1,721,019 research outputs found
Sectoral Productivity, Convergence and Space between European Regions
No full textThe aim of our analysis is the evaluation of the total and sectoral convergence of labour productivity between 896 NUTS-3 regions of EU-12 over the period 1980-2010. We adopt a β- and σ-convergence approach along with a methodology based on Getis’ spatial filters that allows decomposing the variables into their spatial and a-spatial components ensuring their spatial independence. This guarantees reliable regression results and unbiased variance estimation. The estimates highlight a process σ- and β-convergence of regional economies in which spatial interrelations among regions play an important role
The Impact of European Structural Funds in Objective 1 Regions: Between Cohesion Policy and Lisbon Agenda
No full textRegional voting dynamics in Europe: The rise of anti-elite and anti-European parties
No full textIn this paper, votes registered by parties with a high anti-elite and anti-European salience are mapped, in order to identify potential geographical patterns in European regions
(No) City for old men
No full textIn this paper, we report and analyse, for 83 European cities, the share of respondents aged 65 years or older agreeing that the city where they live is a good place to live for elderly people. Results contribute to identify common patterns and inform policy makers
Logistic hubs and support for radical-right populism: Evidence from Italy
No full textIncreasing discontent and the associated growing support for populist parties have been attributed to several drivers, including globalization, technological change, and migration waves. We analyse a phenomenon that encompasses a mix of economic and cultural grievances — the logistic revolution. The Italian logistics industry is characterized by a heavy reliance on low-paying and precarious contracts, it employs a large number of foreign workers, and is dominated by multinational corporations. The construction of large logistic hubs can increase the feeling of economic insecurity and trigger cultural backlash against foreign workers and large corporations. This, in turn, can create a favourable environment for populist radical right-wing parties that portray themselves as protectors of traditional values and national identity, and as defenders of the working class against the perceived threats posed by globalization, immigration, and large corporations. Through an IV and a DiD approach, we provide evidence that the support for Lega, a populist radical-right party, grew in Italian municipalities where new logistic hubs have been built
The Populist Outbreak and the Role of Institutional Quality in European Regions
No full textThis article contributes to the geography of discontent literature inves-tigating the relationship between institutional quality and the support for populist parties. We implement an Ordinary Least Square regression and a series of robustness tests, for a set of 222 regions, belonging to 28 European countries, for two election periods: the 2011-2014 period, right after the Great Recession and in the meantime of the debt crisis, and in the 2015-2018 period, at the wake of the migrant crisis and the Brexit referendum. Our results suggest that regional institutional quality is negatively associated with populist votes, together with the employment rate, the share of young population, tertiary education and tourism attractiveness. Having a good institutional quality may help defusing populist tendencies, and play a crucial role in shaping the European political geography
A composite policy tool to measure territorial resilience capacity
Full text linkThe 2007–2008 global recession and consequent slow recovery have revealed considerable heterogeneity in economic performance across countries and regions. This study contributes innovatively to existing resilience literature by identifying a life cycle resilience framework and computing a “handy” composite Regional Economic Resilience Indicator. We analyse economic resilience by means of a cluster and exploratory spatial data analysis, revealing well-defined spatial patterns in the EU. National resilience trends dominate in the EU-15, while a more heterogeneous spatial pattern is present in the EU-13. Our findings can support the monitoring of economic resilience at regional level and facilitate a common understanding of this complex and dynamic process for policy purposes
Railways and manufacturing productivity in Italy after Unification
Full text linkThis paper contributes to the debate on the effects of transport infrastructure endowment on productivity by adding a historical perspective. This allows us to address the issue in a proving ground where the effects of the existing stock of infrastructures are negligible. At the time of unification in 1861, the Kingdom of Italy started a large infrastructure project to spread railways all over the country. We find that railways played a positive effect on manufacturing productivity across the country over the period 1871-1911, without a differential effect along the North/South divide. Railways also had strong spillover effects in neighboring provinces so that provinces that started with a higher endowment of railways benefited more than those who were newly endowed. Roads also had a positive effect, but smaller than railways
Evaluating happiness trends across Europe: A comparative study
No full textIn our contribution, by using data from European Social Survey, we show that the percentage of happy people in European countries has increased over the last two decades, and that Eastern European countries are catching up. However, considerable differences between nations remain
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