Miroslav Šipikal (p)

Sylvie Charlot

The innovation performance of Central European countries has been very low for a long time. However, the accession of these countries to the European Union enabled them to access the financial resources of the cohesion policy, which represented a significant shift in the availability of financial resources for innovative activities. When forming public policies, countries faced a choice of where to invest these funds. One of the main tools used by the countries was the support for building university science and technology parks (STP). The aim of this article is to examine how successful public support for the introduction of this instrument was in selected Central European countries. For the investigation, a questionnaire survey was carried out among established science parks supplemented by interviews in selected parks as well as other relevant institutions. The results showed great differences in the functioning of these institutions in individual countries as well as within them. Continuous government support, the involvement of local actors in the construction of STPs and a high degree of independence of STPs when deciding on their activities can be identified as factors that positively influenced the success of STPs.

Anna Golejewska (p)

Miroslav Šipikal

Much has been written on the impact of different dimensions of proximity on interaction, interactive learning, knowledge creation/diffusion and finally, innovation. Proximities reduce uncertainty and facilitate innovation. Nevertheless, the role of geographical proximity is no longer treated as a predetermined assumption and is subject to empirical testing. Geographical proximity may complement other forms of proximity such as cognitive, social, institutional and organizational proximity. However, excessive proximity is unlikely to foster innovation.

The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of different forms of proximity in interactions and knowledge creation/diffusion in the ICT cluster. An attempt has been made to answer the question of which of the forms of proximity has the greatest impact on cooperation within innovative projects and whether they are interdependent to some extent. The results were developed based on semi-structured interviews conducted among representatives of ICT companies within the ICT cluster located in Gdańsk Science and Technology Park, Poland. Representatives of companies were asked about their experiences related to partnerships, factors influencing their success or failure, and the types of proximity that were crucial in a given context. The interviews allowed not only for the straightforward collection of information but also for requesting immediate feedback and sharing of experiences.

The findings indicate that geographical proximity alone is neither necessary nor sufficient for innovation. Interpersonal factors emerge as crucial for knowledge transfer and innovation, suggesting that both processes not solely dependent on location. At most, geographical proximity may enhance other forms of proximity, playing a complementary role.

José de Santos (p), Susana Bernardino

Anna Golejewska

Participatory budgeting is a new form of public funding that aims to involve citizens in the political decision-making process. In this descentralized process, the population proposes and votes for the most useful projects in a given location with the aim of obtaining public resources to implement them for the benefit of their own community.
Taking the case of the Azores, one of the Portugal’s outermost regions, the objective is to evaluate how the participatory budgeting has been implemented in that region between 2018 and 2022. The Azores archipelago is an autonomous region of Portugal located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago comprises nine islands and several islets belonging to three groups: i) the Western Group (with two islands: Flores and Corvo); ii) the Central Group (with five islands: Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Terceira); and iii) the Eastern Group (with two islands: São Miguel and Santa Maria, and the Formigas islets).
São Miguel (with six municipalities) is the largest island in the Azores archipelago, accounting for 56% of the archipelago's population and 58.2% of its GDP. It is followed by Terceira, with 2 municipalities and a population of 23% and a GDP of 21.5% of Azores. The other seven islands account for the rest.
To examine the distribution of the participatory budgeting in the Azores a statistical analysis of the projects approved between 2018 and 2022 is carried out in order to identify the areas and contents of the projects, their regional distribution, and their financial relevance. Further, the contribution of participatory budgeting to the cohesion of the region as a whole is evaluated not only from the point of view of each island (inter island comparison) but also at the level of municipalities (intra island comparasion).

Sylvie Charlot (p), Antonio Musolesi, Alexandra Soberon, Juan Rodriguez-Poo

José de Santos

This paper investigates the influence of the European Union's Framework Programmes (FPs) on regional innovation, focusing specifically on Framework Programs 5 and 6 (FP5 and FP6). Implemented during 1998-2002 and 2002-2006, respectively, these programs are central to the EU's innovation strategy. Employing a panel dataset covering 218 regions across the EU-27 from 1996 to 2012 and measuring innovative output through patents, we adopt a conceptual framework based on Griliches (1979) for the knowledge production function. We consider an interactive fixed-effects panel data model incorporating endogenous explanatory variables, extending beyond conventional standard fixed-effects models in the existing literature. This allows to address different sources of endogeneity of FP spending, arising from criteria determining regional allocations, posing a challenge to traditional modeling.
To tackle this challenge, we propose a novel semiparametric instrumental variables estimator, supported by asymptotic theory and simulations. This innovative approach strengthens our capacity to consider the endogeneity of FP5 and FP6 spending, as well as research and development (R&D) spending and human capital (HK). Significantly, it addresses endogeneity associated with selection biases, a facet not effectively handled by standard or interactive fixed effects specifications alone.
Our initial findings indicate that both FP5 and FP6 expenditures exert a substantial impact on regional innovation output in the EU throughout the study period. Importantly, both sources of endogeneity prove influential, underscoring the importance of our proposed methodology. These outcomes contribute to a nuanced comprehension of the effectiveness of EU FPs in promoting regional innovation.