Abstract
Our paper aims at evaluating the role that the local administrations play on Italian regional innovation performance, by using a revised version of Regional Innovation Scoreboard. Carrying out a panel data analysis and a logistic regression, the analysis is based on a combined approach towards institutions, involving socio-political aspects, considered by the institutional quality index, and the capability of regional administrators of expending Structural and Cohesion Funds, by a quantitative index. Firstly, a panel data analysis helped us to highlight the role of institutions and which sectoral themes of EU investments affected the most regional innovative performances in the time span 2007-2015. Secondly, the logistic regression captures which investment is more likely to affect innovation performances within Italian Regions. The results underline that major effect on innovation performance derive from the combined effect of high quality institutions and efficient public expenditure.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The EIS and RIS reports distinguishes three “Categories” (Enablers; Firm Activities; Output) and eight “Dimensions” (Human resources; Open, excellent and attractive research systems; Finance and support; Firm investments; Linkages and entrepreneurship; Intellectual assets; Innovators; Economic effects) (European Commission 2016a, b).
According to RIS methodology, when regional data were not available, we used national level data or chose new indicators measuring the same dimensions of the original framework. Seventeen of the 25 Indicators used in the EIS framework are available or easy to estimate at regional level (ISTAT, EUROSTAT and OECD). There other nine indicators have been substituted either with new data assessing the same dimensions (4 indicators) or with national level data (four indicators). The new indicators are: (1) the percentage of Doctorate courses activated by region universities on the total as a proxy of doctoral education in the region; (2) Total expenditure of firms for innovative activities as a proxy of innovation rates comprehending R&D and non-R&D activities; (3) Percentage of researcher working in the enterprises on the total employed as a proxy of in-house entrepreneurial innovation; (4) Regional % of total national Fast Growing Enterprises as a proxy of regional economic dynamism, given the primary role of fast growing enterprises in the innovation processes (Gupta et al. 2015).
Performace groups are calculated as the distance of each regional value from the national average year by year. Then regions are classified as Modest Innovators (if their score had been 50% or more below average), Moderate Innovators (if their score had been between the 10% and the 50% of the average), Strong Innovators (if their score had been higher than 20% but lower than 10% below the average) e Innovation Leaders (if their score had been 20% higher).
It stands for a synthetic thematic division of the projects into 13 areas based on the combination of both EU priority issues and CUP System sectoral classification (http://cupweb.tesoro.it).
Three levels hierarchical project classification (sector, subsector and category) defined by the Public Administration on the occasion of CUP request (http://www.opencoesione.gov.it/opendata/). Sector classification is organised in 11 groups.
Project classification into six groups defined by the Public Administration on the occasion of CUP request (http://www.opencoesione.gov.it/opendata/).
The IQI is the unweighted average of the following 24 indicators: Social Cooperatives, Associations, Election participation, Books published, Purchased in bookshop; Endowment of social facilities, Endowment of economic facilities, Regional health deficit, Separate waste collection, Urban environment index; Economic openness, Local government employees, Business density, Business mortality, Business environment; Crimes against properties, Crimes reported, Trial times, Magistrate productivity, Submerged economy, Tax evasion; Crimes against PA, Golden-Picci Index, Special commissioners.
EU Commission defines microenterprise as companies with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover (the amount of money taken in a particular period) or balance sheet (a statement of a company's assets and liabilities) below €2 million (Commission of the European Communities 2003).
The closing date of 2007–2013 funding program, 31st December 2013, does not correspond to the real deadline for implementation of co-financed projects, which is 31st December 2015. Implementations continued for an additional two-year period, applying the current European rules about public balances: the so-called “+ 2” rule; http://opencoesione.gov.it.
We analysed the six groups of investments distinguished by Opencoesione according to the "nature of the investment" (Purchase of Goods, Purchase or implementation of Services, Provision of incentives to production units, Granting of contribution to other units different from production units, Public work projects, Capital initial subscription or increase and tender and venture capital initial subscription or increase) as independent variables.
References
Agovino, M., Casaccia, M., & Crociata, A. (2016). Effectiveness and efficiency of European Regional Development Fund on separate waste collection: Evidence from Italian regions by a stochastic frontier approach. Econ: Polit. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888-016-0050-2.
Andrew, J. P., De Rocco, E. S., & Taylor, A. (2009). The innovation imperative in manufacturing. Boston Consulting Group. https://doi.org/10.1049/me:20040510.
Anokhin, S., & Schulze, W. S. (2009). Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption. Journal of Business Venturing,24, 465–476.
Archibugi, D., & Filippetti, A. (2011). Is the economic crisis impairing convergence in innovation performance across Europe? Journal of Common Market Studies,49(6), 1153–1182.
