Why growth rates differ? Path of innovation in Italian provinces

Michele Capriati () and Marialuisa Divella
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Michele Capriati: Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro

No 1702, Working Papers from c.MET-05 - Centro Interuniversitario di Economia Applicata alle Politiche per L'industria, lo Sviluppo locale e l'Internazionalizzazione

Abstract: This paper analyses the way in which innovation and absorptive capacity affect the productivity of Italian provinces. It builds on the Neo-Schumpeterian literature which investigates how technology gaps explain development disparities between countries and regions. The study is carried out at the provincial level, which allows a more fine-tuned analysis of the resource endowment linked to knowledge generation and economic performance. Moreover, it distinguishes between two very different types of innovation: those directly dependent on R&D and new knowledge generation which are generally measured by the number of patents; and those relying on the adaptation of processes, products and materials and thus mostly based on the exploitation of already existing knowledge, which are here measured by a new index based on registered utility models and industrial designs. Main results indicate a case of divergence in productivity levels instead of one of catching up among the Italian provinces; moreover, they suggest that the main effort to get productivity gains in this country has been carried out through a reduction of employment and of its related costs instead of via increasing R&D and human capital.

Keywords: innovation; patents; utility models; industrial designs; provinces; proximity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-ent, nep-eur, nep-geo, nep-ino, nep-tid and nep-upt
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