Curriculum Vitae - Beatrice Weder di Mauro

Curriculum Vitae
Daniela Strube
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz London School of Economics
Jakob-Welder-Weg 4
Houghton Street
55128 Mainz, Germany WC2A 2AE London, United Kingdom
Phone: + 49.6131.3920126 Phone: + 44.77.43180984
Email Mainz: strube@uni-mainz.de
Email LSE: d.strube@lse.ac.uk
Doctoral Education
2013 (3 months) Visiting doctoral researcher, Australian National University (invited by Professor
Martin Richardson)
2012 (9 months) Visiting doctoral researcher, London School of Economics (invited by Professor
Andrés Rodríguez-Pose), invitation for 12 months
2012 (3 months) Visiting Doctoral Researcher, University of Auckland (invited by Professor Sholeh
Maani)
2010 – 2013 Doctoral Studies in Economics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Thesis Title: Essays on Economic Development and Innovation
Thesis Committee:
Professor Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Professor Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, London School of Economics
Previous Education
2008 – 2009 M.A. European Economic Studies, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium
Thesis: The Productivity Growth Impact of University-Industry Collaborations
Supervisor: Professor Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, London School of Economics
2007 Academic exchange, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mexico
2004 – 2008 B.Sc. International Business Economics, University of Maastricht, Netherlands
Research Interests
Primary
Secondary
International Economics, Development Economics
Macroeconomics, in particular Growth Theory, and Econometrics, in particular
Spatial Econometrics

Presentations at Academic Conferences
03/2013 Australasian Macroeconomics Workshop (AMW), Canberra
03/2013 Australasian Trade Workshop (ATW), Melbourne
09/2012 Annual Conference of the European Trade Study Group (ETSG), Leuven
08/2012 Annual Conference of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA), Bratislava
11/2011 Annual Conference of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC),
Miami
06/2011 Third Global Conference on Economic Geography, Seoul
04/2011 Annual Conference of the Regional Studies Association, Newcastle
Presentations in Seminars and Workshops
01/2013 University of Cambridge
11/2012 London School of Economics
03/2012 University of Auckland
03/2012 Auckland University of Technology
05/2011 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Other Conferences and Summer Schools
2011 Competition and Innovation Summer School, ZEW Mannheim and K.U. Leuven,
Turunc, Turkey
2011 International Autumn School in Spatial Econometrics, Toledo
2010 Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection
Course: Spatial Econometrics
2005, 2006, 2007 St. Gallen Symposium
Invitation based on the international ”Wings of Excellence” essay competition
2006 Business Today International Conference, New York City
Invitation based on the International ”Business Today” essay competition
2005 Eurotop for Top Students student conference, Maastricht
2005 South American Business Forum, Buenos Aires
Invitation based on the international essay competition of the Instituto Tecnológico
de Buenos Aires

Awards and Scholarships
2011 – 2013 German National Academic Foundation PhD Scholarship
2011 – 2013 Travel awards by the German National Academic Foundation, the German Academic
Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Regional Studies Association for conference,
study and research travel to Australia, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain,
the United Kingdom and the United States
2011 Finalist in the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) Graduate Student
Paper Award
2009 Top of M.A. class of the Economics Department, College of Europe
2008 – 2009 College of Europe Scholarship, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
2008 – 2009 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Graduate Scholarship
2006 – 2009 German National Academic Foundation Merit Scholarship
2004 Valedictorian (higher education entrance exam, Abitur)
2002 and 2000 Research award in the History Competition of the Federal President of Germany
Work in Progress
2013 Technological Convergence and Space
Abstract
Over the last two decades, the convergence literature has increasingly dismissed convergence
as a universal outcome in favour of convergence clubs and multiple regimes of
growth that are explained by differences in innovation performance. In this paper, we
present a theory of convergence that does not only consider the technology distance, but
also the spatial distance to leading innovators. Technology distance and spatial distance
are opposite forces. A large technology distance facilitates innovation by reaping the ”lowhanging
fruit” of less costly, but effective innovations while a large spatial distance from
the frontier makes successful innovation more difficult to achieve because of the absense
of non-pecuniary externalities from leading innovators in the area. We propose a quality
ladders model in continuous space where both convergence dynamics and firm location are
endogenous. Factors of production are mobile and land markets are explicitly modelled.
We find that returns to innovation and innovation costs at both extreme end of the scale
(very low or low high) lead to suboptimal decision by market participants and only the
right balance in the conditions for innovation will facilitate technology upgrading. Moreover,
optimal conditions are not universal, but vary for different locations in an economy.
Locational disadvantages may be so severe for some regions that they may find themselves
caught in a low-growth trap such that they are not able to benefit from their advantage of
backwardness in technology terms. Similarly to the role of critical technology thresholds
that has been described in the literature, we also find threshold effects in the impact
of geographical distance on technological convergence. The assumptions underlying our
theory are supported by original empirical evidence using an endogenous sample splitting
approach for identifying interaction effects and nonlinearities in the impact of location on
innovation and technological convergence.
JEL Codes: O31, O33, O41, R12, R13

