Abstract

This paper describes the factors that affect the localisation of the production of New Information Technology and evaluates the effects of regional concentration of the ICT industry on the gap between poor and rich regions, with special reference to European regions and the Mezzogiorno. The main conclusions that emerge from our analysis are the following: i) the distribution of the ICT sectors among European regions (74 regions of seven European countries UK, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Portugal), as measured by either the level of employment or the value added, is widely dispersed; ii) industries producing ICT goods had in the recent past, and still have high rates of technological progress; iii) the share of the ICT sector relative to Industry and Market Services, is positively correlated with the value added per employment in the Industry and Market Services sector, and with a proxy for human capital supply; iv) There is a positive and significative correlation between the regional growth rate of European regions and an index of the size of the ICT sector. Best results are got when the dependent variable is the productivity growth rate in the market service sectors. The estimated coefficient measuring such correlation increases when we restrict the analysis at the end of the Nineties.