Human Capital and Regional Development in Europe: A Long-Run Comparative View (Frontiers in Economic History)

Human capital is of utmost importance for the future of our knowledge economies and societies. However, it is unequally distributed in Europe, contributing to marked spatial patterns of economic prosperity within and across countries. In many cases, these patterns have a long history. To understand them better, it requires to go back in time, when mass schooling was starting to become a reality across Europe. Taking a long-run perspective over more than 150 years, this book shows the development and the distribution of human capital in the regions of Europe and its connections with the economy. It provides insights into recent research findings in this area, including theoretical advances and the use of new empirical data. Acknowledgements About the Book Contents List of Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction References Chapter 2: Regional Human Capital Inequality in Europe 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Human Capital Formation in Europe in the Long Run 2.3 Methodology and Data 2.3.1 Measure of Human Capital 2.3.2 Indicators of Inequality 2.4 Results 2.4.1 Evolution of Human Capital in the European Regions: 1850-2010 2.4.2 Intranational Inequality 2.5 Conclusion Appendix References Chapter 3: Spatial Clustering of Numeracy and Literacy 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Evolution of Basic Education in the European Regions 3.3 Data 3.4 Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis 3.5 Results 3.5.1 Global Spatial Autocorrelation 3.5.2 Moran Scatter Plots 3.5.3 Moran Significance Maps 3.5.4 Robustness Checks 3.6 Conclusion Appendix References Chapter 4: Human Capital and Market Access in the European Regions 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Related Literature 4.2.1 Regional Human Capital Formation in Europe: Today and in the Past 4.2.2 Economic Geography and Market Access in Europe 4.3 Theoretical Model 4.4 Data and Methodology 4.5 Results 4.6 Conclusions Appendix References Chapter 5: The Long-Run Impact of Human Capital on Innovation and Economic Growth in the Regions of Europe 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Literature 5.3 Methodology and Data 5.4 Results 5.4.1 Relationship Between Patents Per Capita and GDP Per Capita Today 5.4.2 Explaining Regional Patents Per Capita 5.4.3 Explaining Regional Economic Development 5.5 Conclusion Appendix References Chapter 6: Lessons from Human Capital Evolution over the Last 200 Years 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Human Capital: Theoretical Origins and Quantitative Measurement 6.3 Regional Education Formation in Europe: Nineteenth Century to Today 6.4 Factors for Regional Human Capital Formation 6.5 Human Capital, Economic Growth, and Their Policy Implications 6.6 Conclusion References Chapter 7: Conclusion and Future Directions for Research References