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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2016‒04‒09
thirteen papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Inoue, Hiroyasu; Nakajima, Kentaro; Saito, Yukiko Umeno |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the localization of establishment-level knowledge creation using data from a Japanese patent database. Using distance-based methods, we obtain the following results. First, Japanese patent-creating establishments are significantly localized at the 5% level, with a localization range of approximately 80 km. Second, localization is observed for all patent technology classes, and the extent of localization has a positive relationship with the level of technology measured by R&D investment. Finally, the extent of localization is stronger for establishments that are more productive in terms of both the number of patents and the number of citations received, i.e., quantitatively and qualitatively. These results indicate that geographical proximity is important for knowledge spillover, particularly for knowledge-demanding establishments. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge spillover, Agglomeration, Micro-geographic data |
| JEL: | R11 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:remfce:47&r=geo |
| By: | Dalvai, Wilfried |
| Abstract: | Worldwide trade flows are dominated by high-productivity firms, that have a large range of products. Since the product range of firms reflects partly trade flows, it is a source of economic differences in space. In this paper, I analyze the effects of the product mix of firms on agglomeration. I build a theoretical model of multiproduct firms à la Mayer, Melitz, and Ottaviano (2014, AER), expand it with skilled, mobile workers and a spatial equilibrium. I show that a larger product mix of firms in a region favours dispersion. The product mix influences the indirect utility through two channels, the wage and consumer surplus. A larger product mix decreases the wage differential between the two regions through a more competitive environment and thus strengthening the dispersion force. More competition means less profits and therefore a lower wage for skilled workers. On the other hand a more competitive environment means a higher consumer surplus which diminishes agglomeration forces. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration,Heterogenous Firms,Product Mix,Migration |
| JEL: | L11 F12 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:roswps:145&r=geo |
| By: | Tavassoli, Sam (CIRCLE, Lund University); Bengtsson, Lars (Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Management and Logistics, Lund University); Karlsson, Charlie (Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), KTH, Stockholm; Jönköping International Business School & Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | The literature in the Strategic Entrepreneurship (SE) is increasingly embracing the concept and implication of knowledge spillovers. In this paper, we add to the theoretical literature on SE and knowledge spillovers by investigating the types of knowledge spillovers and what they imply for various dimensions of SE. On the one hand, we distinguish between spatial and aspatial knowledge spillovers. On the other hand, we distinguish between various dimensions of SE, i.e. inputs, resource orchestration, and output. Finally, we conceptually link the various types of knowledge spillovers and dimensions of SE and discuss the implications. Doing so, we argue that spatial knowledge spillovers (inter-firm) play the major role in increasing the amount of ‘inputs’ dimension of SE, while the aspatial knowledge (either inter-regional or intra-firm) play the major role not only for ‘inputs’, but also for ‘rresource orchestration’ dimension. At the end, the paper provides suggestions for future research and managerial implications. |
| Keywords: | Strategic entrepreneurship; knowledge spillovers; spatial; aspatial |
| JEL: | L26 O31 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2016_008&r=geo |
| By: | Ahlin, Lina (CIRCLE & Department of Economics, Lund University); Andersson, Martin (Department of Industrial Economics, Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Karlskrona & CIRCLE, Lund University); Thulin, Per (Department of Industrial Economics and Management, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm & Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum, Stockholm) |
| Abstract: | Sorting of high-ability workers is a main source of urban-rural disparities in economic outcomes. Less is known about when such human capital sorting occurs and who it involves. Using data on 15 cohorts of university graduates in Sweden, we demonstrate significant sorting to urban regions on high school grades and education levels of parents, i.e. two attributes typically associated with latent abilities that are valued in the labor market. A large part of this sorting occurs already in the decision of where to study, because top universities are predominantly located in urban regions. Estimates from a selection model show that even after controlling for sorting prior to labor market entry, the ‘best and brightest’ are still more likely to start working in urban regions, and are also more likely to remain there over long time periods. We conclude that a) urban regions are true magnets for high-ability graduates, and that b) studies of human capital sorting need to account for selection processes to and from universities, because neglecting mobility prior to labor market entry is likely to lead to underestimation of the extent of sorting to urban regions. |
| Keywords: | human capital; university graduates; spatial sorting; migration; labor mobility; ability; geography of talent; spatial selection |
| JEL: | I23 J24 J61 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2016_010&r=geo |
