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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Otávio J. G. Sidone; Eduardo A. Haddad, Jesús P. Mena-Chalco |
| Abstract: | Brazilian scholarly outputs have had rapid growth that was accompanied by an expansion of domestic research collaboration. In this paper, we identify spatial patterns of research collaboration in Brazil, as well as measure the role of geographical proximity in determining the interaction among Brazilian researchers. Using a database comprised of over one million researchers and seven million publications registered in the Brazilian Lattes Platform, we collect and consolidate information on inter-regional research collaboration in terms of scientific co-authorship networks among 4,615 municipalities over the period between 1992 and 2009, which enabled a range of data analysis unprecedented in literature. The effects of geographical distance on collaboration are measured for different knowledge areas under the estimation of spatial interaction models. The main results suggest strong evidence of geographical deconcentration of collaboration in recent years with an increased participation of authors in scientifically less traditional regions, such as South and Northeast Brazil. Additionally, the distance still is significant in determining the intensity of knowledge flows in scientific collaboration networks in Brazil since the increase of 100 kilometers between two researchers implies the average reduction on 16% of the probability of collaboration and there is no evidence that its effect has diminished over time, although the magnitude of such effects varies among networks of different knowledge áreas. |
| Keywords: | Scientific collaboration; spatial analysis; spatial interaction models; diffusion process |
| JEL: | O33 C21 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon30&r=geo |
| By: | Gertrudes Saúde Guerreiro (Department of Economics, CEFAGE-UE, University of Évora, Portugal); António Bento Caleiro (Department of Economics, CEFAGE-UE, University of Évora, Portugal) |
| Abstract: | Human resources are an essential element in territorial development. When these are characterized by a high level of training, they also enhance a number of effects in fundamental areas of binomial territorial-social cohesion. In this respect, the existence of higher education institutions throughout the territory allows the spread of human resources’ qualification but, by itself, does not guarantee the retention of these resources in different regions. Thus, the objective of this paper is to undertake a spatial analysis of convergence of knowledge through studying the evolution of the percentage of population with higher education in the periods elapsed between the last three censuses in Portugal. Although that percentage has risen appreciably, the convergence is shown to be (very) insignificant. |
| Keywords: | Census; Convergence Analysis; Higher Education; Spatial Econometrics. |
| JEL: | C23 I23 O15 R12 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2015_08&r=geo |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (University of Warwick); Klein, Alexander (University of Kent) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of industrial structure in labor productivity growth in U.S. cities between 1880 and 1930 using a new dataset constructed from the Census of Manufactures. We find that increases in specialization were associated with faster productivity growth but that diversity only had positive effects on productivity performance in large cities. We interpret our results as providing strong support for the importance of Marshallian externalities. Industrial specialization increased considerably in U.S. cities in the early 20th century, probably as a result of improved transportation, and we estimate that this resulted in significant gains in labor productivity. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies ; Jacobian externalities ; manufacturing productivity ; Marshallian externalities ; industrial structure JEL Classification: N91 ; N92 ; O7 ; R32 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:235&r=geo |
| By: | Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi; Eduardo A. Haddad, Peter Nijkamp |
| Abstract: | The tendency towards urbanization in the emerging world accompanied by the constant pursuit for higher productivity prompts an urge for studies aiming at understanding agglomeration economies. In the context of Brazil, a country with extremely high regional disparities, exploring this issue is important not only for private stakeholders, but also for public policy practitioners. In the framework of static agglomeration effects, we investigate the industrial scope of agglomeration economies in Brazil. On the basis of identified registration data covering the whole formal labor market in three distinct years (2004, 2008 and 2012), we estimate separate models for the logarithm of the hourly individual wage for five broad economic sectors (S1 – Manufacturing low-tech, S2 – Manufacturing medium-tech, S3 – Manufacturing high-tech, S4 – Services less-knowledge, and S5 – Services high-knowledge). Different estimation strategies are considered in a two-stage mode: with and without individual fixed effects in the first stage, and with and without instrumental variables for population density in the second stage. The main results indicate that there is not a unique optimal local industrial mix to foster productivity in different technological sectors. Comparing possible theoretical approaches (MAR, Jacobs, Porter) related to combinations of diversity, specialization and competition, we find that for S5 only diversity is significant (and positive), suggesting that a Jacobs’ perspective is rather adequate. For S1, S2 and S4, the MAR framework seems more adequate to explain the underlying patterns. In the case of S3, there are elements from both Marshall’s and Jacobs’ perspectives. These results seem to be robust to different specifications and estimation strategies. Finally, the urbanization economies coefficient appears to be positive and significant for all sectors, ranging from 0.0511 to 0.0940 in different specifications, under the simplest estimation (OLS in the first and the second stages). Ordering these effects between the sectors from the highest to the lowest, we find the following sequence: S3, S1, S5, S4 and S2. This can be considered as evidence that high-tech and low-tech manufacturing sectors benefit more from the urban or metropolitan scale in Brazil, followed by services associated with higher knowledge intensity. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration economies; urban scale; productivity |
| JEL: | J31 R32 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2015wpecon13&r=geo |
