Primavera 2014

This article is intended to estimate the inner connectivity of Spanish Regional Innovation Systems (RISs). In order to do so, we appraise their inner fragmentation with regards to certain system problems that so far have mainly been described in a theoretical fashion. Instead, we make use of four sets of quantitative indicators which are integrated into an interpretive framework composed of the main subsystems of RISs. Consequently, the so-called «managerial gaps», «structural holes», «innovation gaps» and the «valley of death» are placed together in this framework as a means to be further studied across the Spanish autonomous communities’ RISs. The empirical analysis is based on an ad hoc data exploitation which stems from various surveys conducted by the Spanish Official Statistical Institute (INE) and the Spanish Venture Capital Association (ASCRI). We conduct multivariate techniques such as Multiple Factor Analyses (MFA) and Cluster Analysis to reduce the dimensionality of our database, leading us to the presentation of a new typology for Spain. We find asymmetric responses with regards to these problems, which might demand for the design of individual corrective measures adapted to the specificities of each system observed.

Keywords: regions; Innovation Systems; fragmentation; Spain; Multiple Factor Analysis.

Innovation has moved to the foreground in regional policy in the three last decades. Public policies have been shaped by «best practice models» derived from high-tech urban-metropolitan areas and successful regions. However, lessons learned from these examples are rarely transferable elsewhere. The regional innovation systems in peripheral regions, and the likelihood of their acting as instruments for territorial competitiveness, have rarely been the subjects of discussion. The main objective of the article is precisely to take Portugal as an example to enrich this analysis.

The first part of this article examines the concept of regional innovation systems against the background of modern theories of innovation and regional policies. It is argued that the role of localized learning is of strategic importance in the promotion of endogenous regional development.

The authors then discuss the structural barriers and opportunities to promote regional innovation strategies in the Portuguese political, economic and social context, and, finally, they point out some specificities that need to be addressed in the redesign of public interventions in order to improve regional competitiveness and sustainability.

Keywords: Regional innovation systems; innovation; innovation policy; peripheral regions; territory; Portugal.

Facing an emerging territorial model for which definite forms, contents and methods of traditional planning are not valid, some metropolitan areas become innovative clusters in supra-local planning. What can we learn from these heterogeneous experiences? The objective of this article is to highlight the instrumental contributions of the recent metropolitan planning practice in Europe.

Through a multiple-case study of three plans, we attempt to define the specificity of metropolitan planning tools in three orders: the instrumental framework, the scope of the plans, and the management strategies.

Keywords: metropolitan-region; supra-local planning; technical innovation.

The objective of this paper is analyzing the factors related to the academic and professional career that have influence over the propensity of university researchers to get involved into technology transfer activities. Our theoretical framework includes the factors that have been identified in the literature. This theoretical framework is contrasted for the case of the University of Huelva, finding the highest propensity in male pre-doctorate researchers on Sciences, Engineering and Architecture, highly productive in books and papers publishing in not tenure positions at university.

Keywords: University-industry technology transfer; individual factors; creation of spin-off firms; patents.

Traditionally Spain is a touristic country, and Andalusia is a highlighting zone in this sector. Rural tourism is configured as a tourist typology with strong potential for growth and impact on territorial development. However, if rural tourism takes place in rural areas, and Andalusia has three types of it, have these three types of rural tourism a different impact on territorial development? The answer will be developed in an introductory paragraph, a second section which analyzes the relationship between rural tourism and tourism supply in Andalusia, and in the third one, we evaluate the influence of the types of rural tourism on the Andalusian regional development. In the fourth section, we focus on rural areas that do not follow the pattern identified and their development policies. Finally, based on the foregoing, we conclude our study with an affirmative answer to the initial question.

Keywords: rural areas; rural tourist; territorial development.

The relationship between the main production factors in an economy is, along with their levels, one of the determinants of economic growth. Currently there are still few empirical studies which have examined how these factors relate to each other and how that relationship affects the productivity growth in different territories. This paper considers a production function obtained by the product of the total factor productivity and the total factor input. The total factor input is given by a translog function of four factors of production, allowing greater flexibility to the estimated function. The parameters of the estimated function allows an interpretation in terms of the possible complementarity or substitutability between factors as well as the existence of increasing or decreasing returns to the factors considered. Also, the elasticity of the marginal product of each factor relative to other factors, and compared to the same factor, is calculated in order to analyze the relationships between these factors. How these relationships affect productivity growth in the Spanish provinces is estimated at the period from 1985 to 2008.

Keywords: Elasticity of marginal product; translog function; complementarity among factors; economic growth.

The main objective of this research is to carry out a study of efficiency in CCAA hospitals of NHS (National Health System). This study was performed on the hospitals managed by each regional Health Service with more than 500 beds throughout 2008 activity, with DEA model (Data Envelopment Analysis). We have worked with five different cases and we have identified four groups according to the efficiency indicator. The results show a minimum difference from both an input and an output point of view, with and without superefficiency method. This study has established the position of each CCAA on the efficient frontier, identifying and setting up a ranking of those CCAA that have manage more efficiently its resources by applying best practices.

Keywords: efficiency; data envelopment analysis; health management; benchmarking; hospital activity. 

This paper compares the degree of inequality in the spatial distribution of the Argentine manufacturing industry at regional and provincial levels between the years preceding and following the period from 1974 to 2002, during which the policy of import substitution was abandoned and the share of the manufacturing sector in the gross domestic product showed a decreasing trend. It analyzes with quantitative methods census data on value added and jobs held in 1973 and 2003. It is concluded that total inequality decreased while retaining its spatial pattern.

Keywords: Argentine; manufacturing industry; location of industries; spatial inequality.

The purpose of this document is to present the European regional database of economic indicators with disaggregated information in six sectors (BD.EURS). This basis is the result of analyzing the quality and consistency of the different statistical sources available on the basic macroeconomic variables —GVA in current and constant prices, employment, gross fixed capital formation and capital stock— for countries and at level NUTS-2. In this first version of the database, only information about 121 regions from nine European countries is presented. These are those regions which provide higher quality and quantity of information for the period 1995-2007. They are: the regions of Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden and Spain. The basic source of information is the regional series of EUROSTAT and also using as a reference the existing information for countries especially in databases, AMECO and EUKLEMS.

Keywords: Macroeconomic data; european NUTS2.