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Abstract
Quatraro F. Co-evolutionary patterns in regional knowledge bases and economic structure: evidence from European regions, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the co-evolutionary patterns of structural change in knowledge and economics. The former is made operational through an analysis of co-occurrences of technological classes in patent documents in order to derive indicators of coherence, variety and cognitive distance. The latter is made operational in a synthetic way by implementing shift–share analysis which decomposes labour productivity growth into effects caused by changes in the allocation of employment, those ascribed to intra-sector productivity growth, and those caused by interaction of these two components. The results of the analysis conducted on a sample of 227 European regions show that increasing variety is associated with the reallocation of the workforce across sectors whereas within-sector productivity is associated with high levels of both coherence and cognitive distance of the regional knowledge base.
Quatraro F. 区域知识基础和经济结构中的共同演化模式：来自欧洲区域的证据，区域研究。本文分析知识与经济中，结构变迁的共同演化模式。前者将透过分析专利档案中的共同协力技术种类操作之，以取得一致性、变异和认知距离的指标。后者将透过执行偏离—份额分析，以综合的方式操作之，该分析将劳动生产力成长分解为由就业配置改变、部门内部生产力成长、以及上述两种元素互动所导致的效应。本研究对二百二十七个欧洲区域所进行的分析结果显示，增加的变异，与劳动力在各部门间的重新配置有关，而部门内部的生产力，则与区域知识基础的高度一致性与认知距离有关。
Quatraro F. Des modèles coévolutionnaires des bases de connaissance régionales et la structure économique: des preuves provenant des régions européennes, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à analyser les modèles coévolutionnaires de la transformation structurelle de la connaissance et de l’économie. La première est rendue opérationnelle au moyen d'une analyse des cooccurrences du classement technologique des documents de brevet pour en tirer des indicateurs en matière de cohérence, de variété et de distance cognitive. La dernière est rendue opérationnelle de façon synthétique en mettant en oeuvre une analyse par déplacement et redistribution qui décompose la croissance de la productivité du travail en effets dus aux changements de la distribution de l'emploi, en ceux attribués à la croissance intra-branches de la productivité, et en ceux qui s'expliquent par l'interaction de ces deux composantes-là. Les résultats de l'analyse auprès d'un échantillon de 227 régions européennes montre qu'une variété croissante est associée à la redistribution de la main-d'oeuvre à travers les secteurs alors que la productivité au sein des secteurs est associée à des niveaux élevés à la fois de la cohérence et de la distance cognitive de la base de connaissance régionale.
Quatraro F. Koevolutionäre Muster regionaler Wissensbasen und Wirtschaftsstruktur: Belege aus europäischen Regionen, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag werden die koevolutionären Muster des Strukturwandels in Wissen und Wirtschaft untersucht. Der Strukturwandel im Bereich des Wissens wird durch eine Analyse der gemeinsam auftretenden Technologieklassen bei Patentdokumenten untersucht, um Indikatoren für Kohärenz, Vielfalt und kognitive Distanz zu ermitteln. Der Strukturwandel im Bereich der Wirtschaft wird auf synthetische Weise mittels einer Shift-Share-Analyse untersucht, bei der das Wachstum der Arbeitsproduktivität in Effekte aufgegliedert wird, die durch Veränderungen bei der Verteilung von Arbeitsplätzen, intrasektorielles Produktivitätswachstum oder durch eine Wechselwirkung dieser beiden Komponenten verursacht werden. Aus den Ergebnissen der Analyse einer Stichprobe von 227 europäischen Regionen geht hervor, dass eine zunehmende Vielfalt mit der Neuverteilung von Arbeitskräften zwischen den Sektoren verbunden ist, während die Produktivität innerhalb eines Sektors mit einem hohen Maß von Kohärenz und kognitiver Distanz der regionalen Wissensbasis verbunden ist.
