Economic growth in the European Union: Exploring the role of innovation and gender
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2025.2.1917Keywords:
human capital, innovation, economic growthAbstract
This paper aims to investigate the linkages between human capital and employment in high-tech sectors and their impacts on economic growth, considering the overall level of innovation in both the public and private sectors and exploring the role of gender. The analysis employs dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) to estimate a model for the EU-27 across the period 2008–2021. The results indicate that employment in high-tech sectors is the variable that most contributes to economic growth in those countries that are leaders in innovation. However, in these countries, a positive and significant effect of the gender gap in employment is observed.
JEL Classification
Human Capital • Skills • Occupational Choice • Labor Productivity (J24)
Management of Technological Innovation and R&D (O32)
Empirical Studies of Economic Growth • Aggregate Productivity • Cross-Country Output Convergence (O47)
Downloads
References
Acemoglu, D., & Angrist, J. (2000). How large are human capital externalities? Evidence from compulsory schooling laws. NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 15, 9–59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/654403
View in Google Scholar
Alsos, A., Ljunggren, E., & Hytti, U. (2013). Gender and innovation: State of the art and a research agenda. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(3), 236–256. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-06-2013-0049
View in Google Scholar
Álvarez, F., Buera, F., & Lucas, R. (2008). Models of idea flows. NBER Working Paper, 14135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w14135
View in Google Scholar
AlQershi, N., Mohd Mokhtar, S., & Abas, Z. (2021). The relationship between strategic innovations, human capital, and performance: An empirical investigation. Sustainable Futures, 3, 100056. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2021.100056
View in Google Scholar
Althoff, L., Eckert, F., Ganapati, S., & Walsh, C. (2022). The geography of remote work. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 93, 103770. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2022.103770
View in Google Scholar
Arawatari, R., Takeo, H., & Kazuo, M. (2023). Government expenditure and economic growth: A heterogeneous-agents approach. Journal of Macroeconomics, 75, 103486. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2022.103486
View in Google Scholar
Bassanini, A., Scarpetta, S., & Hemmings, P. (2001). Economic growth: The role of policies and institutions. Panel data evidence from OECD countries. OECD Economics Department, Working Papers, 282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.265091
View in Google Scholar
Berthou, A. & Dhyne, E. (2018). Exchange rate movements, firm-level exports and heterogeneity. Banque de France Working Paper, 660. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3123035
View in Google Scholar
Bilbao-Osorio, B., & Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2004). From R&D to innovation and economic growth in the EU. Growth and Change, 35, 434-455. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2257.2004.00256.x
View in Google Scholar
Birdsall, N., & Rhee, C. (1993). Does results and development (R&D) contribute to economic growth in developing countries? Policy Research Working Paper, 1221. World Bank Group.
View in Google Scholar
Bongers, A., Díaz-Roldán, C., & Torres, J. L. (2022). Highly skilled international migration, STEM workers, and innovation. Economics, 16(1), 73–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/econ-2022-0022
View in Google Scholar
Botella, C., Rueda, S., López-Iñesta, E., & Marzal, P. (2019). Gender diversity in STEM disciplines: A multiple factor problem. Entropy, 21(1), 30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/e21010030
View in Google Scholar
Bowen, D.E. (2016). The changing role of employees in service theory and practice: An interdisciplinary view. Human Resource Management Review, 26(1), 4–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2015.09.002
View in Google Scholar
Broughel, J., & Thierer, A. D. (2019). Technological innovation and economic growth: A brief report on the evidence. Mercatus Research Paper. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3346495
View in Google Scholar
Cameron, G. (1996). Innovation and economic growth. London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance.
