Geographical Distribution of Crime in Italian Provinces: A Spatial Econometric Analysis

For a long time social sciences scholars from different fields have devoted their attention to identifying the causes leading to commit criminal offences and recently lots of studies have included the analysis of spatial effects. Respect to the Italian crime phenomenon some stylized facts exist: high spatial and time variability and presence of “organised crime” (e.g. Mafia and Camorra) deep-seated in some local territorial areas. Using explanatory spatial data analysis, the paper firstly explores the spatial structure and distribution of four different typologies of crimes (murders, thefts, frauds, and squeezes) in Italian provinces in two years, 1999 and 2003. ESDA allows us to detect some important geographical dimensions and to distinguish crucial macro- and micro- territorial aspects of offences. Further, on the basis of Becker-Ehrlich model, a spatial cross-sectional model including deterrence, economic and socio-demographic variables has been performed to investigate the determinants of Italian crime for 1999 and 2003 and its “neighbouring” effects, measured in terms of geographical and relational proximity. The empirical results obtained by using different spatial weights matrices highlighted that socioeconomic variables have a relevant impact on crime activities, but their role changes enormously respect to crimes against person (murders) or against property (thefts, frauds and squeezes). It is worthy to notice that severity does not show the expected sign: its significant and positive sign should suggest that inflicting more severe punishments does not always constitute a deterrence to commit crime, but it works on the opposite direction.Crime, Spatial Econometrics

Mapping the Evolution of "Clusters": A Meta-analysis

This paper presents a meta-analysis of the “cluster literature” contained in scientific journals from 1969 to 2007. Thanks to an original database we study the evolution of a stream of literature which focuses on a research object which is both a theoretical puzzle and an empirical widespread evidence. We identify different growth stages, from take-off to development and maturity. We test the existence of a life-cycle within the authorships and we discover the existence of a substitutability relation between different collaborative behaviours. We study the relationships between a “spatial” and an “industrial” approach within the textual corpus of cluster literature and we show the existence of a “predatory” interaction. We detect the relevance of clustering behaviours in the location of authors working on clusters and in measuring the influence of geographical distance in co-authorship. We measure the extent of a convergence process of the vocabulary of scientists working on clusters.Cluster, Life-Cycle, Cluster Literature, Textual Analysis, Agglomeration, Co-Authorship

Does intentional mean hierarchical? Knowledge flows and innovative performance of European regions

The production of scientific and technical knowledge is mostly concentrated in specific locations (high-tech clusters, innovative industry agglomerations, centres of excellence, and technologically advanced regions). Knowledge flows very easily within regions; however, scientific and technical knowledge also flow between regions. The aim of this paper was to analyse how knowledge flows between regions, and the effect of these flows on the innovative performance, measured by patent applications. We estimate a regional knowledge production function, and, using appropriate spatial econometric estimation techniques, we test the effect of both geographical and relational autocorrelation (measured by participation in EU funded research networks as part of Fifth Framework Programme). We model unobservable structure and link value of knowledge flows in these joint research networks. We find that knowledge flows within inter-regional research networks, along non-symmetrical and hierarchical structures in which the knowledge produced by network participants tends to be exploited by the network coordinator

The role of localised, recombinant and exogenous technological change in European regions

How do regions develop and evolve along their productive and technological path is a central question. Within an evolutionary perspective, a given region is likely to develop new technologies closer to its pre-existing specialization. We adopt the approach of Hidalgo et al. (2007) to map the regional European technology/knowledge space to investigate the pattern and the evolution of regional specialisation in the most innovative EU countries. These dynamics depend on the interaction of three factors: (i) localised technological change, (ii) endogenous processes of knowledge recombination, and (iii) exogenous technological paradigm shifts while accounting for spatial and technological spillovers. Our paper maps the technological trajectories of 198 EU regions over the period 1986-2010 by using data on 121 patent sectors at the NUTS2 level for the 11 most innovative European countries, plus Switzerland and Norway. The results show that regional technological specialization is mainly shaped by localised technological change and exogenous technological paradigm shifts, whereas recombinant innovation contributes to a lower extent and that these effects largely depends on the increasing, decreasing or stable regional dynamics

Institutions and Civil Society Relations in Migori County (Kenya): A Social Network Analysis of Weak and Strong Ties

