Technological interdependence and regional growth in Europe: Proximity and synergy in knowledge spillovers

Abstract

The economic growth literature suggests that knowledge spillovers are subject to distance decay effects. In this paper the main aim is to provide a theoretical framework and empirical evidence on the role played by other kinds of proximities, namely relational, social and technological proximity, in explaining productivity growth. Using a sample of 249 EU 27 NUTS 2 regions in the period 1990–2004, semiparametric spatial autoregressive models are estimated. Results provide evidence of a positive role of social and relational proximities as important channels of knowledge spillovers, and on the fact that, when simultaneously present, different kinds of proximities generate synergic effects on growth

Symmetric and asymmetric effects of proximities. The case of M&A deals in Italy

“…Our results on the complementary role played by proximities confirm previous evidence found for domestic M&A (Ellwanger and Boschma, 2013). These findings are also in line with contributions in other related fields, like in the case of regional knowledge spillovers (Basile et al, 2012;Paci et al, 2014), inter-firm knowledge flows Focusing on the baseline specification (model 2), the increasing magnitude of the coefficients of the four indicators of industrial relatedness shows that the probability of completing an M&A deal is strongly dependent on the degree of industrial similarity between the bidder and the target firms. With respect to the reference group that includes the least related firms (those operating in different SIC divisions), the smallest coefficient (0.95) is found when the highest level of industrial relatedness is the division level (same 1-digit SIC code), whereas the largest coefficient (4.08) is found when both firms operate in the same industry (same 4-digit SIC code).…”

“…A rapidly growing number of studies have investigated how the different proximities among agents affect different types of economic exchanges, like research collaborations (e.g. Singh, 2005;Autant-Bernard et al, 2007;Ponds et al, 2007;Broekel and Boschma, 2012;Usai et al, 2013), regional knowledge spillovers (Basile et al, 2012;Paci et al, 2014), co-inventor networks (Cassi and Plunket, 2012;Ter Wal, 2013), trade and FDI flows (Lankhuizen et al, 2011) and temporary innovative projects (Balland et al, 2013b).…”

The role of openness in explaining innovation performance in a regional context

“…The pertinent literature debates localized knowledge spillovers (Breschi and Lissoni 2001)-which are likely to play a particularly relevant role in a regional context like the one under scrutiny-in which the majority of firms are SMEs (Basile et al 2012;Acs et al 2013;Schiavone 2008a, b). SMEs that are active in a regional context may benefit differently from localized knowledge spillovers than from flows of knowledge originating from more geographically distant sources (Villasalero 2013).…”

(Un)Related Variety and Employment Growth at the Sub-Regional Level

“…between branches) but remain mostly between technologically and cognitively "related" branches because knowledge transfer between very different branches is difficult to achieve due to the great cognitive distance between players (Porter, 2003;Frenken et al, 2007;Hidalgo et al, 2007;Neffke et al, 2011;Basile et al, 2012). In terms of structural policy this would mean a focus on thematic but crosssectoral priorities.…”