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This paper analyses the economic impact of digital technologies in Europe distinguishing between different stages/domains of the digitalization process. A set of composite ICT indicators is used capturing the access to ICTs, the ability to use them and the digital empowerment of individuals in key social and economic domains. We argue that the mere accessibility to ICT facilities is only a pre-condition for moving towards a digitalized society, while the “level” and the “quality” in the use of these technologies, as well as the conditions facilitating or hampering digital empowerment, play a much more important role. Several transmission mechanisms from ICT access, usage and digital empowerment to key macroeconomic variables (namely labor productivity, GDP per capita, employment growth and the employment rate) are identified. The econometric evidence supports our hypotheses showing that the usage of ICT, and mostly digital empowerment, exert the major economic effects, especially on employment also favoring the inclusion of “disadvantaged” groups in the labor market. We conclude that digitalization may drive productivity and employment growth and that inclusive policies may effectively contribute to bridge the gap between the most favoured and the disadvantaged parts of the population, thus helping achieving the 2020 Europe targets

The main goal of this paper is to analyse the single and joint impact of regulation policies and research network policies on environmental innovation. Our theoretical framework combines the open eco-innovation mode approach with the Porter Hypothesis, by adapting them to the knowledge production function where green patents are the dependent variable. We focus on the factors that influence the production of green patents as a proxy of new "environmental" knowledge for a panel of European countries over time. We find that both marked-based regulation policies and participation in green European research networks (in particular with universities and public research centres) positively affect environmental innovation. Moreover, the two policy tools have a complementary effect. This suggests that the effectiveness of environmental regulation policies can be increased by combining them with appropriate innovation policies.

The article accounts for the determinants of sectoral specialisation in business services (BS) across the EU-27 regions as determined by: (i) agglomeration economies (ii) the region-specific structure of intermediate linkages (iii) technological innovation and knowledge intensity and (iv) the presence of these factors in neighbouring regions. The empirical analysis draws upon the REGIO panel database over the period 1999-2003. By estimating a Spatial Durbin Model, we find significant spatial effects in explaining regional specialisation in BS. Our findings show that, besides urbanisation economies, the spatial structure of intermediate sectoral linkages and innovation, in particular Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), are important determinants of specialisation in BS. The article contributes to the debate on the global versus local determinants of regional specialisation in BS by restating the importance of the regional sectoral structure besides that of urbanisation. We draw policy implications by rejecting the 'footloose hypothesis' for BS.

This article looks at the determinants of a country’s participation in business services (BS) global value chains (GVCs). BS GVCs are comparatively less explored than traditional manufacturing ones, and there is a gap in the literature on the relative positions of countries in BS GVCs and the opportunities they might open for development. This article puts forward and finds empirical support to the conjecture that the domestic structure of backward and forward linkages à la Hirschman, alongside the domestic representative demand for BS à la Linder, are of high importance. The results, based on the World Input-Output Database, suggest that the presence of strong domestic backward-linked industries to BS makes an emerging country more likely to create domestic value within BS GVC. Our findings contribute to the debate on a “premature de-industrialization” in emerging countries and on the relationship between levels of development and engagement in BS GVCs.