Amit Batabyal (p), Peter Nijkamp

Davide Fiaschi

We analyze the connections between creative capital, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and economic growth in a stylized smart city A. We first describe our model and then derive analytic expressions for three growth related metrics. Second, we use these metrics to show that the economy of smart city A converges to a balanced growth path (BGP) and then we compute the growth rate of output per effective creative capital unit on this BGP. Third, we compute the BGP values of ICT and skills per effective creative capital unit. Fourth, we study how heterogeneity in initial conditions affects outcomes on the BGP by introducing a second smart city B into the analysis. At time t=0, two key savings rates in city A are twice as large as in city B. In this setting, we compute the ratio of the BGP value of income per effective creative capital unit in city A to its value in city B. Finally, for the same values of the four savings rates, we compute the ratio of the BGP value of skills per effective creative capital unit in city A to its value in city B.

Marcos Sanso-navarro (p), María Vera-Cabello

Amit Batabyal

This paper incorporates spatial dependence into a neoclassical regional growth framework with imperfect factor mobility. Using a sub-national global data set, the empirical analysis consists of the implementation of multiple imputation techniques to the estimation of a spatial Durbin panel model. Our results show that accounting for spatial effects increases the estimated regional convergence rate. This provides an explanation for puzzling findings in the related literature. Further, we obtain evidence of a nonlinear relationship between the levels of national income and financial development and the regional speed of convergence.

Davide Fiaschi (p), Lisa Gianmoena, Angela Parenti

Marcos Sanso-navarro

This paper tries to analyse the sources of inequality in terms of GDP per worker looking at a large sample of European regions.
A dynamic extension of the Moran scatter plot, consisting in a non parametric estimate of
the joint dynamics of GDP per worker and its spatial lag, suggests the emergence of three spatial
clubs: one populated by regions belonging to the former Eastern Bloc countries, one by regions
of PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) and the last one by regions of other EU
countries (notably Germany, France, UK and Northern Europe countries).\\
To estimate the drivers of this type of inequality of the GDP per worker across European regions, we propose
a spatial growth model and we estimate it using a spatial fixed panel in a sample of 254 NUTS2
regions over the period 1991-2008.
Interregional technological spillovers appear to play a key role in European regional inequality, in particular on the emergence of three main spatial clubs of regions.
Estimated unobserved heterogeneity (fixed effects) also explains an important share of inequality; regional differences in informal institutions, as trust and obedience suggested by Tabellini, 2010, have explanatory power on the estimated unobserved heterogeneity, but they explain only a very limited part of the variance of the estimated unobserved heterogeneity.
Finally, cross-region heterogeneity in human capital appear to exert a negligible role on European regional inequality.