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Research & Innovation (R&I) policy initiatives employed by the European Union (EU) across its regional economies are important instruments to ensure the scientific and technological progress along with the associated benefits. One relevant aspect in this regard is to encourage and enable collaboration between regional partners to enhance potential learning opportunities and to ensure cohesive long-term development patterns. Furthermore, frequently these initiatives are also targeted at specific technology sectors, such as the EU R&I policy actions towards nanotechnology. Based on an advance theoretical framework and data from the official EU project databases as well as regionalized European Patent Office data, the present study develops a methodological tool through which it is possible to identify effective collaboration settings, while providing policymakers and evaluators with a practical tool that will enable them to predict the possible outcomes of such critical EU-funded R&I projects from the onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the effect of return initiatives in rural regions of Germany on interregional return migration. The initiatives aim to increase return migration by, amongst other things, providing information on local employment opportunities and personal support to workers interested in returning to find a job in the former rural region of residence. Analysing administrative data on individual labour market trajectories through survival analysis and difference-in-differences estimation, we find that return initiatives, on average, promote interregional return migration. Among the considered workers, particularly those in the middle and at the top of the wage distribution are more likely to return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of regional resilience has gained notoriety in regional economics and economic geography in recent years. The main aim is to understand why regions react differently to adverse shocks. To this end, several empirical studies have analyzed the impacts economic crises have had on the performance of regional economies and found considerably asymmetric results. Similarly, this study analyzes the duration of the 2008 crisis in Brazilian regions and aims to identify the characteristics that allowed some regions to rapidly recover from the crisis. However, the main novelty of this study lies in the fact that to do so, statistical tools from survival analysis were used. The findings suggest that having more educated workers and being located within metropolitan regions are two characteristics that contribute to faster recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to contribute with an understanding of the governance capacity of local public actors to be place leaders for local collaborative initiatives aimed at addressing climate mitigation, and how this agency is embedded within place-specific institutional conditions. The research design is a single case study of a climate mitigation initiative in the city of Uppsala in Sweden. The discussion based on the empirical results highlights three findings. Firstly, that the political and administrative arms of local government interact in their capacity to be place leaders in local interventions. Secondly, that the capacity of local government to provide place leadership needs to be conceived in relation to the place and the institutional structure of the local environment. Thirdly, that the role of place leader for governance is imbued with governance dilemmas deriving from how the steering role is negotiated. The concluding discussion argues for the need of a detailed understanding of place-leading agency to achieve a deeper understanding of governance capacity. This paper illustrates that place leadership is multifaceted and means different things across the cycles of collaborative governance. The concluding discussion also stresses the importance of understanding governance dilemmas in making actors prepared to strategically take position for their involvement and engagement in collaborations. This means that maintaining collaborative governance is an important strategy for meeting social challenges, but that this needs to be developed based on thorough knowledge about the intrinsic conditions for such arrangements and processes.

ABSTRACTDuring the pandemic, our needs and expectations of our housing stock rapidly expanded to cope with demands of lockdowns, working from home and restricted access to other neighbourhoods. Empirical studies over the last few years indicate how concepts such as multifunctionality, responsiveness, social connectivity and localisation became critical. In many cases, the pandemic deepened existing housing-related inequities. Households already struggling with lower incomes found themselves contending with even more challenges: constrained spaces, inadequate heating and the noise of neighbours. Given the strong link between housing and health, there is an urgent need to understand the ability of our current housing stock to meet the demands of such ‘shocks’. Of particular importance is the concept of resilience in housing systems. Resilience has become ubiquitous in policy discourse but is underdeveloped and undertheorised. We thus use actor-network theory (ANT) concepts to develop a multi-level conceptualisation of resilience, arguing that ‘housing resilience’ unfolds on five levels: resilience within an individual dwelling, within housing supply, within the housing supply chain, between dwellings and communities and between dwellings and the natural environment. We then demonstrated the robustness of this conceptualisation by mobilising it as a lens for an analysis, starting with 11 state-level housing policies in Australia. We selected the ‘best practice’ housing policy with the most extensive reference to resilience. We then evidenced how our multi-level conceptualisation allows us to identify critical gaps even in this ‘exemplar’ housing policy, interrogate its structure and prioritise future action plans.

