Human Capital and Spatial Heterogeneity in the Iberian Countries’ Regional Growth and Convergence
Abstract
Human capital is believed to be an important conditioning factor in explaining the convergence and the speed of convergence of regional economies, although it is usually excluded from the estimated models due to a lack of consistent data. In contrast this paper, using a newly constructed series on human capital at the NUTS III level for Portugal, evaluates the role of human capital on the speed of convergence using a spatial econometric methodology, for a sample of Iberian NUTS III regions over the period 1991-2006. This is the first study to consider human capital effects at the NUTS III level and the results show convergence, both absolute and conditional, occurs mainly in the peripheral group of regions, while human capital plays a positive role only in the club of the richest regions, in contrast with an insignificant effect in the periphery. There is also evidence of important regional spillovers between the regions and evidence of the importance of EU regional policy in enhancing the convergence of the NUTS III regions.Download Info
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Paper provided by Department of Economics, Loughborough University in its series Discussion Paper Series with number 2011_04.
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Date of creation: Nov 2011
Date of revision:
Nov 2011
Handle: RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2011_04
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Related research
Keywords: Regional growth; beta-convergence; Human Capital; Spatial Effects;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Longitudinal Data; Spatial Time Series
- I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
- O18 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
- R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2011-11-28 (All new papers)
- NEP-EFF-2011-11-28 (Efficiency & Productivity)
- NEP-GEO-2011-11-28 (Economic Geography)
- NEP-HRM-2011-11-28 (Human Capital & Human Resource Management)
- NEP-URE-2011-11-28 (Urban & Real Estate Economics)
References
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- Catherine Baumont & Cem Ertur & Julie Le Gallo, 2002. "The European Regional Convergence Process, 1980-1995: Do Spatial Regimes and Spatial Dependence Matter?," Econometrics 0207002, EconWPA.
- LE GALLO, Julie & ERTUR, Cem, 2000. "Exploratory spatial data analysis of the distribution of regional per capita GDP in Europe, 1980-1995," LATEC - Document de travail - Economie (1991-2003) 2000-09, LATEC, Laboratoire d'Analyse et des Techniques EConomiques, CNRS UMR 5118, Université de Bourgogne.
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