From R&D to Innovation and Economic Growth in the EU

ABSTRACT Over the last two decades many European governments have pursued ambitious research and development (R&D) policies with the aim of fostering innovation and economic growth in peripheral regions of Europe. The question is whether these policies are paying off. Arguments such as the need to reach a minimum threshold of research, the existence of important distance decay effects in the diffusion of technological spillovers, the presence of increasing returns to scale in R&D investments, or the unavailability of the necessary socio‐economic conditions in these regions to generate innovation seem to cast doubts about the possible returns of these sort of policies. This paper addresses this question. A two‐step analysis is used in order to first identify the impact of R&D investment of the private, public, and higher education sectors on innovation (measured as the number of patent applications per million population). The influence of innovation and innovation growth on economic growth is then addressed. The results indicate that R&D investment, as a whole, and higher education R&D investment in peripheral regions of the EU, in particular, are positively associated with innovation. The existence and strength of this association are, however, contingent upon region‐specific socio‐economic characteristics, which affect the capacity of each region to transform R&D investment into innovation and, eventually, innovation into economic growth.     

The Spatial Dimension of Trade‐ and FDI‐driven Productivity Growth in Chinese Provinces: A Global Cointegration Approach

This paper analyses the major determinants of long‐ and short‐run labour productivity evolution for Chinese provinces between 1978 and 2010. The role played by openness to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) constitutes the main focus of this analysis. From a methodological perspective, our main contribution is the inclusion of spatial effects into a dynamic error correction modelling framework. The results show that, in addition to domestic factors such as investment intensity and infrastructure use, trade openness and inward FDI also exert a direct impact on labour productivity. Furthermore, the geographical environment has a strong indirect influence on productivity: The more a region is surrounded by high‐productive regions with good infrastructure and linkages to the world economy, the higher are its productivity level and growth rate. The magnitude of these impacts varies by spatial regime (coastal, interior provinces) and time period in focus. Especially in the recent past, trade and FDI activity appear to be increasingly important drivers of regional productivity evolution, both for coastal and interior regions. These findings have important policy implications: In order to fully exploit the benefits from such spillovers, coordinated industrial policies which foster regional complementarities and support the free movement of production factors across regional borders are crucial.     

汾河流域植被生产力时空变异特征分析

植被生产力(GPP、NPP)和碳利用效率(CUE)是监测和评估生态系统的重要指标,能够有效反应生态系统环境变化.汾河流域是黄土高原典型生态脆弱区的重要流域,是全国水土流失治理和生态保护的重点区域.本研究以流域尺度为出发点,基于MODIS数据重点分析了汾河流域2000-2015年GPP、NPP和CUE的时空特征及影响因素...     

Growth in Total Factor Productivity of Shandong Province for Environmental Constraints

This paper analyzed the total factor productivity of Shandong Province and its impact on the local economic environment through Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index. The results of the paper were included as follows. Without consideration of the environmental constraints, Index M of the total factor productivity of Shandong Province from high to low was Heze, Jinan, Qingdao, Weihai, Dongying, Zaozhuang, Jining, Tai'an, Dezhou, Liaocheng, Yantai, Zibo, Weifang, Linyi, Binzhou, Rizhao, Laiwu, among which Index M of Linyi, Binzhou, Rizhao, Laiwuwere were less than 1; taking the environmental constraints into account, Index ML of the total factor productivity of Shandong Province was reduced, from high to low was Jinan, Qingdao, Weihai, Yantai, Heze, Liaocheng, Tai'an, Weifang, Jining, Linyi, Zibo, Dongying, Zaozhuang, Rizhao, Laiwu, Binzhou, Dezhou, among which Index ML of 9 cities behind Jining were less than 1. In terms of the development mode, Jinan, Qingdao, Tai'an, Weihai, Jining and Heze were resource-conserving and environment-friendly cities; Dongying and Zaozhuang were resourceconserving and environment-polluted cities; Liaocheng, Linyi, Weifang and Yantai were resource-wasted and environment-friendly cities; Binzhou, Dezhou, Laiwu, Rizhao and Zibo were resource-wasted and environment-pol uted cities.     

