Due to the division and specialization of labor, human knowledge is distributed among millions of individuals in an economy and is becoming increasingly complex over time. Complex knowledge is argued to represent an important growth factor for regional economic development. In their new study entitled Technological complexity and economic growth of regions published in Research Policy, Lars Mewes and Tom Broekel quantify the ability of regional economies across Europe to produce complex technologies. In the first part of their empirical analysis, they demonstrate that complex knowledge production varies substantially between European regions. Although the results indicate that complex knowledge concentrates more likely in urban regions, it is clearly not restricted to them. In a second part, the authors show that complex knowledge production in regions has a positive impact on regional economic growth. As the complexity of knowledge becomes important for regional policies, the results fuel current debates on optimal place-based development strategies.
Mewes, L; Broekel, T. (2020): Technological complexity and economic growth of regions. In: Research Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104156