of knowledge spillovers as evidenced by patent citations. Q J Econ 108: 577–598. doi:10.2307/2118401
Johnson B, Lorenz E, Lundvall BA (2002) Why all this fuss about codified and tacit knowledge. Ind Corp Change 11: 245–262. doi:10.1093/icc/11.2.245
Krugman P (1991) Increasing returns and economic geography. J Polit Econ 99: 483–499. doi:10.1086/261763
Krugman P (1993) Lessons of Massachusetts for EMU. In: Torres F, Giavazzi F (eds) Adjustment and growth in the European Monetary Union Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, London, pp 241–269
Martin P, Ottaviano G (1999) Growing locations: industry location in a model of endogenous growth. Eur Econ Rev 43: 281–302. doi:10.1016/S0014-2921(98)00031-2
Maurseth PB, Verspagen B (2002) Knowledge spillovers in Europe: a patent citations analysis. Scand J Econ 104: 531–545
Morgan K (2004) The exaggerated death of geography: learning, proximity and territorial innovation systems. J Econ Geogr 4: 3–21. doi:10.1093/jeg/4.1.3
Storper M, Walker R (1989) The capitalist imperative. Territory, technology and industrial growth. Blackwell, Oxford
Van Moergastel T, Slabbers M, Verspagen B (1994) MERIT concordance table: IPC-ISIC (rev. 2). MERIT Research Memorandum 2/94-004, University of Maastricht
Verspagen B (1991) A new empirical approach to catching up or falling behind. Struct Change Econ Dyn 2: 359–380. doi:10.1016/S0954-349X(05)80008-6
Verspagen B (1999) European ‘regional clubs’: do they exist, and where are they heading? On economic and technological differences between European regions. In: Adams J, Pigliaru F (eds) Economic growth and change. National and regional patterns of convergence and divergence. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 236–256
Verspagen B (2004) Innovation and economic growth. In: Fagerbergn J, Mowery DC, Nelson RR (eds) Oxford handbook of innovation. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Von Hippel E (1994) ‘Sticky information’ and the locus of problem solving: implications for innovation. Manage Sci 40: 429–439. doi:10.1287/mnsc.40.4.429
Wartenberg D (1985) Multivariate spatial correlation: a method for exploratory geographical analysis. Geogr Anal 17: 263–283
Zabala-Iturriagagoitia JM, Voigt P, Gutiérrez-Gracia A, Jiménez-Sáez F (2007) Regional innovation systems: how to assess performance. Reg Stud 41: 661–672. doi:10.1080/00343400601120270
Acknowledgments
This research is part of the DIME Network sponsored under the EU 6th Framework Programme. This paper was presented at the Kiel workshop on Agglomeration and Growth In Knowledge-based Societies, 20–21 April 2007, at a seminar at IKE, University of Aalborg, DK, at the Globelics Academy, Lisbon, PT, 2–12 May 2007, at the EMAEE Conference, 17–19 May 2007 at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and at the Uddevalla Symposium 2007. I thank participants at these meetings, as well as two anonymous referees, for comments and suggestions.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.