The regional significance of university locations in Lower Saxony

• Main Author: Stöver Britta
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: oekom verlag GmbH 2020-05-01
• Series: Raumforschung und Raumordnung
• Subjects: demand- and supply-side effects; multiplier analysis; spatial panel model; university locations; lower saxony; angebots- und nachfrageseitige effekte; multiplikatoranalyse; räumlich-ökonometrisches modell; hochschulstandorte; niedersachsen
• Online Access: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/rara.2020.78.issue-4/rara-2020-0014/rara-2020-0014.xml?format=INT

Universities are important economic actors and make a considerable impact on the demand and supply side of their local economies. The aim of this paper is to quantify, compare and classify the different economic demand-and supply-side contributions of the university locations within Lower Saxony (Germany) using a combination of multiplier analysis and spatial econometrics on a NUTS 3 level. In comparison to numerous other studies, this paper does not focus on the economic impact of individual cases or a selected university location but gives a complete picture of the importance and significance of all university locations within Lower Saxony. The income-induced direct and indirect demand effects are estimated using a rich data set of higher education statistics in combination with an income and employment multiplier derived from a regional input-output table. The supply-side effects, i.e. the impact of the education and research outcomes, are estimated with the help of spatial panel regressions, a model derived from human capital theory and knowledge spillover theory. The estimation results give a complete and reproducible impression of the importance and significance of the different university locations, offering the opportunity for comparisons and classifications.