Universities and regional economic growth in Spanish regions

This paper examines the main contributions of universities to the economic growth of Spanish regions. It calculates the separate effects of the different university functions on the regional economy, namely the creation of human capital, research and technology transfer. It includes a panel data set with the key variables of university activities and their effects on the economy at provincial level. The econometric estimations are based on information for all 47 public universities and include 34 Spanish provinces. The empirical results suggest that the growth of regional GVA is positively correlated to both the human capital created by universities and the stock of university patentsregional economic development, universities, higher education, human capital, research, technology development

The GDOR model. A new methodology for the analysis of training needs: the case of Andorra

Purpose: This article investigates the status and importance of continuing training in companies in the Principality of Andorra and its impact on the economic development of the country. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on GDOR, a methodology based on the impact of training decisions on economic indicators and ratios that has been developed by the authors. By using GDOR, the authors explore and understand the current situation and the training needs of the main sectors in the Andorran economy. Findings: The findings incorporate a different view of lifelong learning training needs in Andorra much more related to the development needs of the country. Originality/value: With reference to best practice from different countries, particularly those in Europe, an original and new proposal to address those training needs is presented including recommendations to the country’s authorities on how to manage lifelong learning policies.Peer Reviewe

La distribución regional de la renta en España. Tendencias recientes y situación actual.

En este trabajo se examina, en primer lugar el proceso de convergencia regional en España y se analiza la existencia de regiones especialmente dinámicas en el crecimiento económico español durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX (1950-2000). En segundo lugar se hace hincapié en la evolución más reciente del crecimiento económico por regiones españolas, para el periodo 2000-2005, siguiendo para ello la información de la Contabilidad Regional de España, base 2000. A continuación también se analiza, asimismo, la evolución y situación relativa de las regiones españolas en el marco europeo, con datos de Eurostat y, finalmente se realiza una referencia al papel de la política regional en la corrección de las desigualdades territoriales, con especial incidencia en la política regional europea y en cómo quedaría configurada para el periodo 2007-2013

Reputation and rankings

Over the last decade global rankings of universities have begun to grow in importance allowing national and international comparison of higher education institutions. In fact, they are already at the heart of public discussion about the role of universities in our societies because they provide a way of measuring and comparing the quality and results of these institutions and thereby, influencing their reputation. The most important of these rankings (such as the Academic Ranking of World Universities, Shanghai Ranking, Times Higher Education World University Ranking, and QS World University Ranking). All of these put universities into a league table where the ranking of a given institution is based on a composite score that reflects the weights of several individual indicators. This article reviews the methodology of three rankings, focusing on their limitations and weaknesses (such as over‑stressing research or their subjectivity in setting specific weights for each individual indicator). Finally, we present the U‑Multirank, promoted by the European Commission, which seeks to overcome the limitations of traditional rankings. It is an alternative way to rank universities, based on their performance as gauged by a wide number of indicators in five dimensions—(1) Teaching and Learning; (2) Research; (3) Knowledge Transfer; (4) International Orientation; (5) Regional Engagement—and in several subject