Patterns of Combined ICT Use and Innovation in the European Regions

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the existence of combined patterns of regional innovation and the information and communication technologies (ICT) use, and the factors explaining them at a regional level in the European Union (EU). The use of canonical correlation analysis (CCA) allows us to identify two differentiated patterns of regional innovation and ICT use. The main pattern is defined by those regions combining high levels of ICT use and innovation. This pattern is mostly explained by institutional factors, such as the quality of government, and by region-specific characteristics, such as total employment in knowledge-intensive services, total research and development (R&D), lifelong learning (LifeLong), and gross domestic product (GDP). We also identified a second pattern that corresponds with regions showing strong disparities between innovation and ICT use levels. This pattern is mainly determined by R&D and by institutional variables such as government quality and fiscal decentralization. Our findings shed light on the factors that jointly explain innovation and ICT diffusion, and could be useful in the design of innovation and ICT diffusion policies at both regional and national levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Canonical correlation analysis
• European region
• ICT use
• innovation

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science (ECO2010-21393-C04-03 and ECO2013-48496-C4-2-R). All of the authors also thank Irene Iglesias for her help with the Quantum GIS software.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science (ECO2010-21393-C04-03 and ECO2013-48496-C4-2-R). All of the authors also thank Irene Iglesias for her help with the Quantum GIS software.

Notes on contributors

Margarita Billon

Margarita Billon, PhD, is Senior Lecturer of World Economy and Foreign Trade at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain). Her current research focuses primarily on the economic impacts of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the digital divide. She is the author of three books and several articles related to the globalization process, the digital divide and ICT adoption as well as the Spanish External Trade. Her work has been published in international journals such as Empirical Economics, Information Technology and People, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Telecommunications Policy, Review of World Economics, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Growth and Change, International Journal of Manpower, European Planning Studies, among others.

Fernando Lera-Lopez

Fernando Lera-Lopez, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Department of Economics of the Public University of Navarra (Spain), where he lectures on Economics and Innovation in Teaching. His main research interests are the ICT adoption and the role played by ICT at national and firm levels. His research has been published in journals such as Telecommunications Policy, Review of World Economics, Growth and Change, Technovation, International Journal of Manpower, European Planning Studies, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Information Technology and People, and Empirical Economics among others.

Rocío Marco

Rocío Marco, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Applied Economics at Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. Her research interests include ICT diffusion, gender and economic performance. She has published articles in various referred journals including International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Finance & Economics, Business Ethics: A European Review, Telecommunications Policy, and Review of World Economics among others.