Regional Knowledge Base and Productivity Growth: The Evidence of Italian Manufacturing

This paper empirically analyzes the effects of regional knowledge base on differential growth rates. Beyond the traditional view of knowledge as an homogenous asset, it considers further characteristics that qualify its heterogeneous features. The results of the empirical estimations provide support to the idea that knowledge characteristics are fare more important than knowledge capital. The check for spatial dependence suggests that crossregional externalities exert additional triggering effects on productivity growth, but without debasing the effects of knowledge. Important policy implications stem from the analysis, in that regional innovation strategies ought to be carefully coordinated so as to reach a higher degree of internal coherence and exert positive effects on productivity.