'. . . the book gives a valuable contribution to the understanding of the role of knowledge in the regional growth process, as the methodological approach is eclectic and stimulating. . . the book represents a stimulating contribution to the debate among economists, social scientists, and policymakers on the role of knowledge and knowledge spillovers on the future growth patterns of industrialised countries.' - Maurizio Baussola, The Economic Journal
Since the seminal work of Lucas (1988), uncompensated knowledge spillovers have been shown to play a critical role in the process of economic development. However, the standard Lucas model studies human capital accumulation in narrow settings with one industry and a closed-economy. This dissertation attempts to study the development process in richer settings. In particular, various types of spillovers are examined. Our work shows that intra-industry spillovers promote economic growth but inter-industry spillovers are more complex. Specifically, spillovers from human capital across sectors may lead to lower overall growth of consumption. In an open economy setting, the growth rates of human capital critically depend on variation across countries in educational productivity. In particular, if the growth rate of human capital is stronger abroad than domestically, human capital accumulation will decline at home. However, the magnitude of the problem depends on differences in regional external economies. In fact, such differences might actually cause the stock of human capital to decline over time. Our work also demonstrates that external economies from human capital have important implications for international trade, which provides additional linkages for economic activity across countries. Namely, increased spillovers at home will lead to a deterioration in the domestic terms of trade. Consequently, policies designed to affect the diffusion of knowledge will impact regional economic activity.
The recent development of endogenous growth theories has renewed the in terest into the sources of productivity growth of the advanced industrialized economies. The basic advance of these models is that the evolution of tech nological progress is explained endogeneously within the economic model. The most important concept is the idea of endogenous, market-driven inno vations which are seen as the basic source of technological advances. Firms develop sophisticated production techniques and new products in order to reduce costs or to stimulate demand. Equally important is the concept of knowledge spillovers from innovation activities and scale economies associ ated with them. External effects drive a wedge between private and social re turns of innovation activities, and scale economies affect the market structure. In addition, each year's productivity increases exhibit an enormous social value. Therefore, the analysis of endogenous innovations, scale economies, and knowledge spillovers has important implications for economic policy which enhances the interest into empirical investigations of these issues. This book is a collection of theoretical and empirical work on this subject. It combines micro economic and macroeconomic issues; a special emphasis is placed on empirical applications. Much work has been devoted to the search and the preparation of appropriate data, and all models are estimated with panel data. The first two chapters take an aggregate view at the growth process.
This work synthesises Zoltan Acs' key contribution to the field of entrepreneurship. Working at the intersection of geography, innovation and growth, the papers pave the way for the remaking of economic society in the 21st century.
In this paper, we examine one channel through which the trade regime might affect growth in the long run. We model endogenous technological progress that results from profit maximizing investments by far-sighted entrepreneurs. Productivity in the research lab depends upon the "stock of knowledge capital", a variable reflecting the state of scientific, engineering and industrial know-how in the local economy. We argue that local knowledge capital is likely to vary positively with the extent of contact between domestic agents and their counterparts in the international research and business communities, and that the number of such contacts increases with the level of commercial exchange. We derive the implications of this for the relationship between trade and growth
This book provides an assessment of the evolution and dynamics of regional innovation systems (RISs) and the economic and social impact of resulting knowledge spillovers, presenting comparative case studies on the regions of several Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania and Estonia). It analyses RISs on the basis of several dimensions, such as absorption capacity and intellectual capital, and using several methods such as data envelopment analysis, patent network analysis, and weighted sum approach. Further, by looking at the economic and social impact of knowledge spillovers in RISs and networking, it identifies key distinguishing factors, including foreign direct investments, still prevalent centralized decision-making, EU-driven innovation policies and public financing of innovations. Sectoral case studies, e.g. from the automobile, chemical and other hi-tech manufacturing industries, are presented to help readers understand the different types of knowledge spillovers in CEE countries and the evolution and dynamics of RISs, and provide a multifaceted overview of the CEE regions.
