Many cross-country studies acknowledge the indispensable role of institutions in promoting economic growth and in sustaining economic development. So, their emphases have shifted to determine the most influential institution(s) in order to be specific. While these papers are widespread in the...

A major objective of this study is to analyse the evolutionary patterns of regional linkages and disparities across the EU space, especially those related to rural and peripheral/remote regions. In particular, this report assesses the economy-wide effects, in terms of GDP and employment,...

Rural areas still play a major role within the EU, as Europe is still a fairly rural continent. Moreover, EU rural areas are going through greater challenges and major transformations. After the Eastern enlargements of the EU (in 2004 and 2007), they are getting more and more heterogeneous, in...

Using census-type data of Hungarian firms, we test the Marshall-Arrow-Romer (MAR) hypothesis on the impact of agglomeration economies on regional economic growth. The results suggest that MAR type of local knowledge externalities have a significant positive impact on TFP growth. However, initial...

We discuss regional disparities in economic performance and living standards. We first set out some key facts, and provide a conceptual framework to help analyze whether such disparities are efficient, or instead reflect market and/or policy failures. We examine whether policy attempts to reduce...

New entrepreneurial ventures may represent a viable and effective mechanism to transform academic knowledge into regional economic growth. We test this notion for the Italian provinces between 2001 and 2006. We evaluate three outputs of academic activities: teaching, research and Intellectual...

Although industry clusters are major targets of regional economic development in less developed regions as well, we still need a deeper understanding on how spatial clustering of firms generates dynamics in lagging regions. These latter environments may differ too much from those typical cluster...

This paper discusses regional development patterns in China, and examines effective ways of using development aid to attain regional balanced growth through optimizing growth spillover effects. Based on provincial panel data from 1978 to 99, the paper constructs an indicator "neighbor...