This paper analyses regional growth in Eastern Europe in the second half of the 1990s, when regional disparities sharply increased. We aim to identify the factors behind growth and investigate in particular the role of (foreign) investment, education and innovation as well as geographical...

We design a conceptual framework for linking two approaches: the literature on absorptive capacity and the literature on spatial knowledge spillovers. Regions produce new knowledge, but only part of it is efficiently adopted in the economy; the share of efficiently adopted technology depends on...

In this paper, the Schumpeterian growth model developed by Ertur and Koch (2011) that includes spatial interactions between units of observation working via R&D spillovers is presented in detail. The implications of this model and three additional growth models with and without spatial...

Based on a standard idea-based model of endogenous growth we test the hypothesis that regional innovative activity is path-dependent, and investigate the geographical scope of knowledge spillovers. Using data for West-German regions, two alternative indicators of the stock of knowledge are...

The European Union (EU) provides grants to disadvantaged regions of member states to allow them to catch up with the EU average. Under the Objective 1 scheme, NUTS2 regions with a GDP per capita level below 75% of the EU average qualify for structural funds transfers from the central EU budget....

Regional fiscal equalization in Germany aims to reduce fiscal disparities by allocating financial resources to less promising regions in order to support the supply of public goods. This paper aims to analyse secondary economic effects of regional fiscal equalization on several economic in- and...

This paper examines the extent to which sectoral diversification can act as an insurance mechanism against fluctuations in regional gross value added growth rates. I apply portfolio theory to the growth-instability properties of German districts. Furthermore, I define a comprehensive...

Regional labour markets in the „Great Recession“: The evolution of regional unemployment rates in Germany, France and the United Kingdom in 2009. Contrary to the already encompassing literature on the differentiated effects of the “Great Recession” on states, the article takes a regional...

Bootstrapping methods have so far been rarely used to evaluate spatial data sets. Based on an extensive Monte Carlo study we find that also for spatial, cross-sectional data, the wild bootstrap test proposed by Davidson and Flachaire (2008) based on restricted residuals clearly outperforms...