The geography of social capital and innovation in the European Union

This paper assesses the role of the associational activity dimension of social capital in regional innovation for 257 EU 28 regions in the pre-crisis (2000–2007) and the crisis (2008–2012) period. The analysis is carried out using flexible non-parametric kernel regressions, which allow for exploring heterogeneity across space and over time. The results show that effects widely differ across regions, but no differences are found between periods. In particular, the largest effects are found for less developed and transition regions from the periphery. In contrast, for most of the developed regions in the core of Europe the impact is non-significant. These results might be useful for policy design in the H2020 framework.