江苏省新沂市耕地产能空间分异与耕地保护分区

本研究在对新沂市耕地产能进行评价的基础上结合空间自相关性等方法,对新沂市耕地产能的空间分布格局进行分析,并提出耕地保护分区方法。结果表明：（1）从气候、自然因素及技术水平出发的耕地产能体系对于耕地综合产出及效果评定具有适用性;（2）新沂市耕地产能呈现明显的区域差异,具有较强的空间正自相关性,且正相关类型（HH型和LL型）多以组团形式出现,负相关类型（LH型和HL型）则分布零散;（3）空间分异特征与空间尺度密切相关,大尺度下的局部空间自相关分异程度较小,但不同尺度下的空间自相关性的分布格局具有趋同性;（4）结合不同尺度下的空间局部自相关分析提出耕地保护分区,以期为研究区域的耕地保护提供参考。     

贵州农业全要素生产率及其对农业经济增长的影响

中国农业供给侧结构性改革的核心目标就是提高农业全要素生产率及其对农业发展的贡献度。为了测度贵州农业全要素生产率及其对农业经济增长的影响,运用贵州省9个地区2010—2017年的相关数据,使用非参数Malmquist指数方法测度并分解了贵州省农业全要素生产率,检验了其对农业经济增长的促进作用。结果表明：贵州省农业全要素生产率增长的主要原因是技术进步而不是技术效率;贵州省农业全要素生产率在省内不同地区存在较大差异;技术进步和效率改进对贵州省农业经济增长具有显著的正向促进作用;农业机械的投入、播种面积的增加仍对贵州省农业经济的增长具有促进作用,而劳动力的投入与化肥施用量的提升却没有起到上述作用。     

Spatial Industrial Dynamics in Sweden: Urban Growth Industries

In this paper two basic theories within spatial industrial dynamics—the filtering-down theory and the spatial product cycle theory—are used to explain processes of spatial decentralization and centralization of economic activities. In particular, a case is made for the idea that employment decentralization should be expected not only for growing and maturing manufacturing industries but also for growing and maturing service industries. Based upon this theoretical framework the empirical part of the paper analysis the spatial behavior during the period 1980 to 1993 of the employment in a group of 19 industries in Sweden—the so-called urban growth industries—with an expected high potential for employment decentralization. Most of the industries exhibited the expected pattern of employment decentralization with the larger medium-sized regions as the main winners. A shift-share analysis shows that the overall magnitudes of the competitive shift components are rather small and that, hence, Sweden during the period 1980–1993 did not experience a drastic change in the spatial distribution of its urban growth industries.     

A Spatial Analysis of the R&D‐Productivity Nexus at Firm Level

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of research and development (R&D) on productivity by taking into account productivity spillovers. To this end, by using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2004–2006 provided by the Xth UniCredit‐Capitalia survey (2008), we have analyzed the role of R&D in firm productivity by using a spatial autoregressive model. In so doing, we have allowed the productivity of each firm to be affected by the productivity of nearby firms. Results show that R&D significantly affects Italian firm productivity and that productivity spillovers across firms matter. Moreover, productivity is found to be positively affected by intrasectoral R&D spillovers, while intersectoral R&D spillovers do not have a significant effect.     

Creative Industries and Regional Productivity Growth in the Developing Economy: Evidence from Indonesia

This paper examines the degree to which creative industries stimulate regional productivity growth in a developing country, Indonesia. The Indonesian government promotes long‐established “traditional” craft businesses as creative industries, but they pay less attention to new knowledge creation and focus on highlighting heritage values as selling points. Our findings show that the “real” creative industries are still scarce and found mostly in fairly advanced urban regions. These industries are more likely to be an indicator than a driver of regional economic development. Meanwhile, those traditional businesses are much larger than creative industries and potentially contribute to regional productivity through consumption activities, thereby requiring different policy strategies.     

