By applying the smile curve concept to regional value added growth rather than to levels, the paper claims that local value-added growth increases when a region is specialised in scarce natural resources or scarce human skills within a GVC. Under these circumstances, in fact, the region can...

We investigate the hypothesis of regional convergence in the per-capita GDP in 242 European regions (NUTS2) during the 2000-2021 period. The literature shows mixed results, from absolute convergence towards a joint long-run distribution to multiple regimes (convergence club). Our results show a...

"Natural" disasters" have negative consequences for the affected areas, including significant economic impacts. Using a sample of European NUTS-3 regions over the period 2003-17, this paper examines the impact of disasters on regional economic growth and the influence of the quality of regional...