Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Methodological Dichotomy in the Studies of Knowledge Spillovers: CEE Region Under Focus

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Knowledge Spillovers in Regional Innovation Systems

Part of the book series: Advances in Spatial Science ((ADVSPATIAL))

Abstract

The recent years have witnessed increasing efforts to solve the puzzle around knowledge capital and externalities it appears to unfold. Clearly, the concept of prompting growth through acquiring knowledge for free is appealing. Still, there is no consensus on the significance and magnitude of the estimated impacts of knowledge externalities. The ambiguity might be caused by the lack of methodological unity. A large cohort of scientists advocate capturing knowledge spillovers alongside the movements of production or production factors—considered as channels of knowledge transfers—while others see true value of transferred knowledge in productivity increases registered at proximity to some knowledge production. In the latter case, distance matters more than mere transfer of a product and thus the approach might be quoted as spatial. In this chapter, we discuss major contributions to the field of knowledge spillover studies made while taken both approaches, point to some advantages and pitfalls attached, and address some directions how to steer the research of knowledge spillovers further.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abramovitz M (1956) Resource and output trends in the United States since 1870. In: Resource and output trends in the United States since 1870. NBER, pp 1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Acharya RC, Keller W (2008) Technology transfer through imports. Can J Econ/Revue canadienne d’économique 42(4):1411–1448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aghion P, Howitt P (1998) Endogenous growth theory. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Amiti M, Konings J (2007) Trade liberalization, intermediate inputs, and productivity: evidence from Indonesia. Am Econ Rev 97(5):1611–1638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow K (1962) Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In: The rate and direction of inventive activity: economic and social factors. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 609–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Atallah G (2005) R&D cooperation with asymmetric spillovers. Can J Econ/Revue canadienne d’économique 38(3):919–936

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch DB, Feldman MP (1996) R&D spillovers and the geography of innovation and production. Am Econ Rev 86(3):630–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann R, Bechara P, Schaffner S (2016) Wage inequality and wage mobility in Europe. Rev Income Wealth 62(1):181–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin RE, Forslid R (2000) Trade liberalisation and endogenous growth: a q-theory approach. J Int Econ 50(2):497–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blalock G, Veloso FM (2007) Imports, productivity growth, and supply chain learning. World Dev 35(7):1134–1151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bottazzi L, Peri G (2003) Innovation and spillovers in regions: evidence from European patent data. Eur Econ Rev 47(4):687–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branstetter LG (2001) Are knowledge spillovers international or intranational in scope?: microeconometric evidence from the US and Japan. J Int Econ 53(1):53–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caballero RJ, Jaffe AB (1993) How high are the giants’ shoulders: an empirical assessment of knowledge spillovers and creative destruction in a model of economic growth. In: NBER macroeconomics annual 1993, vol 8. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 15–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Cass D (1965) Optimum growth in an aggregative model of capital accumulation. Rev Econ Stud 32(3):233–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers D, Dhongde S (2016) Convergence in income distributions: evidence from a panel of countries. Econ Model 59:262–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cingano F (2014) Trends in income inequality and its impact on economic growth [online]. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 163, OECD Publishing. Available via http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/trends-in-income-inequality-and-its-impact-on-economic-growth-SEM-WP163.pdf

  • Clerides S, Saul L, James T (1998) Is learning-by-exporting important? Micro-dynamic evidence from Colombia, Mexico and Morocco. Q J Econ 113(3):903–948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coe DT, Helpman E (1995) International R&D spillovers. Eur Econ Rev 39(5):859–887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen WM, Levinthal DA (1990) Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Adm Sci Q 35(1):128–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coombs R, Hull R (1998) Knowledge management practices’ and path-dependency in innovation. Res Policy 27(3):237–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crespo Cuaresma J, Feldkircher M (2013) Spatial filtering, model uncertainty and the speed of income convergence in Europe. J Appl Econ 28(4):720–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuaresma JC, Doppelhofer G, Feldkircher M (2014) The determinants of economic growth in European regions. Reg Stud 48(1):44–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Bondt R, Henriques I (1995) Strategic investment with asymmetric spillovers. Can J Econ 28(3):656–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Loecker J (2007) Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia. J Int Econ 73(1):69–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Loo I, Soete L (1999) The impact of technology on economic growth: some new ideas and empirical considerations. Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, Maastricht, NL. Available via https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:1054/rm1999-018.pdf

  • Denison EF (1962) Sources of economic growth in the United States and the alternatives before us. Committee for Economic Development, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dornbusch R, Fischer S, Samuelson PA (1977) Comparative advantage, trade, and payments in a Ricardian model with a continuum of goods. Am Econ Rev 67(5):823–839