Asatryan, Z., Heinemann, F., & Pitlik, H. (2016). Reforming the public administration: The role of crisis and the power of bureaucracy. European Journal of Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.08.004.
Banca D’Italia. (2015). Economie regionali. L’economia delle regioni italiane. Dinamiche recenti e aspetti strutturali, Numero 43-Dicembre 2015.Banca d’Italia (2016), Economie Regionali. L’economia delle regioni italiane. Dinamiche recenti e aspetti strutturali, Numero 43-Dicembre 2016.
Barca, F. (2009). An agenda for a reformed cohesion policy: A place-based approach to meeting European Union challenges and expectations. Independent Report Prepared at the Request of DanutaHübner. Bruxelles: Commissioner for Regional Policy.
Billon, M., Marco, R., & Lera-Lopez, F. (2016). Innovation and ICT use in the EU: An analysis of regional drivers. Empirical Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-016-1153-x.
Binder, M. (2013). Innovativeness and subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research,111, 561–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0020-1.
Brasoveanu, I. V., Silvestru, I. C., Pavel, A., & Onica, D. (2011). Structural and cohesion funds: Theoretical and statistical aspects in Romania and Eu. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences,33(E/2011), 30–48.
Čadil, J., Mirošník, K., & Rehák, J. (2017). The lack of short-term impact of cohesion policy on the competitiveness of SMEs. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship,35, 991–1009. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242617695382.
Capello, R. (2014). Smart specialisation strategy and the new EU cohesion policy reform: Introductory remarks. ScienzeRegionali,1(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.3280/SCRE2014-001001.
Carayannis, E. G., & Rakhmatullin, R. (2014). The quadruple/quintuple innovation helixes and smart specialisation strategies for sustainable and inclusive growth in europe and beyond. Journal of the Knowledge Economy,5, 212–239.
Castaldo, A., Fiorini, A., & Maggi, B. (2017). Measuring (in a time of crisis) the impact of broadband connections on economic growth: an OECD panel analysis. Applied Economics. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2017.1343448.
Chakravorti, B., & Chaturvedi, R. S. (2017). Digital planet 2017. How competitiveness and trust in digital economies vary across the world. Medford: The Fletcher School, Tufts University.
Charron, N., Dijkstra, L., & Lapuente, V. (2010). Mapping quality of government in the European Union: A study of national and sub-national variation. QoG Working Paper Series 2010 (pp. 22).
Charron, N., Lapuente, V., & Dijkstra, L. (2012). Regional governance matters: A study on regional variation in quality of government within the European Union Member States. Regional Studies,48, 68–90.
Cleantech Group, & WWF. (2017). The Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2017. Which countries look set to produce the next generation of start-ups?.
Commission, E. (2014). Programming period 2014-2020 monitoring and evaluation of european cohesion policy European Social Fund Guidance document on indicators of public administration capacity building—Final—June 2014 indicators of public administration capacity. Building,1, 1–16.
Commission of the European Communities. (2003). Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (2003/361/EC).
Commonwealth of Australia. (2016). Australian innovation system report 2016. Office of the Chief Economist.
Cooke, P., & De Propris, L. (2011). A policy agenda for EU smart growth: the role of creative and cultural industries. Policy Studies,32(4), 365–375.
Cornell University, INSEAD, & WIPO. (2017). The Global Innovation Index 2017: Innovation Feeding the World. Ithaca.
Coy, P., & Lu, W. (2015). The Bloomberg Innovation Index. Bloomberg. Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-innovative-countries/.
Dellmuth, L. M., Schraff, D., & Stoffel, M. F. (2017). Distributive politics, electoral institutions and European structural and investment funding: Evidence from Italy and France. JCMS,55(2), 275–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12433.
Deloof, M., & La Rocca, M. (2015). Local financial development and the trade credit policy of Italian SMEs. Small Business Economics,44, 905–924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-014-9617-x.
Dotti, N. F. (2016). Unwritten factors affecting structural funds: The Influence of Regional political behaviours on the implementation of EU cohesion policy. European Planning Studies,24(3), 530–550. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2015.1047328.
Dumitru, N. (2017). The role of financial instruments and their impact on the SME sector. Ovidius University Annals Economic Sciences Series,XVII, 556–561.
Dutrénit Bielous, G., Zaragoza López, M. L., Saldívar Chávez, M. A., Solano Flroes, E., & Zúñiga-Bello, P. (2014). Ranking Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación.
Dutta, S., Bruno, L., & Wunsch-Vincent, S. (2015). The Global Innovation Index 2015. Stronger Innovation Linkages. (ISBN 978-2-9522210-8-5).