Quatraro F. Patrones coevolutivos en las bases de conocimiento regional y la estructura económica: evidencia de las regiones europeas, Regional Studies. En este artículo se analizan los patrones coevolutivos del cambio estructural en el conocimiento y la economía. El cambio estructural en el conocimiento se analiza mediante las co-ocurrencias de las clases tecnológicas en documentos de patentes con la finalidad de derivar los indicadores de coherencia, variedad y distancia cognitiva. El cambio estructural en la economía se analiza de una forma sintética al implementar un análisis shift-share que descompone el crecimiento de la productividad laboral en efectos causados por cambios en la asignación del empleo, cambios que corresponden al crecimiento de productividad intrasectorial, y cambios causados por la interacción entre estos dos componentes. Los resultados del análisis llevado a cabo en una muestra de 227 regiones europeas indican que una mayor variedad se vincula a la reasignación de la mano de obra en todos los sectores, mientras que la productividad en un mismo sector se relaciona con altos niveles de coherencia y distancia cognitiva de la base de conocimiento regional.
Acknowledgments
A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the annual conference of the Italian branch of the Regional Science Association (AISRE), Rome, Italy, September 2012.
Notes
1. Perroux (Citation1955) provided the former efforts to build a systematic account of the relationships between structural and technological change in local contexts. He proposed a view according to which the development of local economies is shaped by centripetal and centrifugal forces. Some sectors are likely to be stronger in some areas and weaker in others so that the economic development of a specific area is influenced by the structural ties of the propulsive sector with the rest of the local economic activities. Vertical and horizontal linkages can therefore enhance the positive effects of outperforming sectors. Of the main sources of competitive advantage in this framework, innovation plays a key role in the development of technical efficiency.
2. The limits of patent statistics as indicators of technological activities are well known. The main drawbacks can be summarized in their sector specificity, the existence of non-patentable innovations and the fact that they are not the only protecting tool. Moreover, the propensity to patent tends to vary over time as a function of the cost of patenting and is more likely to feature large firms (Pavitt, Citation1985; Griliches, Citation1990). Nevertheless, previous studies highlighted the usefulness of patents as measures of production of new knowledge, above all in the context of analyses of innovation performances at the regional level. Such studies show that patents represent very reliable proxies for knowledge and innovation, as compared with analyses drawing upon surveys directly investigating the dynamics of process and product innovation (Acs et al., Citation2002). Besides the debate about patents as an output rather than an input of innovation activities, empirical analyses showed that patents and R&D are dominated by a contemporaneous relationship, providing further support to the use of patents as a good proxy of technological activities (Hall et al., Citation1986). Moreover, it is worth stressing that the analysis here focuses on the dynamics of manufacturing sectors.
3. It must be stressed that to compensate for intrinsic volatility of patenting behaviour, each patent application is made to last five years.
4. It is acknowledged that the use of administrative regions to investigate the effects of knowledge creation represents only an approximation of the local dynamics underpinning such a process. Indeed, administrative borders are arbitrary and therefore might not be representative of the spontaneous emergence of local interactions. It would be much better to investigate these dynamics by focusing on local systems of innovation. However, it is impossible to find data at such a level of aggregation. Moreover, the identification of local systems involves the choice of indicators and threshold values according to which one can decide whether or not to unbundle local institutions. This choice is in turn arbitrary and therefore would not solve the problem, but would only reproduce the issue at a different level. Thus, despite the unavoidable approximation, this analysis may provide useful information on the dynamics under scrutiny.
5. The assignment of patents to regions on the basis of inventors’ addresses is the most widespread practice in the literature (e.g., Maurseth and Verspagen, Citation2002; Henderson et al., Citation2005; Breschi and Lissoni, Citation2009; and Paci and Usai, Citation2009, to quote a few). A viable alternative may rest on the use of applicants’ addresses, above all when the assessment of knowledge impact on growth is at stake (Antonelli et al., Citation2010). However, when analysis is conducted at a local level of aggregation, and the geography of collective processes of knowledge creation is emphasized, the choice of inventors’ addresses remains the best one.
6. The displacement effect on employment of course is unlikely to manifest itself in the shortest run. This may be the reason why this effect is grasped only when looking at the third lag. However, this evidence would be expected to become more robust in the subsequent lags. Unfortunately, the available data do not allow one to go further back in time.
7. For similar evidence at the firm level, see Colombelli et al. (Citation2014a) and Colombelli and Quatraro (Citation2014).
8. An important limitation of this exercise concerns the lag structure used in the analysis. Although most of the existing studies using the reduced VAR approach do not go beyond the third lag (Coad and Rkao, Citation2010; Buerger et al., Citation2012), it would be useful to investigate longer lag structures. The available data on regional economic accounts unfortunately do not allow analysis to be extended in this direction.