Regional human capital and university orientation: A case study on Spain

[EN] This paper explores the relationship between regional human capital (HC) and the processes of knowledge creation and mobilisation due to higher education institutions. Although the nexus between these dimensions emerges frequently in both scholarly and policy discourses, to date no study has explicitly investigated how their connection works. Using occupations as a proxy for the skill content of jobs, we analyse individual (gender, schooling and age) and regional (university orientation) factors that influenced the HC employment structure in Spanish regions in the period 2003 2010. The main finding is that the teaching aspect of a university s mission is a robust predictor of high-skill employment, while the impact of engagement (research and knowledge transfer) activities is more sensitive to the structural characteristics of the regional socio-economic context.We acknowledge the constructive comments of two anonymous referees. MSB started research activities for this article at the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management, Ingenio (CSIC-UPV) Universitat Politecnica de Valencia with the financial support of the Formacion de Profesorado Universitario (F.P.U.) programme of the Spanish Ministry of Education. DC acknowledges the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (RYC-2011-07888). DC would also like to thank Antonia Diaz, Maria Paz Espinosa and Sjaak Hurkens for setting an example of professional ethics. The views expressed here are those of the authors and in no circumstance should be regarded as representing the official position of the European Commission.Sánchez-Barrioluengo, M.; Consoli, D. (2016). Regional human capital and university orientation: A case study on Spain. Science and Public Policy. 43(6):798-811. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scw032S79881143