In advanced economies, the ultimate engine of growth is human capital-intensive labor. It is true that investments in physical capital and infrastructure are also important. For the North West, the Tav will facilitate the movement of people and international connections. These flows and networks – in turn – will generate development. Investments in physical capital, however, are subject to diminishing returns and productivity tends to decline while investing.
Investments in applied research – vice versa – generate ideas and projects that can be replicated on a large scale with almost zero costs. Obviously, to ensure that private individuals invest in this type of activity, they must be guaranteed a form of protection over their discoveries. Looking at an economic system from this point of view, we understand that “counting” and following the patents created by our territories means understanding how much we feed the ultimate engine of growth.
Also for the patents created, the North West is the brightest area of the country, with Lombardy largely in the lead. But we know that much more should be done. We already possess some essential elements for the growth of patents. The dozens of universities in the area, some of absolute prestige, are an excellent starting point.
However, in order for our regions to make a further qualitative and quantitative leap, the link between universities and the business world needs to be improved. First of all, we must understand that patents are almost always created by graduates in more technical disciplines, such as engineering, biotechnology and medical sciences. Encouraging young graduates towards these subjects will never hinder development. The role of business and idea incubators will then have to be strengthened. Although we have already created dozens of start-up incubators led by young graduates, most of our facilities are small and not very networked. Financing these activities is the other key factor. Saving is one of the comparative advantages of our territory. But we need to facilitate its transition towards financing high-human capital activities. Our cities are full of buildings undergoing renovation.
This is happening thanks to the various building bonuses generously given over the years. For Italian politics, unfortunately, the priority in recent years has not been the investment in human capital.