| By: | Abigail Cooke; Thomas Kemeny |
| Abstract: | Using comprehensive longitudinal matched employer-employee data for the U.S.,this paper provides new evidence on the relationship between productivity and immigration-spawned urban diversity. Existing empirical work has uncovered a robust positive correlation between productivity and immigrant diversity, supporting theory suggesting that diversity acts as a local public good that makes workers more productive by enlarging the pool of knowledge available to them, as well as by fostering opportunities for them to recombine ideas to generate novelty. This paper makes several empirical and conceptual contributions. First, it improves on existing empirical work by addressing various sources of potential bias, especially from unobserved heterogeneity among individuals, work establishments, and cities. Second, it augments identification by using longitudinal data that permits examination of how diversity and productivity co-move. Third, the paper seeks to reveal whether diversity acts upon productivity chiefly at the scale of the city or the workplace. Findings confirm that urban immigrant diversity produces positive and nontrivial spillovers for U.S. workers. This social return represents a distinct channel through which immigration generates broad-based economic benefits. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants, diversity, productivity, spillovers, cities |
| JEL: | O4 R0 O18 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:sercd0175&r=geo |
| By: | Junhua Li; Wenli Cheng |
| Abstract: | Income differences across countries are jointly determined by many factors. Population size and per capita resource endowments are two important natural characteristics of countries. A large population size means that the country can produce more product varieties, achieve a higher degree of division of labor and enjoy relatively more local knowledge spillover. Another significant source of the large country advantage is savings in international transaction costs. When international transaction costs are high, a large country still has a large domestic market, and therefore can have a higher per capita income than a small country. However, many factors can conspire to erode the large country advantage and as a result, a large country may not have a higher per capital income than a small country. These compromising factors include: trade openness, excessive population density and its resultant falling per capita resources, underdeveloped domestic market and high domestic transaction costs, an economic structure that excessively relies on land and natural resources, and low technology levels. |
| Keywords: | Cross-Country Income Differences, Large Country Advantage, Economies of Specialisation, Trade Openness |
| JEL: | N10 F12 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2015-17&r=geo |
| By: | Eduardo A. Haddad; Jesús P. Mena-Chalco, Otavio J. G. Sidone |
| Abstract: | The Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2014. That was 25 years to the day since Philip Israilevich and Geoffrey JD Hewings started a cooperative venture between the Federal Reserve Bank at Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Since then, REAL has become one of the leading research centers of regional science worldwide. In this paper, we describe the scholarly network involving REAL’s alumni working in academia in Brazil. We analyze the patterns of research collaboration among around 50 Brazilian researchers whose main activities are related to academic institutions in Brazil. The Brazilian REAL Network has shown to be an interesting case study that reflects the pattern of evolving collaboration networks in scientifically emerging economies. The expansion of the REAL scientific collaboration network in Brazil arises as a relevant mechanism for both the qualitative leap of national scientific production in regional science and for the dissemination of knowledge in peripheral regions of the country. Conducted by the leadership of Geoffrey JD Hewings, it has helped to further develop regional science in the country. We also present some of the developments in areas of research in regional science of particular interest to Brazil and other developing countries, taking stock of some of the network’s contributions to the field. |
| Keywords: | Regional science history; social networks in regional science; scholarly collaboration; regional science in developing countries; Geoffrey JD Hewings |
| JEL: | O33 C21 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2015wpecon12&r=geo |
| By: | Eduardo A. Haddad; Michael Lahr, Dina N. Elshahawany, Moises Vassallo |
| Abstract: | We develop an interregional computable general equilibrium model to help assess the ex ante impact of transportation infrastructure policies in Egypt. The model is integrated with a GIS network. We illustrate the analytical capabilities of the model by looking at the domestic integration of the country. Improvements of transportation costs among Egyptian governorates and of their links to the broader world economy are considered in stylized simulations. The results provide quantitative and qualitative insights (general equilibrium effects) into trade-offs commonly faced by policy makers when dealing with transportation infrastructure projects in a spatial context. In the case of Egypt, there seems to be an important trade-off between efficiency and regional equity: projects that produce potential higher impacts on national GDP also tend to contribute more to regional concentration. |
| Keywords: | Transportation cost; infrastructure; regional analysis; spatial general equilibrium. |
| JEL: | R11 R13 R4 |
| Date: | 2015–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2015wpecon10&r=geo |
| By: | Jill Wright; Ma. Rebecca Valenzuela; Duangkamon Chotikapanich |
| Abstract: | Using census data, we analyse inequality and poverty levels for the coal-rich region of Latrobe Valley between 1986 and 2006, a period incorporating industry restructuring, recession and subsequent growth. To enable the analysis using limited information, we propose a method for using grouped data to obtain income distributions for small areas. Unit record data are used to validate the methodology. We find that welfare in the Valley deteriorated between 1986 and 1996, in line with national and regional trends. However, between 1996 and 2006, when the economy grew strongly and many regions started to prosper again, welfare in the Valley continued to deteriorate. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, inequality, restructure, privatization, small-area income distribution |
| JEL: | D31 D63 R13 I32 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2015-19&r=geo |