Higher education, regional growth and cohesion: insights from the Spanish case

ABSTRACT

In this paper we study the link between regional economic growth and higher education development in a macroeconomic regression for a panel of Spanish regions between 1985 and 2016. The regional economic growth is measured as gross domestic product growth per capita, whereas higher education development is calculated by the growth rate of the total enrolments. We find that higher education growth has a positive impact on the regional macroeconomic growth. As this effect is more intense in less wealthy regions, we may conclude that higher education plays a positive role in regional economic and social cohesion.

KEYWORDS:

• economic growth
• regional
• higher education
• economic cohesion

JEL:

• I23
• I24
• I25
• R11

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author thanks three anonymous referees, as well as his colleagues Antonio Alvarez Pinilla and David Roibás.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. An increase in highly qualified labour force demand; an increase in technological innovation processes and an improvement of production processes derived from the growth of the university system and the contribution of researchers; and the effect on goods and services demand derived from greater consumption made by teachers and students.

2. An increase in the democratic values among population and their involvement in the political system.

3. Spain is divided into 17 autonomous regions (NUTS-2 level following Eurostat), 11 of which are divided into provinces (NUTS-3). The cities of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Africa are classified as autonomous cities.

4. A specific case is that of students enrolled in UNED, the Spanish Open University, located in the Autonomous Region of Madrid, and whose students are found throughout Spain. Given that there is no available information related to their location for the analysed period, we have proceeded to distribute UNED students among the autonomous regions according to their population share weight.

5. It was not possible to control higher education quality because information for all universities and all academic years is not available.

6. According the figures stated by the Ministry of Universities, the number of students enrolled as new students of the new Bologna Plan was 1.3% of the total number of enrolled students for the first year of the Bologna Plan (2008–09 academic year). Given that entering the effect of the number of enrolled students in estimates is lagged eight years, the last year from which data are taken is 2008. Given the residual relevance of the number of enrolled students in the Bologna Plan that year, no reference to the effect education changes caused by this plan might have has been included.

7. Moran index values for econometric estimate variables stated the existence of a very low spatial autocorrelation, thus supporting the validity of this assumption of the behaviour of workers who graduated from university.

8. Models’ 1–4 estimates are available from the author upon request.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation [project number ECO2017-86402-C2-1-R] and by the University of Oviedo [project number PAPI-20-GR-2014-0076].