European Commission. (2016a). European Innovation Scoreboard 2016, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Ref. Ares(2016):3366176, July 13, 2016.
European Commission. (2016b). Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2016, Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Ref. Ares(2016)3366176, July 13, 2016.
Farole, T., Rodriguez-Pose, A., & Storper, M. (2011). Cohesion policy in the European Union: Growth, geography, institutions. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies,49(5), 1089–1111. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2010.02161.x. (ISSN0021-9886).
Fukuyama, F. (2000). Social capital and the civil society. IMF working paper number 74. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Getler, M. S. (2010). Rules of the game: The place of institutions in regional economic change. Regional Studies,44(1), 1–15.
Giddens, A. (1990). The consequence of modernity. Oxford: Polity.
Global Entrepreneurship Research Association. (2017). The global report 2016/2017 global entrepreneurship monitor.
Global Intellectual Propriety Centre. (2017). The roots of innovation. U.S. Chamber International IP Index (5th ed.), February 2017.
Gupta, V., Agarkhedkar, S., & Sahney, S. (2015). The role of social networks in diffusing innovation within organisations. International Journal Innovation and Learning,18(2), 185–197.
Hlaváček, P., & Siviček, T. (2017). Spatial differences in innovation potential of central European regions during post-transformation period. Journal of International Studies,10(2), 61–73. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-8330.2017/10-2/4.
Hudson, J., & Minea, A. (2013). Innovation. Intellectual property rights, and economic development: A unified empirical investigation, world development,46, 66–78.
Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2011). The worldwide governance indicators: Methodology and analytical issues. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law,3(2), 220–246.
Kyriacou, A. P., & Roca-Sagalés, O. (2012). The impact of EU structural funds on regional disparities within member states. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy,30(2), 267–281.
Lee, S., Nam, Y., Lee, S., & Son, H. (2016). Determinants of ICT innovations: A cross-country empirical study. Technological Forecasting and Social Change,110(2016), 71–77.
Lucas, R. E. (1988). On the mechanics of economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics,22, 3–42.
Malagueño, R., Lopez-Valeiras, E., & Gomez-Conde, J. (2017). Balanced scorecard in SMEs: Effects on innovation and financial performance. Small Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9921-3.
Massachusetts Technology Innovation Institute. (2016). The Massachusetts innovation economy annual index. Westborough: Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
McCann, P., & Ortega-Argiles, R. (2013). Modern regional innovation policy. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economics and Society,6, 187–216.
McCann, P., & Ortega-Argiles, R. (2015). Smart Specialization, regional growth and applications to European union cohesion policy. Regional Studies,49(8), 1291–1302. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2013.799769.
Mets, T., Kelli, A., Mets, A., & Tiimann, T. (2016). From patent counting towards the system of IP strategic indicators. InzinerineEkonomika-Engineering Economics,27(3), 316–324.
Mihailescu, G. (2012). Two eastern European countries with different paths: Why polish manage to efficiently absorb the European money while Romania remains with its funds blocked, published within the project “Poor governance in public spending in Romania between 2004 and 2012”, conducted by SAR (Romanian Academic Society) with the support of Open Society Foundations.
Milio, S. (2007). Can administrative capacity explain differences in regional performances? Evidence from structural funds implementation in Southern Italy. Regional Studies,41(4), 429–442.
Mohl, P., & Hagen, T. (2010). Do EU structural funds promote regional growth? New evidence from various panel data approaches. Regional Science and Urban Economics,40(2010), 353–365.
Moodysson, J., & Zukauskaite, E. (2014). Institutional conditions and innovation systems: On the impact of regional policy on firms in different sectors. Regional Studies,48, 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2011.649004.
Nifo, A., & Vecchione, G. (2014). Do institutions play a role in skilled Migration? The Case of Italy, Regional Studies,48(10), 1628–1649. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2013.835799.
Nifo, A., & Vecchione, G. (2015a). Measuring institutional quality in Italy. Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno,29(1–2), 157–182.
Nifo, A., & Vecchione, G. (2015b). Measuring institutional quality in Italy. Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno,29(1–2), 157–182.
North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
North, D. (2005). Understanding the process of economic change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
OECD. (2017). OECD science, technology and industry scoreboard 2017: The digital transformation. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264268821-en.
Owen, R., Ntoko, A., Zhang, D., & Dong, J. (2002). Public policy and diffusion of innovation. Social Indicators Research,60, 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021213131537.
Pater, R., & Lewandowska, A. (2015). Human capital and innovativeness of the European Union regions. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research,28(1), 31–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2014.962487.
Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri. (2008). Il sistema di classificazione dei progetti nel CUP. Dipartimento per la Programmazione e il Coordinamento della Politica Economica: Classificazione CPV a parte.
