The Impact of Regional Absorptive Capacity on Spatial Knowledge Spillovers

Andrea Caragliu () and Peter Nijkamp

No 08-119/3, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers from Tinbergen Institute

Abstract: We design a conceptual framework for linking two approaches: the literature on absorptive capacity and the literature on spatial knowledge spillovers. Regions produce new knowledge, but only part of it is efficiently adopted in the economy; the share of efficiently adopted technology depends on territorial capital. Our data set is based on a panel of European regions over the period 1999-2005, combining data from EUROSTAT and the European Values Study (EVS); we test the hypothesis that insufficient levels of territorial capital hamper the capability of regions to grasp and fully exploit new knowledge. Results show that a lower regional absorptive capacity increases knowledge spillovers towards surrounding areas, hampering the regions’ capability to understand, decode and efficiently exploit new knowledge, both locally produced and originating from outside.

Keywords: Absorptive capacity; knowledge spillovers; total factor productivity; spatial econometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O33 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-eff, nep-geo, nep-knm and nep-ure
Date: 2008-12-15
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080119

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