Sustainable Spatial Growth Model Study in Middle-small Scale Urban Agglomeration

Based on the study of economy development background and character in JINHUA region, with the analysis of six classical spatial growth models and the elaboration of evolution process in JINHUA urban agglomeration, the authors think a sustainable spatial growth model should be as the following forms, some cities were polycentricities, some were sole-core compact cities, and the whole was polycentric urban region.     

粮食主产区农业劳动生产率增长路径分析

粮食主产区农业劳动生产率的增长是来源于生产要素的增加抑或效率的提高,关系到农业增长的可持续性和国家粮食安全的保障。笔者研究中国13个粮食主产区农业劳动生产率的增长路径,通过层层深入的分析,得出结论：从粮食主产区土地和劳动力的相对禀赋看,相对于单位土地生产率的提高,单位劳动力的产值提高的幅度更大,这种依靠增加生产要素投入以增加产值的增长途径其实质是劳动力的减少,农业劳动力的减少对农业生产总值影响的弹性很大。在中国未来农业劳动力数量稳定的情况下,农业劳动生产率的增长不可能更多地依赖农业生产要素投入的增加,农业经济增长的路径依然要依靠土地生产率的提高,走效率型的路径。     

Effect of Growth Regulators on the Productivity of Some Major Oilseed Crops

A number of field experiments were conducted at the Viswavidyalaya Research Farm during 1984–85 to 1986–87 to study the effects of five growth regulators viz. Miraculan (a triacontanol based growth stimulant), Nutron (1-triacontanol growth stimulant), Planofix ( α -napthylacetic acid), Paras or Mixtalol (Higher alcoholic carbon compounds) and N-triacontanol on productivity of five different major oilseed crops viz. rapeseed ( Brassica campestris L. var. yellow sarson), mustard ( Brassica juncea L. Czern and Coss), sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.), linseed ( Linum usitatissimum L.) and safflower ( Carthemus tinctorius L.). Results showed the positive influence of growth regulators on the productivity of crops (10–40 % increase in yield); however the influence was not consistent over the years. N-triacontanol when tried on mustard only improved the grain yield significantly, more so when applied with paras or planofix, sesame was most influenced by spraying planofix and paras. Nutron favourably influenced safflower and linseed. The test weight of grains followed by the number of pods/plant were influenced most by the application of growth regulators. Inconsistency in results over the years, however, need further investigations on the timing of spraying.     

Spatial Agglomeration,Technological Innovations,and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Italian Industrial Districts

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact on firms' productivity of innovative activities and agglomeration effects among firms belonging to Marshallian industrial districts and the possible joint effect of these two forces. We study a sample of 2,821 firms active in the Italian manufacturing industry in the period 1992–1995. Our analysis uses an original data set based on three different Istituto Nazionale di Statistica statistical sources—Community Innovation Survey, Archivio Statistico delle Imprese Attive (Italian Business Register), and Sistema dei Conti delle Imprese (Italian Structural Business Statistics)—to estimate an “augmented” Cobb‐Douglas production function to account for the impact of technological innovations and district‐specific agglomeration effects on a firm's productivity growth. Our data set allows us to distinguish between product and process innovations, thus, through econometric analysis, we hope to achieve a better understanding of which of these two types of innovative activities benefits most from participation in an industrial district. Our empirical results show that belonging to an industrial district and making product innovations are key factors in the productivity growth of firms and that product innovations appear to have a greater effect on the economic performance of district rather than non‐district firms.     