View in Google Scholar
Capozza, C., & Divella, M. (2019). Human capital and frms’ innovation: Evidence from emerging economies. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 28(7), 741– 757. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2018.1557426
View in Google Scholar
Chabbouh, H., & Boujelbene, Y. (2020). Open innovation in SMEs: The mediating role between human capital and firm performance. The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 31(2), 100391. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hitech.2020.100391
View in Google Scholar
Choi, I., & Kurozumi, E. (2012). Model selection criteria for the leads-and-lags cointegrating regression. Journal of Econometrics, 169(2), 224-238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2012.01.021
View in Google Scholar
Cropley, D., & Cropley, A. (2017). Innovation capacity, organisational culture and gender. European Journal of Innovation Management, 20(3), 493–510. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-12-2016-0120
View in Google Scholar
Delaney, J. M., & Devereux, P. J. (2019). Understanding gender differences in STEM: Evidence from college applications. Economics of Education Review, 72, 219–238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.06.002
View in Google Scholar
Elsamani, Y., & Kajikawa, Y. (2024). How teleworking adoption is changing the labor market and workforce dynamics? PLoS One, 19(3), e0299051. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299051
View in Google Scholar
European Commission. (2020). The gender equality strategy 2020–2025. https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/items/682425/en
View in Google Scholar
European Commission. (2023a). European Innovation Scoreboard 2023.
View in Google Scholar
European Commission. (2023b). European Innovation Scoreboard: Technical note on the gender perspective in innovation.
View in Google Scholar
Gasparri, L., Villasalero, M., Escobar, O. & Mora-Valbuena, M. (2023). Foreign subsidiaries’ innovation objectives in moderate innovator countries. 95th International Atlantic Economic European Conference. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Rome.
View in Google Scholar
Griffin, D., Li, K., & Xu, T. (2021). Board gender diversity and corporate innovation: International evidence. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 56(1), 123– 154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S002210901900098X
View in Google Scholar
Griliches, Z. (1992). Output measurement in the service sectors. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226308890.001.0001
View in Google Scholar
Gumus, E., & Celikay, F. (2015). R&D expenditure and economic growth: New empirical evidence. Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, 9(3), 205–217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0973801015579753
View in Google Scholar
Heredia, J., Castillo-Vergara,M., Geldes, C., Carbajal Gamarra, F. M., Flores, A. & Heredia, W. (2022). How do digital capabilities affect firm performance? The mediating role of technological capabilities in the “new normal”. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 7(2), 100171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2022.100171
View in Google Scholar
Iranzo, S., & Peri, G. (2009). Schooling externalities, technology, and productivity: Theory and evidence from US states. Review of Economics and Statistics, 91(2), 420–431. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest.91.2.420
View in Google Scholar
Jones, C. I. (1995). Time series tests of endogenous growth models. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(2), 420–431. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2118448
View in Google Scholar
Jones, C. I. (2002). Sources of U.S. economic growth in a world of ideas. American Economic Review, 92(1), 220–239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/000282802760015685
View in Google Scholar
Jones, C. I. (2005). Growth and ideas. In P. Aghion and S. N. Durlauf (Eds.), Handbook of economic growth (vol. 1B, 1063–1111). Elsevier. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0684(05)01016-6
View in Google Scholar
Kadir, A. A., Afriana, W., & Azis, H. A. (2020). The effects of R&D expenditures on economic growth in OECD countries. Airlangga Journal of Innovation Management, 1(2), 203–220. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20473/ajim.v1i2.21607
View in Google Scholar
Kahn, K., & Candi, M. (2021). Investigating the relationship between innovation strategy and performance. Journal of Business Research, 132, 56–66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.009
View in Google Scholar
Kao, C. (1999). Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel Data. Journal of Econometrics, 90(1), 1–44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(98)00023-2
View in Google Scholar
Kao, C., & Chiang, M. H. (2000). On the estimation and inference of a cointegrated regression in panel data. Advances in Econometrics, 15, 179–222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0731-9053(00)15007-8
View in Google Scholar
Kemeny, T., & Osman, T. (2018). The wider impacts of high-technology employment: Evidence from US cities. Research Policy, 47(9), 1729–1740. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.06.005
View in Google Scholar
Kuschel, K., Ettl, K., Díaz-García, C., & Alsos, G. A. (2020). Stemming the gender gap in STEM entrepreneurship—insights into women’s entrepreneurship in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 16(1), 1–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00642-5
View in Google Scholar
Lee, N., & Clarke, S. (2019). Do low-skilled workers gain from high-tech employment growth? High-technology multipliers, employment and wages in Britain. Research Policy, 48(9), 103803. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.05.012
View in Google Scholar
Lucas, R. E. Jr. (1988). On the mechanics of economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics, 22(1), 3–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(88)90168-7
View in Google Scholar
Maeso-Fernandez, F., Osbat, C., & Schnatz, B. (2004). Towards the estimation of equilibrium exchange rates for CEE acceding countries: Methodological issues and a panel cointegration perspective. Working Paper, 353. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.533022
View in Google Scholar
Maradana, R. P., Pradhan, R. P., Dash, S., Gaurav, K., Jayakumar, M., & Chatterjee, D. (2017). Does innovation promote economic growth? Evidence from European countries. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 6, 1-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-016-0061-9
View in Google Scholar
Mark, N., & Sul, D. (1999). A computationally simple cointegration vector estimator for panel data. Mimeo, Ohio State University.
