Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers Creation-Date: 2009-07-28 Number: 09-059/3 Author-Name: Roberta Capello Author-Email: Roberta.Capello@polimi.it Author-Workplace-Name: Politecnico di Milano, Italy Author-Name: Andrea Caragliu Author-Email: acaragliu@feweb.vu.nl Author-Workplace-Name: Politecnico di Milano, Italy, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Peter Nijkamp Author-Workplace-Name: VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands Title: Territorial Capital and Regional Growth: Increasing Returns in Cognitive Knowledge Use Abstract: This discussion paper resulted in an article in Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie (2011). Volume 102(4), pages 385-405.
Knowledge drives the growth of nations and regions in a competitive space-economy. Hence, we would expect a strong correlation between investments in R&D, knowledge and learning processes, on the one hand, and productivity increases, on the other. However, the empirical evidence shows consistent discrepancies between knowledge inputs and economic performance across geographical units. This paper addresses this intriguing issue at the regional level, by highlighting both theoretically and empirically the strategic importance played by cognitive elements as part of “territorial capital” in mediating between knowledge production and regional growth. The main proposition of the paper, subject to empirical testing, is that cognitive elements as part of territorial capital magnify the contribution of knowledge by determining the formation of increasing returns to knowledge exploitation. Classification-JEL: R110, R150, R280, R580 Keywords: territorial, capital, regional growth, cognitive, knowledge, rivalry, R&D File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/09059.pdf File-Format: application/pdf File-Size: 511913 bytes Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20090059