As new digital technologies become widespread, it is crucial to understand the role of spatiality and agglomeration economies in the digital age, especially in the ICT sector. The ICT sector, with its innovative strength and the ability to complement various sectors, drives digitalization and balanced economic development. Recognizing the importance of digitalization and the ICT sector for economic development, especially in the catching-up regions of Central and Eastern Europe, this study aims at exploring the role and the spatiality of the ICT sector in the urban and rural areas of the Visegrad countries and Romania. The analysis focuses on the spatial concentration of the ICT sector and the specialization of the regions on the NUTS 3 level, distinguishing capital, intermediate metropolitan, intermediate non-metropolitan and rural areas, utilizing data on employed persons in the period 2010–2020. Findings reveal the dynamic growth and spatial concentration of the ICT sector despite the ongoing process of digitalization, particularly in capital regions, alongside the increasing significance of modern business services in agglomeration economies. Additionally, the research proves the presence of division of labour among different types of regions, reveals capital and rural regions as highly specialized regions and points to the need for place-sensitive development policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each states play pivotal roles in contributing to the economic performance of the nation. They have their own unique economic strengths, resources, and industries that contribute to the overall economic development. Terengganu, an east coast state in Malaysia has historically faced economic challenges, marked by a lag in development compared to other regions. The fundamental problem addressed is the potential correlation between educational attainment and the region’s economic growth, aiming to understand how advancements in education might serve as a catalyst for economic progress. The objective of this research is to empirically analyze the impact of educational achievement on the economic development in Terengganu. Utilizing secondary data sourced from the Department of Statistics Malaysia and Economy Planning Unit Terengganu spanning from 2006 to 2022, Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model has been employed to estimate and understand the relationship between educational attainment and economic development. The findings suggested that educational achievement plays positive impact in heightening the economic development within the region. Education contributes to the development of human capital, fostering a skilled and knowledgeable populace capable of engaging in diverse economic activities. This, in turn, attracts investments and facilitates the emergence of industries and sectors that rely on a knowledgeable and skilled labour force. This study would provide valuable insights for policymakers and academicians to formulate targeted policies and initiatives, ultimately enhancing the economic development of the states, thus contribute to a prosperous Malaysia.

AbstractConcerns about opportunistic behaviors by governments and their failure to recognize local needs are significant issues with place-based policies. In China’s aid program targeted at Xinjiang, rather than solely relying on fiscal transfers and centralized decision-making, there was encouragement for the involvement of state-owned enterprises and direct cooperation between aid providers and recipients. While these arrangements have helped the program succeed in addressing concerns related to place-based policies and have contributed to economic growth in recipient areas, there are potential negative impacts on the local environment, leading to what is termed as a pollution heaven scenario. Analyzing of data from 72 ethnic cities in China using a difference-in-differences approach, we demonstrate that the program resulted in notable increases in local GDP and PM2.5 concentrations, accompanied by expansion of polluting industries. This study is pertinent to ongoing discussions in place-based policy research and offers policy insights both domestically and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, I examine the potential of the Anatolian Tigers, which are an important engine for the Turkish economy, in a very novel framework. I also compare the role of Anatolian Tigers with Istanbul-based firms within the capitalist classes. The study explores that the Anatolian Tigers have significant potential for exports, foreign direct investment and long-term sales, but are lagging behind in foreign direct investment. The findings of the study may be the first study to shed light on the development potential of the Anatolian Tigers by addressing issues that have not yet been addressed in the literature on the Anatolian Tigers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses regional competitiveness at the subregional level through a novel methodological approach that adopts a matching design. By comparing the performance of similar firms in different parts of the region, it is possible to detect whether different places provide different competitive territorial assets. Using data for Lombardy, a large and competitive European region, the analysis shows that the different territories of the region are differently competitive in different