Plenary Lecture

The Effects of Innovation Poles and Science Parks on Regional Economies in Italy

Professor Massimiliano Ferrara
Department SSGES
University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria
Italy
E-mail: Massimiliano.ferrara@unirc.it

Abstract: The increasing interest of EU towards specific structures devoted to stimulate innovation as innovation poles (IP) and science parks (SP) obliges to investigate their role in the overall economic context. The paper examines how performances and characteristics of innovation poles and science park affect various aspects of Italian regional economies at NUTS 2 level. Our main aim is to assess the importance of IP and SP in stimulating growth through innovation, as well as entrepreneurship in the area they are established. First, we test the strength of the relationship between poles’ activities and the performance of firms located in the same region. Second, we investigate whether the presence and number of poles have an impact on both incentives to entrepreneurship and survival rates within their respective region. Finally, we shift our focus to each specificstructure in order to test how their characteristics affect market performance of associated firms. Each of the three parts include also an aggregation of results by macro-area.
It is important to note how empirical research is mostly descriptive, though we are able to deliver a few useful insights that might be relevant to public decision makers.

Brief Biography of the Speaker: Massimiliano Ferrara is Professor of Mathematical Economics at "Mediterranea" University of Reggio Calabria where he was also Dean of the degree in Economics. Actually he is the Director of Culture, Education, Research and University Department at Regione Calabria. He was the Founder and Director of MEDAlics and Vice Rector at "Dante Alighieri" University of Reggio Calabria. He was also Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Cambridge (USA), Morgan State University in Baltimore (USA), Western Michigan University (USA), New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark (NJ) (USA). He was a speaker at several WSEAS international conferences. He is editor of several international journals: Advances in Management and Applied Economics (AMAE), African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development Applied Sciences (APPS), International Journal of Functional Analysis, Operator Theory and Applications (IJFAOTA), Far East Journal of Mathematical Sciences (FJMS), Journal of Indian Academy of Mathematics (Jiam), Journal of the Calcutta Mathematical Society and Universal Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences. His main research interests are: dynamical systems, patterns of growth and sustainable development, mathematical economics, game theory, optimization theory, applied Economics.