基于地统计学的棉花长势空间变异分析

采用地统计学的变异函数分析方法对我国2006年棉花长势空间变异特性进行了分析,结果表明,基于县域尺度的我国长势指标存在空间异质性.5月真叶数、6月真叶数、7月总果节数、9月成铃数的半方差值随间隔的变化很好的符合高斯理论模型的变化趋势,模型拟合的决定系数变化在0.472～0.856之间,8月成铃数则较好地符合球状理论模型,模型拟合的决定系数为0.879.空间自相关范围分别是 1644.25、1822.61、2293.59、2777.63、1195.56 km.5月份单株真叶数99.9%的空间变异是由于结构性因素的原因造成的,7月份的单株总果节数的96.7%的空间变异是由于结构性因素的原因造成的,6月单株真叶数、8月单株成铃数、9月单株成铃数的空间分布的结构比分别为0.61、0.929、0.869.     

Impact of Operating Conditions on the Productivity of Star-Rated Hotels in China's Mainland: Verification from Spatial Metrology

Room occupancy rate is a key indicator of star-rated hotel management quality. This paper takes Cobb-Douglas production function as the theoretical framework. Spatial Moran index of autocorrelation, Spatial Lag Model(SLM) and Spatial Error Model(SEM) are used to analyze the star-rated hotels labor productivity of 31 provincial regions in China's Mainland based on the star-rated hotels statistical data of year 2016. The spatial correlation and spatial difference of the star-rated hotels labor productivity is discussed. This paper studies the impact of three factors on spatial characteristics of star-rated hotels labor productivity in China's Mainland. The econometric estimation results show that:(1) Star-rated hotels labor productivity present significant spatial dependence and spatial difference in China's Mainland.(2) The estimation results of Ordinary least Squares(OLS) are reliable.(3) The reliability of the results obtained by the Spatial Error Model(SEM) analysis is the highest, and has a stronger explanatory power to the spatial relationship of star-rated hotels labor productivity in China's Mainland. The average room occupancy rate has more influence on the labor productivity of the provincial star-rated hotels than the impact of capital and labor.     

Impact of Operating Conditions on the Productivity of Star-Rated Hotels in Mainland China: Verification from Spatial Metrology

Room occupancy rate is a key indicator of star-rated hotel management quality. This paper takes Cobb-Douglas production function as the theoretical framework. Spatial Moran index of autocorrelation, Spatial Lag Model(SLM) and Spatial Error Model(SEM) are used to analyze the star-rated hotels labor productivity of 31 provincial regions in mainland China based on the star-rated hotels statistical data of year 2016. The spatial correlation and spatial difference of the star-rated hotels labor productivity is discussed. This paper studies the impact of three factors on spatial characteristics of star-rated hotels labor productivity in mainland China. The econometric estimation results show that:(1) Star-rated hotels labor productivity present significant spatial dependence and spatial difference in mainland China.(2) The estimation results of Ordinary least Squares(OLS) are reliable.(3) The reliability of the results obtained by the Spatial Error Model(SEM) analysis is the highest, and has a stronger explanatory power to the spatial relationship of star-rated hotels labor productivity in mainland China. The average room occupancy rate has more influence on the labor productivity of the provincial star-rated hotels than the impact of capital and labor.     

不同砧木嫁接对西瓜生长、果实品质及丰产性的影响

以西瓜品种‘早佳(84-24)’自根苗为对照,进行‘日本雪松’与‘京欣砧4号’砧木与‘早佳(84-24)’的嫁接试验,探讨不同砧木品种对西瓜生长、果实品质及丰产性的影响。结果表明,2个砧木品种与‘早佳(84-24)’的共生性较好,能够显著提高西瓜幼苗的质量、促进西瓜植株的生长。嫁接西瓜的抗枯萎病能力与产量均显著高于对照,其中‘日本雪松’嫁接西瓜的产量达到49000.0 kg/hm²,‘京欣砧4号’产量达到47000.0 kg/hm²。2个砧木品种对西瓜的品质影响较小,嫁接西瓜的中心糖含量均超过了10.7%。因此,2个砧木均可作为上海地区西瓜嫁接栽培的砧木品种。     