industries, even when they are similar in terms of total GDP per capita or specialization. The paper also confirms that measuring competitiveness on different indicators (Labour Productivity, TFP, Profitability) can provide different results, and this especially happens when comparing static and dynamic indicators. The methodology presented here is especially relevant to the design of regional policies, that are mostly deployed at the NUTS-2 level but would benefit from accounting for the presence of strongly dis-homogeneous territories inside the same region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pension systems increasingly require active involvement from their participants for retirement planning. This leads to the need for a proper level of financial literacy to foster decision-making. Based on the Chilean Social Protection Survey and the Regional Development Index data, specific characteristics related to the region of residence, such as the quality of life, access to job opportunities, and available connectivity tools, are seen to have a positive impact on pension knowledge. Hence, these regional level results provide inputs to policymakers for developing appropriate policies regarding pension knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the externality theory, this paper estimates the city size threshold of specialized agglomeration and diversified agglomeration. We find that when the urban population is below 1.25 million, specialized agglomeration is more advantageous for improving urban labor productivity. When the urban population exceeds 0.9 million, diversified agglomeration is more advantageous for improving urban labor productivity. Moreover, Specialized agglomeration of small and medium-sized cities is more likely to play the role of Marshall-Arrow-Romer externality within the spillover radius of regional central cities. One important policy suggestion is that for areas with small administrative regions and small population, it is better to increase the level of specialized agglomeration through industrial transfer, and for areas with large administrative regions and large population, it is better to increase the level of diversified agglomeration through industrial introduction, so as to further improve the urban economic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent racial inequality in socioeconomic status within urban areas has been a significant concern in both the US and European countries. Differences across racial groups in intergenerational mobility (IM) have been identified as a key source of this persistence. However, efforts to understand racial inequality in IM have rarely considered the role of urban sprawl. This article argues that urban sprawl affects differences in IM between racial groups directly and indirectly through racial segregation, racial bias, and social capital. We analyze data from 874 metropolitan counties in the US using structural equation models to test these direct and indirect effects of sprawl on racial inequality in IM. We found that urban sprawl was negatively associated with racial inequality in IM. The direct effect, which we partially attribute to higher racial disparities in social capital in more compact counties, was statistically significant. For the indirect effects, racial segregation had the largest mediating effects between urban sprawl and racial inequality in IM, followed by economic connectedness (EC) and racial bias. The net indirect effect of sprawl on racial inequality in IM was negative because negative indirect effects through racial segregation and EC outweigh positive indirect effects through racial bias. Our findings demonstrate the significant role of urban form in racial inequality in IM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most sub-Saharan African electricity generation is through renewable energy sources. However, the pace of renewable expansion is slow, mirrored by the region's low per capita electric power consumption and electricity access. The study examines the determinants of renewable electricity generation adoption in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries using content description and a panel ARDL analysis. Findings from this study show that hydroelectric power is the long-standing renewable electricity source in the region. The deployment of non-hydro renewable electricity sources is slow despite its vast potential. In most evaluated countries, renewable electricity targets are below actual realization. Also, policies are ineffective in driving renewable electricity adoption, as indicated by the negative relationship between renewable electricity generation and policy enactments in SSA. Foreign direct investment and financial development significantly negatively impact renewable electricity adoption, suggesting that both factors do not expand renewable electricity generation. Feasible strategies for increasing non-hydro renewable electricity use include activating renewable energy support mechanisms and their uptake. In addition, governments in SSA should strengthen their legal and institutional frameworks and encourage lessening bottlenecks and bureaucracies associated with renewable electricity investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to measure whether the regions lagging behind in the European knowledge field could get closer to the core of the Framework Programmes’ (FP) R&D network.