Prokop, V., & Stejskal, J. (2017). Different approaches to managing innovation activities: An analysis of strong, moderate, and modest innovators. InzinerineEkonomika-Engineering Economics,28(1), 47–55.
Pupo, V., & Aiello, F. (2012). Structural funds and the economic divide in Italy. Journal of Policy Model.,34, 403–418.
Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2013). Do Institutions Matter for Regional Development? Regional Studies,47(7), 1034–1047. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2012.748978.
Rodríguez-Pose, A., & Di-Cataldo, A. (2015). Quality of government and innovative performance in the regions of Europe. Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography,15(4), 673–706.
Rodrik, D., Subramanian, F., & Trebbi, F. (2004). Institutions rule: The primacy of institutions over geography and integration in economic development. Journal of Economic Growth,9, 131–165.
Romer, P. M. (1986). Increasing returns and long-run growth. Journal of Political Economy,94, 1002–1037.
Romero, I., & Fernández-Serrano, J. (2014). The European cohesion policy and the promotion of entrepreneurship. The case of Andalusia, Investigaciones Regionales,29(2014), 215–236.
Rossi, M. (2015). The role of venture capital funds in financing innovation in Italy. Constraints and challenges for innovative small firms. International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business,7, 162–180. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGSB.2015.071201.
Schwab, K., & Sala-i-Martín, X. (2017). The global competitiveness report 2016–2017. Cologny: World Economic Forum.
Sivak, R., Caplanova, A., & Hudson, J. (2011). The impact of governance and infrastructure on innovation. Post-Communist Economies,23, 203–217.
Smeriglio, A., Bachtler, J., De Francesco, F., Olejniczak, K., & Thomson, R. (2015). Administrative capacity-building and EU Cohesion Policy. EPRC, Sch. Gov. Public Policy.
Solow, R. M. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics,70, 65–94.
Streeck, W. (1991). On the institutional conditions of diversified quality production. In E. Metzner & W. Streeck (Eds.), Beyond Keynesianism: Socio-economics of production and full employment (pp. 21–61). Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
Surubaru, N. (2017). Administrative capacity or quality of political governance? EU Cohesion Policy in the new Europe, 2007–13. Regional Studies,51(6), 844–856. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2016.1246798.
Tebaldi, E., & Elmslie, B. (2013). Does institutional quality impact innovation? Evidence from cross-country patent grant data. Applied Economics,45(7), 887–900. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2011.613777.
Terracciano, B., & Graziano, P. R. (2016a). EU cohesion policy implementation and administrative capacities: Insights from Italian regions. Regional & Federal Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2016.1200033.
Terracciano, B., & Graziano, P. R. (2016b). EU cohesion policy implementation and administrative capacities: Insights from Italian regions. Regional & Federal Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2016.1200033.
The World Bank. (2017). World development indicators 2017. Washington, DC: World Bank.
The World Bank Institute. (2017). Measuring knowledge in the world's economy, knowledge assessment methodology and knowledge economy index. Knowledge for development program. http://www.worldbank.org/kam, http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/k4d, https://www.developmentgateway.org/.
Tiits, M., Kalvet, T., & Murk, I. (2015). Smart specialisation in cohesion economics. Journal of the Knowledge Economics,6, 296–319.
Truong, Q., & Rowley, C. (2016). The network-based economy in Vietnam: Business network in context and over time. In Business networks in East Asian capitalisms: Enduring trends, emerging patterns (pp. 307–329) September 20, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100639-9.00014-1.
UNESCO. (2017). Summary report of the 2015 UIS innovation data collection. https://doi.org/10.15220/978-92-9189-211-2-en.
Vasilescu, L. (2014). Accessing finance for innovative eu smes-key drivers and challenges. Economic Review: Journal of Economics & Business/Ekonomska Revija: Casopis za Ekonomiju i Biznis,12, 35–47.
Wamser, G., Woon Nam, C., & Schoenberg, A. (2013). The Lisbon agenda and innovation-oriented cohesion policy: A new challenge for economic integration among the EU Regions. Journal of Economic Integration,28(1), 37–58. https://doi.org/10.11130/jei.2013.28.1.37.
Wojnicka-Sycz, E., & Sycz, P. (2013). Public innovation policy and other determinants of innovativeness in poland. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal,21(3), 1.
World Economic Forum. (2016). Global agenda council on the economics of innovation. Evaluation of Leading Indicators of Innovation. http://www.weforum.org/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arbolino, R., Boffardi, R. & De Simone, L. Which are the Factors Influencing Innovation Performances? Evidence from Italian Cohesion Policy. Soc Indic Res 146, 221–247 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1904-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1904-5