| By: | Giorgio Prodi (Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, Italy.); Federico Frattini (Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, Italy.); Francesco Nicolli (IRCrES-CNR, Milano, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the connections between long-term development and Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) in China. It aims to investigate how the evolution of RIS fits with China’s overall process of economic upgrading. The analysis relies on Chinese patent applications filed to the EPO during the period 1981 to 2009, which authors have regionalised at a prefectural level. Conceptu-ally, the investigation concerns the relative prevalence of indexes derived from inventors’ and ap-plicants’ localisation to describe local innovation activities in terms of emergence, development and reinforcement. The hypothesis ranks higher those prefectures where indigenous applicants prevail, that is, the initiative, organisation and exploitation of innovation activities are foremost local (or endogenous). Results return the possibility of grouping Chinese prefectures into six clusters. On this basis, RIS features appear to diffuse, even while regional concentration of innovation activities is still increasing. This pattern is deemed to fit the process of industrial development in China very well. As it was in the past, RIS benefit from the opportunities that a long-term development strategy provides, but face its limits as well. |
| Keywords: | China; development; endogeneity; patent; reform; Regional Innovation System |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0316&r=geo |
| By: | Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy (University of Auckland); Arthur Grimes (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Mark Holmes (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | We test whether a single housing market exists across sixteen cities covering two countries, Australia and New Zealand. Distances between these cities are vastly greater than commuting distances. We define a single housing market as one in which a single stochastic trend describes the long run path of real house prices in all cities. A strong form single housing market occurs when an innovation to the stochastic trend affects house prices across all cities multiplicatively to an equal degree. A weak form occurs when an innovation to the stochastic trend affects house prices in all cities, but not to an equal degree. We find that the sixteen housing markets are characterised by a weak form single housing market. The dynamic structure of adjustment reveals three groups of cities. House price shocks are first reflected in the price dynamics of a leading group of Australian cities (including Melbourne and Sydney), then flow to a group of follower cities comprising peripheral Australian and major New Zealand cities, and then to a group of laggard cities within New Zealand. Our theoretical model demonstrates how a weak form single housing market may arise due to differences between cities in house price responses to land prices, migration responses to house prices and/or land price responses to migration flows. |
| Keywords: | House prices; convergence; single housing market; Australia; New Zealand |
| JEL: | R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:16_04&r=geo |
| By: | Dilli, Selin (Economic and Social History); Elert, Niklas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Although institutional reforms are necessary to increase rates of entrepreneurship in European countries, we argue that one-size-fits-all reform strategies are unlikely to be successful. Reform strategies must be informed by a better knowledge of the varieties of European capitalism and the institutional complementarities that drive these differences. We investigate these issues by gathering a number of potentially relevant entrepreneurial regime measurements as well as indicators of formal and informal institutions based on data available from the 2000s onward. We employ principal component analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis to examine how 21 European countries and the United States cluster in the entrepreneurial and institutional dimensions. Our results reveal six country clusters, or entrepreneurial regimes, with a distinct bundle of entrepreneurial characteristics and institutional attributes. The main implication is that different reform strategies are appropriate to promote entrepreneurship and economic growth in European countries in different clusters. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Institutions; Regulation |
| JEL: | L50 M13 O31 P14 |
| Date: | 2016–03–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1118&r=geo |
| By: | Micheli, Martin |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the causal effect of public debt on real estate prices and rental prices. We identify shocks to investment credits of self-governed cities in Germany and control for potential benefits such as an increased supply of public goods, which might come in hand with increased indebtedness. Using spatial variation across self-governed cities allows us to estimate this effect. We find that shocks to public debt have a significant negative effect on apartment prices. Rental prices, on the other hand, do not seem to be affected by public debt. Tenants care more about the current and less about the future tax burden. |
| Abstract: | In diesem Papier untersuchen wir den kausalen Effekt öffentlicher Verschuldung auf Immobilienpreise. Hierfür identifizieren wir zuerst Schocks der Investitionskreditposition kreisfreier Städte. Um für potenziell positive Effekte, welche mit einem Anstieg der öffentlichen Verschuldung einhergehen können, zu kontrollieren, nutzen wir den Standort der beobachteten Immobilien. Wir finden einen signifikant negativen Effekt öffentlicher Verschuldung auf Wohnungspreise. Für Wohnungsmieten finden wir keinen signifikanten Einfluss der Verschuldung. Mieten scheinen mehr von der aktuellen als von der zukünftigen Steuerbelastung abzuhängen. |
| Keywords: | real estate prices,local government debt |
| JEL: | R30 R51 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:605&r=geo |
| By: | Rebecca Williams (Reserve Bank of New Zealand); Les Oxley (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | At the turn of the twentieth century, New Zealand was one of the wealthiest nations in the world on a per capita basis. We examine the role of innovation in explaining New Zealand’s economic performance. Using a new dataset on patent applications for the period 1880-1895, we consider whether the geographical concentration of innovative activity influenced economic activity. We find relationships between agricultural and pastoral output indices and inventiveness and between different regions and related industries. The results, however, are relatively weak. We conclude that tests of agglomeration effects in New Zealand during this period deserve further attention. |
| Keywords: | inventiveness; agglomeration; patents; knowledge spill-overs; New Zealand |
| JEL: | O3 N7 N1 |
| Date: | 2016–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:16/03&r=geo |
| By: | Gustafsson, Björn Anders (University of Gothenburg); Katz, Katarina (Karlstad University); Österberg, Torun (University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate to what degree young adults live in neighbourhoods that are similar, in terms of relative average household income, to the neighbourhoods in which they grew up. We use regression analysis on register data for all individuals who were born in 1974 and lived in metropolitan Sweden in both 1990 and 2006. During this period, the distribution of income in Sweden became far more unequal, unemployment rose dramatically, earlier housing policies were dismantled, the share of "visible minorities" increased dramatically and residential segregation increased very considerably. We find a correlation between average neighbourhood incomes at these two points in the sample's life cycle of 0.44, which is more than three times as high as the household income correlation. We find that half of the children of "visible minorities" grew up in the poorer quartile of neighbourhoods, and of these almost two-thirds remained in the poorest quartile of neighbourhoods as adults. Several measures indicate that intergenerational persistency in context is lower in metropolitan Sweden than was found in a similar study in the United States. However, it appears, that if visible minority individuals lived in a neighbourhood in the lowest part of the distribution in Sweden as a child, the probability that they will do so also as adults is as high as the corresponding probability for a African-American person in the US. |
| Keywords: | Sweden, residential segregation, immigrants, intergenerational persistence |
| JEL: | J15 J62 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9837&r=geo |
| By: | Or Levkovich (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Jan Rouwendal (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we provide evidence of segmentation of the Dutch land markets by spatial planning into three compartments referring to agricultural, industrial and residential use. We analyze transactions of ready-to-be developed land provided by the Dutch Land Register (Kadaster) and find that residential land is much more expensive than industrial land. We also compare the prices observed in these transactions with prices for agricultural land in the vicinity and find that agricultural land is much cheaper than residential and industrial land. |
| Keywords: | land use policy; spatial planning; land prices |
| JEL: | R52 R21 R33 |
| Date: | 2016–03–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20160018&r=geo |
| By: | William Gbohoui (Sans nom); François Vaillancourt |
| Abstract: | To understand the role of subnational tax policies in explaining regional growth, we present stylized facts on U.S. state income and state-level tax policies. We use real Gross State Products (GSP) as the indicator of economic performance in contrast to the existing literature, which relies on Personal Income. The results reveal an increase in per capita income disparities, and time - persistent differences in human capital and physical capital between U.S. states. In addition, we find that subnational tax policies vary widely between states. Using augmented Barro regressions, we show that educational attainment, and state-level tax policies are the key determinants in explaining the differences between state-level economic growth. More precisely, higher corporate income or general sales taxes significantly retard economic growth, while human capital positively impacts state-level growth. |
| Keywords: | Regional growth, state and local taxation, |
| JEL: | H71 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–03–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2016s-13&r=geo |
| By: | Lucas Resende de Carvalho (Cedeplar-UFMG); Admir Antonio Betarelli Junior (UFJF); Pedro Vasconcelos Maia do Amaral (Cedeplar-UFMG); Edson Paulo Domingues (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this technical work is to describe a simple procedure to calculate the distances between the 5565 municipal districts in Brazil. Two types of distance matrices were computed: i) one from the shortest path problem on the multimodal transport network in 2010; ii) another, Euclidean, by geographic coordinates. These matrices, 5565 x 5565, provide relevant information that may potentially be used to develop future academic studies and applied models (eg, degrees of accessibility for several economic activities, regional agglomerations, developing of computable general equilibrium model, among others). Therefore, the main purpose of the development of these matrices is to build a database that can be used by applied studies. |
| Keywords: | Distance matrices; mathematical programming; TransCAD. |
| JEL: | R15 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td532&r=geo |