陕北退耕还林区植被NPP时空变化及其驱动因子

为了给陕北退耕还林区植被生产力评价及退耕还林等生态工程完成情况的评估提供科学依据,笔者应用美国蒙大拿大学提供的净初级生产力(NPP)产品 (MOD17A3),利用ArcGIS软件进行统计分析,研究区分NPP与气候因素（年降水量、年均气温）和土地利用类型转变的关系。结果表明：陕北退耕还林区植被NPP呈现南部高北部低的明显特征,2000—2013年植被NPP均值大部分区域在150~ 300 g C/(m²·a)之间,均值为134.23 g C/(m²·a);植被NPP年际变化除无植被覆盖区域,其他地区均为增加趋势;植被NPP与气候因子相关系数均表现为正相关与负相关并存,大部分地区NPP与降水量的相关性较强,与平均气温相关性总体没有与降水量相关性明显,且均有极小部分地区通过α＜0.05显著性检验;土地覆被的改变对该区域植被NPP的变化起着显著的推动作用。     

Analysis of the Spatial Variability in Cotton Growth Conditions based on Digital Imaging

Digital images of cotton canopy growth information, which was determined using the grid sampling method to obtain the parameter Hue of HIS color system in conventional light conditions, were used to examine the spatial distribution characteristics of the canopy image H value and the relationship between the digital image H value and agronomic traits. We used these data to obtain information on cotton growth on June 21, 2014, then analyzed the spatial variation characteristics of cotton growth in the field. We found that the spatial distribution of cotton canopy digital image H value was moderately correlated with space, and the semi-variogram function model was spherical. In addition, we found that there was a logarithmic relationship between the H value and Leaf Area Index（LAI） (R² = 0.8123), which suggests that the canopy digital image H value is a potentially reliable index to describe cotton growth across a cotton field. These results can provide guidance for improved production methods, and also lay a foundation for collection of field information and rapid detection methods for precision agriculture.     

Site Productivity, the Key to Crop Productivity

If we call a significant yield increase in single crops a ‘green revolution’, then the first green revolution took place about 10 000–12 000 years ago, when humans started to cultivate land. This was also the beginning of civilization. Since then, humans have increasingly transformed the land and natural vegetation and have risen to be the main creators of the biogeosphere. Today, there is hardly any ecosystem around the globe that has not been influenced by humans. It was only in 1930 that the world population reached 2 billion, and since then it has increased to 6 billion in the year 2000. Because of this rapid increase, the demand for food, feed and industrial crops has grown enormously. Half of the 1.5 billion ha of arable land – 18 % of the biologically productive land area of the earth – was first cultivated only in the 20th Century, and mostly forest was sacrificed to meet this requirement. The second green revolution started only in the late 1960s when high‐yielding varieties of wheat and rice were designed to overcome the predicted hunger crisis. Great achievements were made, especially in relation to irrigated agriculture, while rain‐fed farming was hardly affected by this revolution. World agriculture today faces two major constraints to which not enough attention is paid by scientists and decision makers. First, we increasingly restrict our food basis to a limited number of plant species. Today, 65 % of the world's arable land is reserved for only 21 annual crops. Even more worrying is the fact that 60 % of our food energy and protein comes from only three cereals – wheat, rice and corn. Designing ‘functional’ food using gene technology to improve food quality, for example in rice, will speed up this process of constriction since diversified ingestion is no longer necessary to meet the daily required balance of food types. Secondly, arable land resources are under‐utilized because of poor management. Yields of rice, for example, are below the world average of 3.8 t ha^?1 (1998) in 70 countries. If those countries achieved only the average level for their continent, for example 2.2 t ha^?1 in Africa, world rice production could be increased by 17 %. There is a need to invest in better management of arable land to prevent further loss in productivity and simultaneously to investigate under‐explored plants to broaden our future food basis.