    Google Scholar 

  • Dujava D (2012) Causes of lagging behind of new member states of EU: empirical analysis by Montgomery decomposition. Politická ekonomie 2:222–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterly W, Levine R (2001) It’s not factor accumulation: stylized facts and growth models. World Bank Econ Rev 15(2):177–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton J, Kortum S (1996) Trade in ideas: patenting and productivity in the OECD. J Int Econ 40(3):251–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton J, Kortum S (2001) Trade in capital goods. Eur Econ Rev 45(7):1195–1235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton J, Kortum S (2002) Technology, geography, and trade. Econometrica 70(5):1741–1779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edquist C (1994) Technology policy: the interaction between governments and markets. In: Aichholzer G, Schienstock G (eds) Technology policy: towards an integration of social and ecological concerns. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Elhorst JP (2012) Spatial econometrics: from cross-sectional data to spatial panels, SpringerBriefs in regional science. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison G, Glaeser EL, Kerr WR (2010) What causes industry agglomeration? Evidence from coagglomeration patterns. Am Econ Rev 100(3):1195–1213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen G (1990) The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J (1994) Technology and international differences in growth rates. J Econ Lit 32(3):1147–1175

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J, Srholec M, Knell M (2007) The competitiveness of nations: why some countries prosper while others fall behind. World Dev 35(10):1595–1620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J, Srholec M, Verspagen B (2010) Innovation and economic development. Handb Econ Innov 2:833–872

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feenstra RC, Hanson GH (1996) Globalization, outsourcing, and wage inequality. No. w5424, National Bureau of Economic Research

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman MP (1994) Knowledge complementarity and innovation. Small Bus Econ 6(5):363–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer MM (2011) A spatial Mankiw–Romer–Weil model: theory and evidence. Ann Reg Sci 47(2):419–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer MM, Scherngell T, Reismann M (2009) Total factor productivity effects of interregional knowledge spillovers in manufacturing industries across Europe. Geogr Anal 41:204–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fosfuri A, Motta M, Rønde T (2001) Foreign direct investment and spillovers through workers’ mobility. J Int Econ 53(1):205–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M, Krugman P, Venables AJ (1999) The spatial economy. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaspar J, Glaeser EL (1996) Information technology and the future of cities. NBER Working Paper No. 5562

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerschenkron A (1962) Economic backwardness in historical perspective: a book of essays. No. HC335 G386, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser EL, Kallal HD, Scheinkman JA, Shleifer A (1992) Growth in cities. J Polit Econ 100(6):1126–1152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griliches Z (1979) R&D and the productivity slowdown. Am Econ Rev 70:343–348

    Google Scholar 

  • Griliches Z (1990) Patent statistics as economic indicators: a survey. J Econ Lit 28(4):1661–1707

    Google Scholar 

  • Griliches Z (1995) R&D and productivity: econometric results and measurement issues. In: Stoneman P (ed) Handbook of the economics of innovation and technical change. Wiley Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, pp 52–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman GM, Helpman E (1991) Innovation and growth in the global economy. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallward-Driemeier M, Giuseppe I, Kenneth LS (2002) Exports and manufacturing productivity in East Asia: a comparative analysis with firm-level data. National Bureau of Economic Research, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu C, Tan Y (2016) Export spillovers and export performance in China. China Econ Rev 41:75–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin DA, Klenow PJ (1994) Learning-by-doing spillovers in the semiconductor industry. J Polit Econ 102(6):1200–1227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishise H, Sawada Y (2009) Aggregate returns to social capital: estimates based on the augmented augmented-Solow model. J Macroecon 31(3):376–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Islam N (2003) What have we learnt from the convergence debate? J Econ Surv 17(3):309–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivancheva L, Gourova E (2011) Challenges for career and mobility of researchers in Europe. Sci Public Policy 38(3):185–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs J (1969) The economy of cities. Random Houses, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe E (1986) Technological opportunity and spillovers of R&D: evidence from firms’ patents, profits, and market value. Am Econ Rev 76(5):984–1001

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe AB, Trajtenberg M (1999) International knowledge flows: evidence from patent citations. Econ Innov New Technol 8(1–2):105–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe AB, Trajtenberg M (2002) Patents, citations, and innovations: a window on the knowledge economy. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe AB, Trajtenberg M, Henderson R (1993) Geographic localization of knowledge spillovers as evidenced by patent citations. Q J Econ 108(3):577–598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones CI (1995) R&D-based models of economic growth. J Polit Econ 103(4):759–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson DW, Griliches Z (1967) The explanation of productivity change. Rev Econ Stud 34(3):249–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katayama H, Lu S, Tybout JR (2009) Firm-level productivity studies: illusions and a solution. Int J Ind Organ 27(3):403–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller W (1996) Absorptive capacity: on the creation and acquisition of technology in development. J Dev Econ 49(1):199–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller W (1998) Are international R&D spillowers trade related? Analyzing spillovers among randomly matched trade partners. Eur Econ Rev 42(8):1469–1481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller W (2002a) Trade and transmission of technology. J Econ Growth 7(1):5–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller W (2002b) Geographic localization and international technology diffusion. Am Econ Rev 92(1):120–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller W (2010) International trade, foreign direct investment, and technology spillovers. In: Hall B, Rosenberg N (eds) Handbook of the economics of innovation, vol 2. Elsevier, North-Holland, pp 793–829

