Essays in Economics and Innovation

This dissertation proposes empirical contributions to various fields of economic literature including value chains and international trade, innovation, technical change and firms financing. The first chapter investigates the role played by trade relations in the propagation of the economic shock induced by the spread of COVID-19 on regions of four large euro area countries. In the second chapter is disclosed a new efficient procedure to form technologically homogeneous classes of innovation designed to ease the study of innovation and technical change with available data. The third chapter studies innovation financing, or lack thereof, as uncovered by economic theory in light of asymmetric information. Relying on identification of innovative activities within a sample of firms patenting digital technologies we don't find evidence of external finance shortage for most innovative projects. Despite credit constraints, those rather allows raising funds to the contrary of the firm entrance in new technology domains.