| Abstract: |
The aim of this paper is to assess the role played by creativity and other
components of human capital on the process of economic growth for 257 regions
in the 27 member countries of the European Union. We first decompose the
regional human capital endowment to distinguish between the educational
component (the share of individuals with a university degree) and the
creativity component, which considers the actual occupations of individuals in
specific jobs like science, engineering, education, arts and entertainment. We
define three non overlapping categories of human capital (creative graduates,
bohemians and non creative graduates) which are simultaneously included in a
spatial model as determinants of regional growth measured by labour
productivity. After extending the analysis to control for other relevant
factors which may affect regional development, such as physical, technological
and social capital, cultural diversity, industrial and geographical
characteristics, we provide robust evidence on the growth enhancing effects of
graduates, in particular for those of the creative category. |