This paper concentrates on the central link between productivity andudknowledge capital, and shifts attention from firms and industries to regions. Theudobjective is to measure knowledge elasticity effects within a regional Cobb-udDouglas production function framework, with an emphasis on knowledgeudspillovers. The analysis uses a panel of 203 European regions to estimate theudeffects over the period 1997-2002. The dependent variable is total factorudproductivity (TFP). We use a region-level relative TFP index as anudapproximation to the true TFP measure. This index describes how efficientlyudeach region transforms physical capital and labour into outputs. The explanatoryudvariables are internal and out-of-region stocks of knowledge, the latter capturingudthe contribution of interregional knowledge spillovers. We use patents toudmeasure knowledge capital. Patent stocks are constructed such that patentsudapplied at the European Patent Office in one year add to the stock in theudfollowing and then depreciate throughout the patents effective life according to audrate of knowledge obsolescence. A random effects panel data spatial error modeludis advocated and implemented for analyzing the productivity effects. Theudfindings provide a fairly remarkable confirmation of the role of knowledgeudcapital contributing to productivity differences among regions, and adding anudimportant dimension to the discussion, showing that knowledge spillover effectsudincrease with geographic proximity. (authors' abstract)
展开▼
