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This paper examines the effects of related and unrelated variety on total factor productivity (TFP) in Poland. Based on dynamic panel data regression results for Polish regions in 2003-2019, we find the positive effect of related variety and the strong negative effect of unrelated variety on TFP. This implies that regions with high related and low unrelated variety optimize TFP. Using the estimated TFP values, we tested for TFP convergence to the technological frontier using convergence tests that take into account significant differences in technological advancement across regions. We reject TFP convergence for all regions, but we find evidence of regional club convergence. The results of the convergence tests obtained for the simulation variants indicate that changes in related and unrelated variety structures may lead to the formation of convergence clubs with the regional technological leader. Furthermore, the changes primarily in related variety structures lead to the convergence of some regions to the regional technological frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of related variety on regional employment growth have become a prevailing view. However, these remain potential benefits unless channels (e.g. labour flows, inter-firm cooperation) and regional capabilities are in place to convert them into actual growth. This paper focuses on the labour mobility channel and proposes a way to measure the realized part of related variety. It demonstrates that in Sweden, core regions make ten times more use of their related variety potential via labour mobility than small, peripheral regions. Moreover, even in core and large regions only a handful of potential ties are realized. Most firms in small regions must rely on other channels to convert related variety potential into growth. Furthermore, while local labour flows between related industries are associated with higher employment growth, no evidence is found that, on average, other channels bring growth benefits in small regions. Thus, the paper argues that the role of market-mediated knowledge flow channels like labour mobility is underestimated compared to pure spillovers via unintended interactions. Consequently, it is important to go beyond assuming that the benefits of related variety are 'in the air' or in local 'buzz' and focus on specific channels at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of related variety (RV) and unrelated variety (UV) on the basic variables of the labour market, i.e.: employment growth rates, increase in unemployment rates and real gross wages in the regional approach in Poland. The basic difference between the presented and the current research in this area is that the RV and the UV are introduced into the estimation taking into account the basic determinants of the analysed labour market variables resulting from simple economic models. Moreover, an attempt was made to determine the impact of the RV and the UV on real gross wages, which was not covered in the literature. The research was based on panel data for 16 Polish voivodships (NUTS2) and in the group of regions of Western Poland in the years 2004–2017 using SYS-GMM estimator of Dynamic Panel Data Model. In this paper, a significant positive impact of the RV on the rate of employment growth and wages was found, as well as a negative correlation between the RV and the increase in unemployment rates. On the other hand, the UV positively determined the increase in unemployment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s German technology policy has experienced a paradigmatic shift from standard grant schemes towards a region-oriented and competition-based R&D policy. Currently, a new policy experiment, the InterClust contest, is under way, trying to simultaneously foster place-based innovation, R&D internationalization and the internationalization of innovative places. The current paper analyses the new policy, relating it to the recent literatures on heterogeneous firms and on cluster-life cycles, and presents results from a firm survey performed in 21 winner regions of InterClust. Findings show that the new funding scheme takes insights from recent theoretical developments into account and addresses important impediments to firm and cluster internationalization. Although it is too early for an overall assessment, it is argued that the long-term impact will critically depend on the inflow of heterogeneous knowledge and the strength of intra-regional mobilization effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel index of regional skill-relatedness and calculates this measure for all Norwegian labour-market regions. Studies of regional related diversification rely on measures of related variety, which build on the industry classification hierarchy. However, the growing literature identifying similarities in knowledge and competences across industries demonstrates that these classifications fail to identify a great deal of actual skill relatedness, and that measures based on empirical measures of industry relatedness are required. The skill relatedness measure builds on labour mobility flows across industries to develop a relatedness matrix for Norwegian industries. It further uses social network analysis to identify the number of other regional industries to which each industry in a particular region is related. Comparing this measure to the related variety index, the analysis shows that the two measures are highly correlated, but that the regional skill relatedness index is able to identify more of the relatedness across industries. In particular, the related variety index tends to underestimate the level of relatedness in many of Norway’s most technologically sophisticated manufacturing regions, whereas these rank highly in the regional skill relatedness index. Consequently, the regional skill relatedness index represents a promising new tool for identifying relatedness in regional systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]