Minzhi Wu, Iván Arribas, Jesús Peiró-palomino (p), Emli Tortosa-Ausina

Giulio Pedrini

With the emergence of FinTech, understanding the mechanism by which this phenomenon promotes economic development is becoming increasingly important. However, very few scholars have touched on this issue and the link between FinTech and economic performance is still far from clear. This study empirically examines the effects of FinTech on economic performance for a panel of 31 provinces in mainland China between 2012 and 2019. We divide the selected provincial administrative regions into three sub-samples---namely, the Eastern region, the Central region, and the Western region---to investigate whether the impact varies across different geographical areas. We use the digital financial index compiled by the Digital Finance Research Center of Peking University as a proxy for FinTech. Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and labour productivity are used to measures economic activity in this study. A set of control variables from three aspects, namely economic characteristics (government expenditure, industrial structure and trade openness), demographic factors (population growth and urbanization), and capital stock indicators (human capital and investment in fixed assets), are considered to control for their impact on economic performance. To do this, we consider a robust version of the instrumental quantile regression approach, which is particularly interesting when the units under study (in our case, Chinese provinces) are at different stages of economic development. Our findings show a positive effect of FinTech on provincial economic development. However, the magnitude and significance of the effect vary across provinces and dimensions of FinTech, highlighting the convenience of designing policies that take into account the economic disparities across regions and provinces.

Giulio Pedrini (p), Bernardina Algieri, Luca Cattani, Marianna Succurro

Nikoletta Nádas

This paper explores the relationship between the green propensity of Italian provinces and their international competitiveness, focusing on the moderating role of institutional quality. Green transition can significantly affect local competitiveness, depending on how regions adopt sustainability practices. Provinces investing in green technologies, such as renewable energy, green construction, and sustainable agriculture, can boost innovation, productivity, and efficiency, ultimately enhancing competitiveness. Green innovation, green-labelled degrees, and green jobs serve as measures of green propensity, while international competitiveness is gauged through export propensity and trade openness indices. The study also examines how institutional quality influences this relationship, as regions with higher institutional quality are better positioned to foster green innovation and attract investments in sustainable industries. Green transition can improve regional competitiveness through innovation, investment, and job creation, but regions failing to adapt may face higher costs and reduced global competitiveness. The paper uses an original dataset combining provincial data on exports, imports, green capacity, and institutional quality indices over the period 2005–2022. Findings contribute to understanding how green initiatives impact provincial competitiveness, with policy implications regarding the importance of institutional quality in supporting the green transition.

Nikoletta Nádas (p)

Luciano Ferreira Gabriel

In recent decades, European innovation policy has undergone significant transformation, with a growing emphasis on making scientific research, development, and innovation more transparent and inclusive. This shift has reinforced the importance of responsible research and innovation (RRI), which seeks to anticipate and assess the potential impacts of innovation while aligning with societal expectations. Various methods have been introduced to incorporate responsible innovation into decision-making processes; however, many of these approaches have not led to its widespread adoption.
One key challenge is the limited understanding of how RRI can be effectively applied within the business sector. Additionally, responsible innovation has primarily been developed and implemented in developed economies, tailored to their specific innovation environment. This study aims to address two main issues: first, how to raise awareness among businesses about RRI and encourage its adoption, and second, how to implement responsible innovation effectively in less developed regions.
Since the younger generation represents the future consumer base, this research focuses on their perspectives and preferences. The primary objective is to explore ways to expand the application of responsible innovation and to understand young consumers' attitudes toward products developed under RRI principles. To achieve these goals, a multi-method research approach has been employed, including a Likert scale-based survey, along with MaxDiff and choice-based conjoint analysis techniques, to provide comprehensive insights.

Luiz Carlos de Santana Ribeiro (p), Luciano Ferreira Gabriel (p), João Prates Romero

Jesús Peiró-palomino

This paper provides new contributions to the literature on economic growth and regional development using data from Brazilian states. It aims to investigate the Brazilian productive structure in 2011 and 2018 (last available input-output matrix) by applying input-output methods and econometric estimations for 27 Brazilian states. The main findings suggest that the decrease in the share of the manufacturing in Brazil occurred simultaneously with a process of spatial deconcentrating of its activities in the period analyzed, mainly from the richest Brazilian States, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, to the remainder of the country. In addition, services and trade activities became relatively more important and manufacturing lost value-added share in the States where it is a key sector, i.e., where it simultaneously exhibits intermediate purchases and sales above average. Manufacturing decreased its linkages intensity over other sectors, such as services and trade, construction, mining and quarrying, among others, in most Brazilian states. Pari passu, the service and trade sectors did not prove to be more growth-enhancing (in terms of linkages) than the SIUP (Public Utility Industrial Services, such as Electricity, Gas and Water Supply) as well as manufacturing sectors and, in some states, as construction and SIUP. Furthermore, in a broader perspective, according to The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) Brazil was closer to the most complex countries in 2000, in 26th position. However, it has fallen into the range of less complex countries in 2019, in the 53rd position, with a steady decrease in 2011 and 2018, which is the focus of this work. Our main hypothesis is that this process is closely related to loss of intersectoral linkages among the key sector activities in the Brazilian states. Evidence based on the field of influence analysis gives support to it as well as the econometric estimations. The research reveals that some states are stuck in a low and middle complexity trap due to a regressive productive specialization and that national industrial policies are not well suited for the enormous heterogeneity among Brazilian states. To reverse this process, it is needed an intense collaboration between public and private sectors of the different states to identify and invest in economic activities that can contribute for development based on growth enhancing key sector. Therefore, the evidence presented in this paper provides robust evidence of a falling behind pattern that is not homogenous among the states analyzed in a developing country.