Social Capital, Innovation and Growth: Evidence from Europe

İbrahim Semih Akçomak () and Bas ter Weel

No 3341, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: This paper investigates the interplay between social capital, innovation and per capita income growth in the European Union. We model and identify innovation as an important mechanism that transforms social capital into higher income levels. In an empirical investigation of 102 European regions in the period 1990-2002, we show that higher innovation performance is conducive to per capita income growth and that social capital affects this growth indirectly by fostering innovation. Our estimates suggest that there is no direct role for social capital to foster per capita income growth in our sample of European Union countries.

Keywords: social capital; innovation; economic growth; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O1 O3 O52 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-ino and nep-soc
Date: 2008-02
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Forthcoming in: European Economic Review

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Related works:
Working Paper: Social Capital, Innovation and Growth: Evidence from Europe (2006)
Journal Article: Social capital, innovation and growth: Evidence from Europe (2009)
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