View in Google Scholar
Mark, N., & Sul, D. (2001). Nominal exchange rates and monetary fundamentals: Evidence from a small post-Bretton Woods panel. Journal of International Economics, 53, 29–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1996(00)00052-0
View in Google Scholar
Moretti, E. (2004). Workers’ education, spillovers, and productivity: Evidence from plant-level production functions. American Economic Review, 94(3), 656–690. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/0002828041464623
View in Google Scholar
Parasuraman, A. (2000). Technology readiness index (TRI): A multiple-item scale to measure readiness to embrace new technologies. Journal of Service Research, 2(4), 307–320. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/109467050024001
View in Google Scholar
Pece, A. M., Simona, O. E. O., & Salisteanu, F. (2015). Innovation and economic growth: An empirical analysis for CEE countries. Procedia Economics and Finance, 26, 461– 467. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00874-6
View in Google Scholar
Pedroni, P. (1999). Critical values for cointegration tests in heterogeneous panels with multiple regressors. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 61, 653–670. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0084.0610s1653
View in Google Scholar
Pedroni, P. (2004). Panel cointegration: Asymptotic and finite sample properties of pooled time-series tests with application to the PPP hypothesis. Econometric Theory, 20(3), 597–625. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266466604203073
View in Google Scholar
Perez-Felkner, L., Felkner, J. S., Nix, S., & Magalhães, M. (2020). The puzzling relationship between international development and gender equity: The case of STEM postsecondary education in Cambodia. International Journal of Educational Development, 72, 102102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2019.102102
View in Google Scholar
Pradhan, R. (2023). The effect of R&D on economic growth: Evidence from cross-country panel data. The Journal of Developing Areas, 57(4), 245–256. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2023.a908655
View in Google Scholar
Ritter-Hayashi, D., Vermeulen, P., & Knoben, J. (2019). Is this a man’s world? The effect of gender diversity and gender equality on firm innovativeness. PLoS One, 14(9), 1–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222443
View in Google Scholar
Sylwester, K. (2001). R&D and economic growth. Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 13, 71–84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02693991
View in Google Scholar
Ulku, H. (2004). R&D, innovation, and economic growth: An empirical analysis. IMF Working Paper, 185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451859447.001
View in Google Scholar
Uzawa, H. (1965). Optimum technical change in an aggregative model of economic growth. International Economic Review, 6 (1), 18–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2525621
View in Google Scholar
Verspagen, B. (2009). Innovation and economic growth. In J. Fagerberg & D. C. Mowery (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of innovation (pp. 487–513). Oxford University Press.
View in Google Scholar
WIPO. (2020). Innovation gender gap: What do we know about the gender gap in innovation? The World Intellectual Property Organization. https://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/ip_innovation_economics/gender_innovation_gap/gender_by_fields.html
View in Google Scholar
Wong, P. K., Ho, Y. P., & Autio, E. (2005). Entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth: Evidence from GEM data. Small Business Economics, 24, 335–350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-005-2000-1
View in Google Scholar
Xie, L., Zhou, J., Zong, Q., & Lu, Q. (2020). Gender diversity in R&D teams and innovation efficiency: Role of the innovation context. Research Policy, 49(1), 103885. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.103885
View in Google Scholar
Yue, W. (2024). Human capital and firm innovation: Evidence from China’s higher education expansion in the late 1990s. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 60(3), 500–518. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2023.2242568
View in Google Scholar
Zhou, K. Z., & Wu, F. (2010). Technological capability, strategic flexibility, and product innovation. Strategic Management Journal, 31(5), 547–561. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.830
View in Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Vicente J. Coronel, Carmen Díaz-Roldán
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