AbstractHousing affordability remains a social and economic issue in New Zealand. Affordability policies such as Inclusionary Zoning have been promoted to streamline land delivery and boost the housing supply. This paper takes the Special Housing Areas (SHA) programme implemented in Auckland, New Zealand, as a case of a voluntary IZ, and explores the effects on the distribution of housing prices. We rely on a Difference-in-Difference framework as the general identification strategy to estimate quantile treatment effects. We use about 175 thousand sales transactions between September 2011 and September 2016. Considering all transactions, the results show that the SHAs program failed to reduce housing prices across the distribution; and, even in some cases, prices increased. We also find that, for new dwellings, the program decreased prices at the lower end of the distribution while increasing them at the upper end. We argue that the mechanism driving these results is the construction of larger dwellings in the upper part of the distribution. As the SHAs did not involve a mandatory mechanism for affordability purposes, we argue that non-affordable dwellings were built and delivered in the first place with the added price premium of a streamlined delivery. Therefore, as an example of a voluntary IZ program, the SHAs may have stimulated supply, but numerous implications arise as improvements in affordability are negligible or questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The staggered enactment of special economic zones (SEZ) laws in the last three decades provides us with a unique opportunity to identify the causal impact of place-based policies on structural change. Using difference-in-differences and event studies, we provide new evidence that SEZs have a causal impact on structural change and industrialization. We find that adopting an SEZ policy increased the GDP share of industry and decreased the shares of the agriculture and service sectors. We disentangle these effects by examining the heterogeneities by income groups and geographic regions. We find that SEZ policies have been positive and significant for industrial growth in Asia and Latin America, while having no significant effect for African countries. Overall, this study represents one of the first efforts to identify the causal impact of SEZs using a large panel dataset of more than 126 countries for 1995–2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The High-tech Industrial Development Districts (HIDDs) are technological engines for the regional economy in China. The Chinese government implemented the Torch Initiative to accelerate industrial agglomeration and innovation development by administratively upgrading the local HIDDs into a national list since 1989. The policy intervention emphasizes the labor and capital inputs on science and technology. The study adopts the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to understand the economic efficiency of the enlisted national HIDDs in the Yangtze River Delta. The results suggest that the average efficiency trends of the all-in-total sales, product sales and commodity sales are decreasing while that of technology sales is increasing from 2007 to 2019. In the total sales efficiency evaluation, most early-enrolled HIDDs are in the high-efficiency group whereas the newcomers are in the low-efficiency group. The Nantong HIDD has the highest efficiency, followed by Wuxi, Taizhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai ZJ, Xiaoshan, Ningbo, Suzhou IP and Jiangyin HIDDs. Huainan, Huaian, Tongling, Shanghai ZZ, Lianyungang and Suqian HIDDs rank very low in the total sales evaluation. Besides, Hangzhou, Nantong and Ningbo HIDDs rank first in the technology, product and commodity sales efficiency evaluation correspondingly. In addition, the increase of S&T labor inputs would decrease the efficiency of the product, commodity and total sales while the increase of the S&T capital inputs is as expected a facilitator to the efficiency of product, commodity and total sales. This study contributes to the discussion on the role of political intervention in technological innovation by breaking down the economic efficiency into three major parts, the efficiency of technology, product and commodity sales. The findings could help policymakers strike a balance between the human and capital inputs in regional innovation capability.

The aim of this paper is to examine the level of food security in Ukraine in comparison to global regions and European countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war. For this purpose, a variety of indicators were examined including population dynamics, food balance, FAO indicators, and the Global Food Security Index. The results show that in spite of its agricultural potential Ukraine is behind the global and European indicators of food security with the exception of fish products. Barriers to achieving high levels of food security include incomplete legislative reforms, inadequate funding, infrastructure deficiencies, corruption and non-compliance with standards. International cooperation and improved national and regional strategies are needed to overcome the consequences of the war.