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The application of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) to the state of Victoria, Australia for the period 1986-2003 is reviewed. The GPI includes individual cost and benefit items that are responsible for social, environmental, and economic impacts associated with a growing economy. The policy implications of this application are also discussed.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2006.05.017 Byline: Philip Shapira (a), Jan Youtie (b) Keywords: Economic development; Innovation; Knowledge measurement; Data mining; Bibliometrics Abstract: The contribution of knowledge to economic growth and competitiveness has attracted increased attention. Publications with a topical focus on areas related to innovation have risen dramatically from 1963 to 2005, but more slowly in local and regional development journals. In contrast to the wide use of aggregate measures of innovation, this paper presents four cases presenting disaggregated knowledge-based approaches into the policy- and decision-making processes of economic developers in the state of Georgia and the US South. The first case uses information obtained from patents and publications to inform traditional out-of-area economic development recruitment strategies in a more knowledge-oriented direction. The second case exemplifies the use of data mining to identify top researchers as part of a strategic state economic development effort. The third case illustrates how local knowledge-based capabilities can be identified in cities not traditionally viewed as innovative. Nanotechnology-related knowledge assets in the southern United States are mapped and assessed in the fourth case. Disaggregated methods used in traditional strategies were most intuitively understood and used, but new knowledge measures were found to encourage local and state economic developers to begin to embrace new paradigms. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0345, USA (b) Georgia Tech Economic Development and Technology Ventures, Atlanta, GA 30332-0640, USA Article History: Received 5 January 2006; Revised 3 May 2006; Accepted 25 May 2006

A parametric framework based on cost function estimation is used to examine total factor productivity in Spain's private sector. It is posited that the omission of infrastructures leads to overestimation of actual technological progress. Cyclical behavior is also examined.

Research indicates that northeastern Greece has undergone a significant transformation in both production and consumption between 1980 and 1997. Changes in technical coefficients was less important than final demand effects on the region's gross production. Future trends are discussed.

The article examines the extent to which the business cycle and the composition of measured growth have changed, based on recent national accounts changes.

Econometric models can be used to determine the value of human capital with just a few modifications. A study of education in several countries and levels of technology show that total functional productivity is higher in those countries. Further studies on the impact of technological knowledge on the economy are needed.

This paper challenges the current belief that income inequality has a negative relationship with economic growth. It uses an improved data set on income inequality which not only reduces measurement error, but also allows estimation via a panel technique. Panel estimation makes it possible to control for time-invariant country-specific effects, therefore eliminating a potential source of omitted-variable bias. Results suggest that in the short and medium term, an increase in a country's level of income inequality has a significant positive relationship with subsequent economic growth. This relationship is highly robust across samples, variable definitions, and model specifications.

This paper develops methods for constructing asymptotically valid confidence intervals for the date of a single break in multivariate time series, including I(0), I(1), and deterministically trending regressors. Although the width of the asymptotic confidence interval does not decrease as the sample size increases, it is inversely related to the number of series which have a common break date, so there are substantial gains to multivariate inference about break dates. These methods are applied to two empirical examples: the mean growth rate of output in three European countries, and the mean growth rate of U.S. consumption, investment, and output.

A novel approach for measuring regional economic performance is presented. The method, called combined econometric input-output modeling, is a combination of input-output analysis and time-serial analysis. It allows the simultaneous examination of economic sectors and their long-term time-series interrelationships with the economic interactions between the region and the nation. The approach produces accurate and consistent business rankings for enhanced economic policy analysis.

The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) has a bias of 1.5 percent which overstates changes in the cost of living . The Senate Finance Committee investigated the matter in 1995 and estimated that the CPI has a projected bias of 1 percent per year for the future. A bias of this magnitude affects the assessment of the growth of the economy and the well being of its members. The results may be altered by changes in the demographic and economic conditions. The problems of price data measurement provides opportunities for further research.

Thirty-nine economic development factors were analyzed using a multivariate analysis technique to establish an accurate measure of development. The results of the analysis were tested on economic data gathered between 1970 and 1990 from Asian and Latin American countries. The results showed that conventional measures of development such as GDP and GNP per capita do not accurately show the development of a country. Other factors such as social climate, literacy, health care and political stability also contribute to enhance economic development.