    Google Scholar 

  • Klenow P, Rodriguez-Clare A (1997) The neoclassical revival in growth economics: has it gone too far? In: NBER macroeconomics annual 1997, vol 12. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 73–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Koopmans TC (1965) On the concept of optimal economic growth. The economic approach to development planning. Rand McNally, Chicago, pp 225–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Krammer SM (2014) Assessing the relative importance of multiple channels for embodied and disembodied technological spillovers. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 81:272–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krugman P, Venables AJ (1995) Globalization and the inequality of nations. Q J Econ 110(430):857–880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamo A, Perez JJ, Schuknecht L (2013) Are government wages interlinked with private sector wages? J Policy Model 35(5):697–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landes D (1998) The wealth and poverty of nations. Abacus, London

    Google Scholar 

  • LeSage JP, Fischer MM (2008) Spatial growth regressions: model specification, estimation and interpretation. Spat Econ Anal 3(3):275–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeSage JP, Pace RK (2009) Introduction to spatial econometrics. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lundvall BÅ, Johnson B (1994) The learning economy. J Ind Stud 1(2):27

    Google Scholar 

  • Maczulskij T (2013) Public–private sector wage differentials and the business cycle. Econ Syst 37(2):284–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madison A (1987) Growth and slowdown in advanced capitalist economies. J Econ Lit 25(2):649–698

    Google Scholar 

  • Mancusi LM (2008) International spillovers and absorptive capacity: a patent citations analysis. Scand J Econ 4(4):411–434

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall A (1920) Principles of economics. MacMillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeil L, Fraumeni B (2005) International trade and economic growth: a possible methodology for estimating cross-border R&D spillovers. BEA Working Papers

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavcnik N (2002) Trade liberalization, exit, and productivity improvements: evidence from Chilean plants. Rev Econ Stud 69:245–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puškárová P (2015) Assessing the magnitude of globalization-induced technology flows in expanded EU-sample: a multi-channel approach. Proc Econ Fin 20:544–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puškárová P, Piribauer P (2016) The impact of knowledge spillovers on total factor productivity revisited: new evidence from selected European capital regions. Econ Syst 40(3):335–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsey FP (1928) A mathematical theory of saving. Econ J 38(152):543–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauch J (1993) Productivity gains from geographic concentration of Human Capital: evidence from the cities. J Urban Econ 34:380–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhee Y, Ross-Larson B, Pursell G (1984) Korea’s competitive edge: managing entry into world markets. John Hopkin’s University Press for the World Bank, Baltimore, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez F, Rodrik D (2001) Trade policy and economic growth: a skeptic’s guide to the cross-national evidence. NBER Macroecon Annu 2000 15:261–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Clare A (1996) Multinationals, linkages, and economic development. Am Econ Rev 86(4):852–873

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer PM (1986) Increasing returns and long-run growth. J Polit Econ 94(5):1002–1037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roser M, Cuaresma JC (2016) Why is income inequality increasing in the developed world? Rev Income Wealth 62(1):1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rostow WW (1980) Why the poor get richer, and the rich slow down: essays in the Marshallian long period. MacMillan, New York, pp 267–277

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz TW (1960) Capital formation by education. J Polit Econ 68(6):571–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staber U (2007) Contextualizing research on social capital in regional clusters. Int J Urban Reg Res 31(3):505–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan KH, Wong WP, Chung L (2016) Information and knowledge leakage in supply chain. Inf Syst Front 18:621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Biesebroeck J (2005) Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms. J Int Econ 67(2):373–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandekerckhove J, De Bondt R (2008) Asymmetric spillovers and investments in research and development of leaders and followers. Econ Innov New Technol 17(5):417–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veblen T (1915) Imperial Germany and the industrial revolution. Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Economics in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Paula Puskarova

Authors
  1. Paula Puskarova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paula Puskarova .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic

    Jan Stejskal

  2. University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic

    Petr Hajek

  3. Technical University of Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia

    Oto Hudec

Appendix

Appendix

Fig. 3
figure 3

Patent stock distribution [Patent stock calculated from the EPO patent applications using perpetual inventory method and depreciation following Caballero and Jaffe (1993)], NUTS-2 regions, % increase 2000–2010. Source: Author’s calculations, GeoDa visualization

Full size image
Fig. 4
figure 4

Total factor productivity (TFP calculated following Fischer et al. (2009), data Cambridge Econometrics Database), NUTS-2 regions, mean % increase 2000–2010. Source: Author’s calculations, GeoDa visualization

Full size image
Fig. 5
figure 5

Total factor productivity (TFP calculated following Fischer et al. (2009), data Cambridge Econometrics Database), NUTS-2 regions, % increase 2000–2010. Source: Author’s calculations, GeoDa visualization

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Puskarova, P. (2018). Methodological Dichotomy in the Studies of Knowledge Spillovers: CEE Region Under Focus. In: Stejskal, J., Hajek, P., Hudec, O. (eds) Knowledge Spillovers in Regional Innovation Systems. Advances in Spatial Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67029-4_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation