Regional development and knowledge-based factors in European Union NUTS 2 regions: A structural equation modelling

Abstract

This paper examines the relationships among regional development and knowledge-based factors applying a structural equation modelling (SEM). The object of investigation is a large sample of European Union (EU) NUTS 2 regions. The insights confirm the strategic relevance of the knowledge-based factors for the regional development, but they seem to suggest that it is the regional development that drives the attraction and the absorption of critical knowledge resources that, in turn, virtuously support renewed development dynamics.