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The innovative impact of public research institutes: Evidence from Italy

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  • Robbiano, Simone

Abstract

This paper leverages on the establishment of Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) as a policy change useful to understand the causal effect of public-funded research centres on the regional innovative capacity. By relying on the Synthetic Control Method (SCM) approach and Italian NUTS-3 panel data, empirical results suggest that the establishment of IIT has positively impacted on regional innovation and high-skilled human capital, as well as on regional growth. The paper also provides evidence of knowledge spillovers from IIT within the hosting region. Finally, these results are robust to a variety of placebo permutation tests as well as several sensitivity checks, or when considering a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) approach.

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  • Robbiano, Simone, 2022. "The innovative impact of public research institutes: Evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:51:y:2022:i:10:s0048733322000907
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2022.104567
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public research institutes; Regional innovation; Regional human capital; Knowledge spillovers; Synthetic control method; Difference in differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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