Online First

The literature on Quality of Life (QoL) and Subjective Well Being (SWB) highlights the idea that economic indicators, such as GDP, do not provide an accurate account of the real progress of societies. We study the evolution of social progress through several social indicators for the 17 Spanish regions during the period 2008-2020. In searching for patterns of convergence, we apply the club convergence approach. The data available point to the existence of three clubs for the indicators considered: material conditions and QoL. Therefore, there are no signs of global convergence. The analysis of the data also reveals that some of the richest regions in terms of GDP (Madrid and Cataluña), achieve only moderate results in terms of quality of life. Some policy recommendations arise from comparing the evolution of well-being and GDP per capita.

This research investigates how museum and city reputations are perceived in online media narratives and explores the role of museums’ online communication in shaping this relationship. To examine these dynamics, the case of the Uffizi Galleries and Florence was investigated.

The study employs a mixed- methods approach, combining the analysis of interviews with museum staff regarding digital communication strategies with topic modelling techniques on newspaper articles. Findings reveal that the Uffizi and Florence possess strong brands, resulting in distinct reputations on both national and international levels. However, a more dynamic interplay between the two reputations emerges within local media narratives, reflecting deliberate efforts by the Uffizi’s management to engage with the city. The results suggest that closer alignment between city branding and cultural institutions’ strategy could enhance the city’s national and global reputation.

This paper aims to reveal the role of entrepreneurial universities in the regional economic development of Türkiye. By using spatial econometrics tools including cluster maps, namely LISA and Geary, and spatial regression models for NUTS 3 regions (81 provinces), the effect of the entrepreneurial universities on regional development indicators, i.e., gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita (GDPPC), and the number of enterprises is examined from 2012 to 2017. Both the number of entrepreneurial universities and their presence is effective on all three regional development indicators. Additionally, investing in education, promoting export activities, and developing physical infrastructure should be prioritized in provincial development plans to overcome regional disparities.

A just transition is essential for sustainable policies and a net-zero economy, ensuring that climate action is aligned with social justice and inclusive of vulnerable communities. This note compares the just transition frameworks of Wales and León (Spain), both post-mining regions, which have developed regionally tailored approaches. By examining governance structures, stakeholder engagement, economic restructuring methodologies, and challenges in implementation, this note highlights the distinct and shared features of these frameworks, offering insights into their potential for addressing both ecological and social inequalities in transitioning to a low-carbon future.

This study proposes the application of the methodological framework for functional analysis of technological innovation systems in the context of the implementation of a regional smart specialization strategy. The case focuses on the solar energy industry in the Arequipa region – Peru. For this purpose, interviews, surveys and workshops were conducted with more than 70 stakeholders. The results allowed for the formulation of specific initiatives based on the identification of certain blocking mechanisms. The proposed approach can contribute to the development of innovation policies with regional scope, especially in territories with low scientific-technological infrastructure.

The objective of this paper is to examine the convergence of economic activity between the various NUTS 3 regions of the Iberian Peninsula over the period 2000-2019. An analysis of the GDP (PPS) per capita of Spanish and Portuguese provinces was conducted with the help of different usual statistical and econometric methods of σ, β and γ. This was done to confirm the existence or non-existence of economic convergence in the period under analysis. The results revealed the existence of economic convergence between the Portuguese and Spanish provinces. In addition, they showed that more than half of the territory analysed was characterised by a scenario of poverty.

The article represents the first contribution in which the economic impact of a group of nine Latin American universities is estimated, following a demand-based approach and a homogeneous methodology. The analyzed universities have different profiles depending on their ownership, size, age, or geographic location. Using the input-output methodology, the impacts derived from the expenditures and investments made by both the universities and their related agents are estimated. The results show significant impacts (up to 4% of the regional GDP, depending on the case), which extend across the entire national territory and all economic sectors. The study demonstrates that the economic and social impact is highly relevant, providing a substantial return, overall in universities with a high level of R+D+I activities.

Cloud computing is widely recognised as a key technology that enables digitalisation, fuelling the digital economy growth. Using World Bank Governance Indicators, in this paper we examine how country’s quality of governance (or good governance) impacts the use of cloud computing in the enterprises in the EU, hence affects digitalisation of the EU. In an empirical examination of 27 EU countries over a period from 2014 to 2021, it was found that good governance positively affects cloud computing adoption in the EU enterprises. In support of the institutional theory, we show that improving country’s governance quality is an important step in accelerating cloud computing adoption by the EU enterprises, the finding providing an important input to the EU government in their execution of the Industrial Strategy 2030, in which digitalisation and cloud computing adoption play an important role. Businesses operating in the EU countries with higher quality of governance are more likely to implement cloud computing in their operations, a cost and performance benefiting technology, a valuable insight to the EU enterprises, which gain direct benefits from increased cloud computing adoption in their businesses.

Since the normalization of tourism in Colombia resulting from improved security and the pacification of various regions of the country, increased attention has been paid to the key role of tourism in regional economic development. The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the tourism sector and economic development in Colombia. To examine the dynamic relationship existing between international tourism and economic development, the 33 departments of Colombia are analyzed between 2012 and 2021. The empirical analysis is conducted using non-parametric tools, derived from symbolic time series analysis, based on the notion of economic regime and clustering techniques. This offers a contribution in two aspects: on the one hand, a novel methodology is applied, and, on the other hand, regional-level analysis is performed. A limited mobility of the departments between the different regimes has been observed during this period, indicating the stability of the variables analyzed. The results of the study suggest that the relationship between tourism and economic development differs in the different groups of departments identified, offering evidence of differences within the country. It should be noted that the group of departments with the highest level of tourism displays a high level of economic development and growth.

This study investigates the spatial patterns of crime in Ecuador and their driving factors, paying special attention to the judicial system’s impact. Drawing on data from 218 cantons between 2015 and 2021, we applied exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial econometric models for cross section data and panel data. Our analysis revealed discernible clusters of both high and low crime rates, as well as isolated areas of crime (islands of crime) and safety (islands of non-crime). The findings offer a detailed overview of the crime situation in Ecuador and emphasize the significance of geographic elements in formulating effective crime prevention measures. The analysis also identifies the shift in crime dynamics over time, indicating that cantons typically experiencing low crime rates can evolve into higher crime areas, hinting at a contagion effect within spatial clusters. The study further underscores the critical influence of the judicial system on crime prevalence, where systemic inefficiencies such as case backlogs and a high proportion of unsentenced inmates are associated with rising crime. For policymakers, these insights underscore the necessity of tailoring interventions to the specific contexts and dynamics of each region, considering both the local conditions and the broader surrounding crime environment.

This research explores the impact of armed violence and corruption on the economic growth of Colombia’s departments from 1991 to 2017. Using models of spatial panels, statics and dynamics, we detect positive space-time indirect effects on departmental growth, including evidence of beta-convergence. Specifically, fiscal corruption exhibited a significant negative impact on short-term economic growth. Moreover, corruption primarily affected growth at the local level, with limited spillover effects observed from neighboring regions. Interestingly, our analysis did not yield statistically significant evidence regarding the impact of armed violence on economic growth.

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive description of the evolution of public investment by the Autonomous Communities in Spain from 1984 to 2021, to identify patterns in investment policies and explain their underlying causes. Additionally, the paper evaluates the impact of savings, transfers, and deficits on public investment. The findings reveal distinct patterns in the level and dynamics of these variables across regions. Priority was given to essential welfare expenditures during the Great Recession, while the post-recession recovery displayed varied regional behaviors. The positive impact of European and national funds, such as the Interterritorial Compensation Fund, effectively revitalized investment and savings, which emerged as a key differentiating factor in chartered communities.

Spatial trend concept was proved to be useful to depict the systematic variations of the phenomenon concerned over a region based on geographical locations. We use three different geographical datasets to check if there exist potential leading deterministic spatial components and whether we can econometrically model spatial economic relations that might contain unobserved spatial structure of unknown form. Hypothesis testing is conducted with a symbolic-entropy based non-parametric statistical procedure, proposed in Garcia-Cordoba et al. (2019), which does not rely on prior weight matrices assumptions. Geographically restricted semiparametric spatial models are taken to perform a modeling strategy for cross-sectional data sets. The main question to be responded is whether the models that merely incorporate space coordinates might be sufficient to capture space dependence when applied to different types of data. Moreover, it is important to study what intrinsic characteristics of the economic problem or the dependent variable itself make feasible (and optimal) to use the specific methodological approach.

This paper uses un-truncated city population data from three countries—the United States, Spain and Italy—to empirically test Proposition 1 put forth by Eeckhout (2004 American Economic Review, 94: 1429–1451). Eeckhout’s hypothesis was that the estimate of the Pareto exponent in a standard Zipf regression decreases with sample size, if the underlying city size distribution is lognormal. Using rolling sample regressions, we find that this proposition is only valid once we enter the lognormal body of the distribution; for the Pareto-distributed upper-tail, the estimated exponent does not vary with sample size.

This paper investigates the relationship between informality and job quality in Ecuador, emphasizing the role of education as a mediating factor. Utilizing data from the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment from 2014 to 2019, the study employs an Employment Quality Index to assess job quality. Through a detailed empirical strategy incorporating pooled ordinary least squares regressions, panel data analyses, and spatial models, the research unveils a negative impact of informality in employment quality. However, the findings indicate that education does not significantly influence this relationship at the regional level. These results highlight the necessity for targeted policy interventions that address the structural issues in the labor market.

The ability of local territories to create and attract human capital is key in generating progress at the local level. However, skilled workers not only tend to stem from certain regions, but to be attracted to them. This study analyzes interregional migratory movements in Chile, identifying differentials in local economic development as a factor that promotes selective migration of workers. The results indicate that regions with high levels of relative development attract more qualified migrants and expel the less qualified, thus reinforcing the initial concentration of human capital.

Cross-section and longitudinal spatial statistics and econometric models rely on spatially and temporally referenced data. Administrative units like cities, counties, and provinces provide stable data sources, enabling models to combine statistics collected at different times. In Spain, census sections serve as the smallest territorial units in which official statistics are delivered. These areas offer valuable statistics, such as population and housing censuses. Providing these statistics at the postcode level is also pertinent for conducting local analyses and surveys. The issue is that boundaries of census sections undergo regular updates, sometimes involving significant reorganization. The R-package sc2sc automates the transfer of variables between different census sections and postal codes. This paper introduces the package and outlines its methodology, which employs areal weighting to transfer counts and rates.

This paper analyzes the evolution of the aggregate production in the Spanish regional economic system between 2000Q1 and 2023Q4 proposing a spatiotemporal growth model for the Autonomous Communities in Spain that simultaneously accounts for the presence of time-series dynamics, cross-sectional spatial dependence, common factors, and regional heterogeneity. The econometric specification used in the empirical application includes time-lagged variables, spatial and spatiotemporal lagged variables, a dynamic common factor (the national growth), and some parameters varying regionally, so we consider all the key stylized facts that complex regional economic growth processes exhibit over time.

The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of Covid-19 on business behavior and its spatial effect among companies. Four specifications have been developed to analyze the pandemic’s influence on key variables determining business behavior: liquidity, indebtedness, profitability, and efficiency. This study has focused on the province of Barcelona, Spain, from which a database of failed and non-failed companies has been compiled, both before and after the pandemic. The models have been estimated using the spatial Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (SUR) methodology, and each equation was estimated following a spatial Differences-in-Differences model. The results confirm that the emergence of Covid-19 has had a significant impact on companies’ financial ratios, worsening their positions in terms of liquidity, indebtedness, and efficiency, with the existence of a spatial contagion pattern.

This study assesses the effect of internal migration on regional growth in Italy at the NUTS-3 level over the period 2002-2019. The composition of the internal migration flows of the working-age population in Italy during the sample period appears substantially heterogeneous in nationality and labor skills. The analysis considers this heterogeneity, estimating various specifications of the dynamic spatial model and controlling for the endogeneity of migration variables through a control function approach. The evidence suggests that the internal migration of Italian citizens has a positive direct and spillover impact on regional growth, slowing down the convergence process. On the contrary, there is no evidence of a significant effect of internal migration of foreign citizens. Taking the skill composition of internal movements of Italian citizens into account, the adverse impact on convergence is magnified, thus corroborating the skill-selective hypothesis. Finally, the diverging impact of internal migration increases with the distance of migration flows.