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In this paper we study the impact of regulatory complexity, a measure of institutional quality, on the GDP, on per capita income and on the growth rate of the Italian regions. For comparative reasons we also use the duration of civil disputes as a further indicator of institutional quality used in the regressions as an alternative to the indicator of regulatory complexity. From the theoretical point of view, we use the approach of negative co‐ordination externalities, among the four sources of regulatory production that are at work at the same time. Our approach may be applied in all the countries with a multi‐level government system. Using the random effects and quantile regressions models we are able to quantify the effects of an improvement in institutional quality on the GDP and the growth rate, making a comparison between the results obtained using regulatory complexity or the duration of civil disputes as covariates. We also check for spatial dependence among variables. Econometric analysis supports the theoretical assumption that regulatory complexity is an impediment to the growth of regional GDP and per capita income. The main finding of our analysis is that a reduction in regulatory complexity would be more effective than a reduction in the duration of civil disputes in increasing the income and growth rate. This result could be useful for the policy‐maker because by reducing regulatory complexity we may obtain a considerable by‐product in the shorter duration of civil disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Okun's Law using a spatial panel approach on NUTS 3 data for Great Britain over the period 1985-2011. The basic specification used as a starting point for the spatial analysis is the relationship between real output growth and unemployment rate changes. This is extended to incorporate spatial lags, to test for the presence of commuting effects, and to accommodate spatial residuals dependence. We estimate various spatial panel models, controlling for heterogeneity across areas, and find consistent evidence of a significant Okun's coefficient. Results also show that spillover effects from labour mobility and interregional linkages matter and have important implications for the validity of the empirical law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we combine two strands of the empirical literature on agglomeration economics. We calculate two indices to identify local industries where agglomeration externalities could be expected to be particularly strong. The main part of the paper is an econometric analysis using a dynamic panel data model to test whether dynamic employment growth is indeed stronger in these observations. Spatial dependence is taken into account by including spatially lagged exogenous variables. We use panel data on all Western German employees subject to social security from 1989 to 2006 in 326 districts and 191 industries. We find evidence that long run employment growth is significantly more persistent in industrial agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs a spatial Durbin growth model to estimate the impact of trade openness on regional per capita income in Brazil using a data set of 469 Brazilian micro-regions over the period 2004-2007. We calculate the direct, indirect and cumulative impact on per capita income of trade openness and human capital in these micro-regions. Results indicate that greater trade openness in a region promotes economic development locally, while exerting negative influence on per capita income of the neighbouring regions. Our findings also show that human capital has a positive - direct and indirect - impact on the economic development of Brazilian micro-regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a spatial neoclassical growth model for a system of N regional economies. Regional output growth is determined by interregional fixed capital relocations which depend on initial factor endowments as well as a region's relative location in space. The dynamics of the model are captured by a Taylor approximation, which provides a testable spatial econometric model specification that is applied for European regions on the NUTS 2 level. Both theoretical and empirical results show how relatively high human capital endowments are beneficial to growth if found within one region, but disadvantageous if found in neighbouring regions. Este artículo proporciona un modelo de crecimiento neo-clásico espacial para un sistema de N economías regionales. El crecimiento del producto regional viene determinado por deslocalizaciones interregionales de capital fijo que dependen de la dotación de factores inicial, así como de la relativa localización espacial de una región. Las dinámicas del modelo son capturadas mediante una aproximación de Taylor, que proporciona una especificación comprobable de modelo econométrico espacial que se aplica a regiones europeas a nivel NUTS 2. Tanto los resultados teoréticos como los empíricos muestran como las dotaciones relativamente elevadas de capital humano son ventajosas para el crecimiento cuando se concentran en una región, pero una desventaja si se encuentran en regiones vecinas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study revisits the growth effects associated with subnational fiscal policy. This, to my knowledge, is the first attempt to address the potential endogeneity of fiscal policy control variables. More specifically, the analysis used in this study implements a general method of moments spatial dynamic panel data model estimation procedure to arrive at a more refined set of estimates for the growth effects attributed to state and local fiscal policy. In deriving the estimable equation, this study extends a factor market approach for modelling regional output into a strategic interaction framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article a semiparametric spatial Durbin model is employed to analyse the growth behaviour of 155 European regions in the period 1988–2000. This specification combines the semiparametric approach with the usual parametric spatial econometric technique to accommodate both spatial dependence and nonlinearities as suggested by recent neoclassical growth models with spatial technological interdependence. The results provide evidence of nonlinearities in the effect of initial per capita incomes and human capital investments. Moreover, the specification used allows identifying the effect of the interaction between the characteristics (initial conditions and structural variables) of each region and those of its neighbours. Finally, it shows some indication of global spillovers across-country and local spatial spillovers from domestic neighbours. Resumen En este artículo se emplea un modelo semiparamétrico espacial de Durbin para analizar el comportamiento del crecimiento de 155 regiones europeas durante el periodo 1988–2000. Esta especificación combina el enfoque semiparamétrico con técnicas econométricas espaciales paramétricas habituales para reconciliar la dependencia espacial y las no linealidades, tal y como sugieren los modelos de crecimiento neoclásicos recientes con interdependencia tecnológica espacial. Los resultados ofrecen pruebas de no linealidades en el efecto de ingresos per capita iniciales e inversiones en capital humano. Además, la especificación utilizada permite utilizar el efecto de la interacción entre las características (condiciones iniciales y variables estructurales) de cada región y las de sus vecinos. Finalmente, da una idea de spillovers (efectos de derrame) globales entre países y spillovers espaciales locales de regiones vecinas dentro del país. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]