2013 Threshold externalities and innovation
Abstract
While the instrumental role of human capital in generating innovation is widely acknowledged,
relatively little attention has been paid to modelling the mechanism of how human
capital indirectly stimulates innovation by improving the productivity of other R&D inputs.
This indirect function of human capital has been formally introduced by Azariadis
and Drazen (1990). Moreover, they suggest that indirect human capital effects may cause
threshold externalities on the productivity of technology. Azariadis and Drazen (1990),
however, assume technology to be exogenous and they fail to provide causal empirical
evidence for such threshold externalities. In this paper, we extend endogenous growth
theory such that it allows for these threshold externalities to occur. Moreover, we provide
empirical evidence regarding the existence and the role of these threshold externalities.
In order to achieve identification, we propose an estimator that performs endogenous
sample splitting and is consistent for cross-section dependence. With the help of the suggested
model and estimation strategy, we are able to empirically demonstrate the causal
relevance of threshold externalities from human capital on innovation controlling for the
direct impact of human capital. Traditional models that do not account for these indirect
threshold effects of human capital may mask the lack of significance of standard innovation
drivers such as R&D investment and technology spillovers in lagging areas and may,
thus, lead to inadequate policy conclusions. The results suggest consequences for the
economic viability of R&D in lagging countries and regions and for the optimal design of
innovation and development policies for these areas.
JEL Codes: C21, C24, C26, O15, O33, R12
Teaching
2010 and 2011 Bachelor Thesis Seminar ”Economic Growth and Development”
2011 Academic Writing and Presentation Skills
Supervision (with field(s) of thesis)
Graduate
Jochen Alt (Macroeconomics, Monetary Policy)
Alexander Bauer (Economics of Education) – in English)
Fadili Cakmak (Business Economics, Industrial Organisation)
David Franzreb (Environmental Economics, Development Economics) – in English
Heiko Freier (Trade)
Andrea Hauzu (Industrial Organsation, Economics of Innovation)
Sabine Holubarsch (Macroeconomics, Fiscal Policy)
Erik Kollias (Regional and Urban Economics)
Benjamin Mayer (Development Economics, Economics of Conflict)
Jutta Ohrnberger (Health Economics)
Michaela Pfeifer (Environmental Economics)
Valeriy Stetyukha (Labour Economics)
Undergraduate
Veronika Cazacu (Labour Economics, Growth Theory) – in English
Boris Daniels (Regional and Urban Economics) – in English
Michael Goldberg (Agricultural Economics)
Andre Hassinger (Regional and Urban Economics) – in English
Jelka Hollmann-Rosner (Environmental Economics) – in English

Daniel Kuehnhenrich (Environmental Economics, Development Economics) – in
English
Caroline Tullius (Envionmental Economics)
Simon Zundl (Envionmental Economics) – in English
Professional Experience
2010 – 2012 Research and Teaching Assistant to Professor Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Johannes
Gutenberg University Mainz
2009 Internship with the European Commission, Brussels
Unit: Economic and Statistical Analysis; Directorate-General: Information Society
and Media
2008 Internship with the GTZ and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation
and Development, Berlin
Unit: Relations to the World Bank; Sector Project: Development Economics
2006 Research Assistant to Professor Sven Reinecke, University of St. Gallen
2006 Research Internship with the University of St. Gallen
Language Skills
German
English
Spanish
Frnech
Native
Fluent
Intermediate
Intermediate
Personal
Citizenship: Germany