The goal of this paper is to investigate policy networks in Migori, a small county in the Western part of Kenya, near the border with Tanzania and Victoria Lake. In this study we build a unique network database and we use Social Network Analysis techniques to detect the structural relations among different stakeholders (e.g. institutions and civil society actors) within this county and we focus on different topics (i.e. overall interactions, training and cooperation, and for specific decision making on health and nutrition, and agricultural issues). The main results show the importance to distinguish, in policy networks, the rationale of interactions and their intensity, i.e. weak or strong ties. Institutions and civil society organizations are differently connected according to the functions and intensity of networks in which they operate. For example, for health and nutrition the Ministry is the core actor; the opposite occurs in agriculture, where local communities are the core players; and finally in training and coordination we have an intermediate layout, if compared to the two previous ones

Geographical Distribution of Crime in Italian Provinces: A Spatial Econometric Analysis

For a long time social sciences scholars from different fields have devoted their attention to identifying the causes leading to commit criminal offences and recently lots of studies have included the analysis of spatial effects. Respect to the Italian crime phenomenon some stylized facts exist: high spatial and time variability and presence of “organised crime” (e.g. Mafia and Camorra) deep-seated in some local territorial areas. Using explanatory spatial data analysis, the paper firstly explores the spatial structure and distribution of four different typologies of crimes (murders, thefts, frauds, and squeezes) in Italian provinces in two years, 1999 and 2003. ESDA allows us to detect some important geographical dimensions and to distinguish crucial macro- and micro- territorial aspects of offences. Further, on the basis of Becker-Ehrlich model, a spatial cross-sectional model including deterrence, economic and socio-demographic variables has been performed to investigate the determinants of Italian crime for 1999 and 2003 and its “neighbouring” effects, measured in terms of geographical and relational proximity. The empirical results obtained by using different spatial weights matrices highlighted that socioeconomic variables have a relevant impact on crime activities, but their role changes enormously respect to crimes against person (murders) or against property (thefts, frauds and squeezes). It is worthy to notice that severity does not show the expected sign: its significant and positive sign should suggest that inflicting more severe punishments does not always constitute a deterrence to commit crime, but it works on the opposite direction

Nuove tecnologie e commercio internazionale: un'analisi empirica

The essay regards issues related to international trade by focusing on factors related to technological innovation and the diffusion of net technologies. On the basis or an \uabextended\ubb gravity model, which includes additional variables alongside GNP and population, the author examines international trade among 39 countries from 1973-1998 according to the technological content of goods, Among the variables in the model, the author introduces a nes index related to the ease of communication through the net, measured by the number of internet hyperlinks that exist on websites on a server in one country that point to web pages hosted by servers in another country. The empirical findings show that for homogeneous goods, the most outstanding variable explaining bilateral commercial flows is the GNP of the import country for differentiated goods, and the GNP of the export country for highly technological goods. For highly technological sectors, the effect of communication via internet, measured by internet hyperlinks, is very relevant, above al! in trade between OECD countries

Mapping the Evolution of "Clusters": A Meta-analysis

This paper presents a meta-analysis of the “cluster literature” contained in scientific journals from 1969 to 2007. Thanks to an original database we study the evolution of a stream of literature which focuses on a research object which is both a theoretical puzzle and an empirical widespread evidence. We identify different growth stages, from take-off to development and maturity. We test the existence of a life-cycle within the authorships and we discover the existence of a substitutability relation between different collaborative behaviours. We study the relationships between a “spatial” and an “industrial” approach within the textual corpus of cluster literature and we show the existence of a “predatory” interaction. We detect the relevance of clustering behaviours in the location of authors working on clusters and in measuring the influence of geographical distance in co-authorship. We measure the extent of a convergence process of the vocabulary of scientists working on clusters

Space Vs. Networks in the Geography of Innovation: A European Analysis

In the last fifteen years, income differences among European Member States have been strongly narrowing while the process has been matched with a widening of the inter-regional variance within single countries. Traditionally, regional economic disparities in Europe have been ascribed to peripherality and/or to a high level of dependence on declining sectors. Nowadays regional disparities can be no longer defined only in terms of statistical differences in the values of standard macroeconomic indicators, but also according to innovative capacities and knowledge endowment. This paper provides an original framework for the interpretation of the existing relationships between innovation process and research activity in Europe and the structural and geographical features shaping the European scientific and technological map. In order to do so, we focus on two knowledge-based relational phenomena: participation in the same research networks (funded by the EU Fifth Framework Programme) and EPO co-patent applications. Using two complementary econometric techniques we try to assess those factors that determine patenting activity, distinguishing structural features, geographical and relational spillovers. Through these variables we measure the intrinsic relational structure of knowledge flows which directly connects people, institutions and, indirectly, regions, across European countries in order to test whether hierarchical relationships based on a-spatial networks between geographically distant excellence centres prevail over diffusive patterns based on spatial contiguity