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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2021‒11‒15
eleven papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Michele Costa; Flavio Delbono |
| Abstract: | We investigate the economic resilience of the Italian regions between 2008 and 2019. We then calculate some indices of resistance as well as recovery for both real GDP per capita and employment. We show that during (and after) recessions such indices follow different patterns and the Southern regions perform worse than the rest of the country. Then we try to detect if and how the composition of employment relates to regional resilience. We show that the size of the cooperative employment improves the overall resilience of regional employment, especially during recoveries. We also show and explain that this is not the case with cooperative added value as related to the resilience of regional GDP. Overall, the cooperative movement seems to positively contribute to the resilience of regional economies, supporting an inclusive growth especially through the employment channel. |
| JEL: | E32 J54 L21 R11 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1166&r= |
| By: | Richard Bluhm; Christian Lessmann; Paul Schaudt |
| Abstract: | We study the link between subnational capital cities and urban development using a global data set of hundreds of first-order administrative and capital city reforms from 1987 until 2018. We show that gaining subnational capital status has a sizable effect on city growth in the medium run. We provide new evidence that the effect of these reforms depends on locational fundamentals, such as market access, and that the effect is greater in countries where urbanization and industrialization occurred later. Consistent with both an influx of public investments and a private response of individuals and firms, we document that urban built-up, population, foreign aid, infrastructure, and foreign direct investment in several sectors increase once cities become subnational capitals. |
| Keywords: | capital cities, administrative reforms, economic geography, urban primacy |
| JEL: | H10 R11 R12 O10 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9376&r= |
| By: | Ron Boschma; ; |
| Abstract: | The research agendas of Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) and Global Value Chains (GVC) have developed more or less independently from each other, with little interaction so far. This is unfortunate because both streams of literature have a lot to offer to each other. This paper explores how, looking at four strands in the GVC literature. Promising crossovers between EEG and the GVC literature are identified but also some missing links that need to be taken up in future research. These new research avenues, promoting the adoption of an evolutionary perspective on GVCs, are expected to enrich both literatures in mutual ways. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary Economic Geography, Global Value Chains, Global Production Networks, Global Innovation Systems, regional diversification, relatedness |
| JEL: | B52 F23 O19 O33 R10 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2134&r= |
| By: | Chu, Shuai; Wu, Mengfei |
| Abstract: | The fundamental purpose of university geographic clustering is to gather resources through "agglomeration" to improve the performance of higher education and scientific research. However, it has been debated whether university clusters can achieve the latter goal. With the help of the “quasi-experiment” of Chinese "University Towns" project in the 1990s, this study determines the impact of university clusters on scientific research performance. Panel data of 2000 colleges and universities from 1993 to 2017 in the compilation of scientific and technical statistics of Chinese higher education and time-varying difference in differences method are used. The results show that the cluster of colleges and universities have a significant negative impact on the scientific research performance due to technological dis-proximity and rising commuting costs. And the clustering effect is related to the number of participating schools and the level of the university. Therefore, university clustering cannot effectively promote the performance of scientific research and unable to bring agglomeration economies. |
| Keywords: | University cluster,Economies of agglomeration,Scientific research performance,Time-varying difference in differences method |
| JEL: | I23 O38 O53 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:963&r= |
| By: | Steven Brakman; Tijl Hendrich; Charles van Marrewijk; Jennifer Olsen |
| Abstract: | Traditional trade theory assumes that countries are dimensionless points. Recent research shows, however, that the internal geography of countries is important for the effects on trade. One aspect of internal geography is the uneven spatial distribution of factors of production. Factors of production especially concentrate in urban locations. The so-called lens-condition tests whether the (urban) distribution of factors of production is uneven enough to affect the national structure of trade. Using detailed data and applying the condition to 22 cities and 4 regions within The Netherlands for 2007-2017, shows that the condition is fulfilled. We explain why. |
| Keywords: | lumpiness of countries, HOS model |
| JEL: | F10 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9364&r= |
| By: | Chang-Tai Hsieh; Esteban Rossi-Hansberg |
| Abstract: | The U.S. has experienced an industrial revolution in services. Firms in service industries, those where output has to be supplied locally, increasingly operate in more markets. Employment, sales, and spending on fixed costs such as R&D and managerial employment have increased rapidly in these industries. These changes have favored top firms the most and have led to increasing national concentration in service industries. Top firms in service industries have grown entirely by expanding into new local markets that are predominantly small and mid-sized U.S. cities. Market concentration at the local level has decreased in all U.S. cities but by significantly more in cities thatwere initially small. These facts are consistent with the availability of a new menu of fixed-cost-intensive technologies in service sectors that enable adopters to produce at lower marginal costs in any markets. The entry of top service firms into new local markets has led to substantial unmeasured productivity growth, particularly in small markets. |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:21-34&r= |
| By: | Hendrik Hansmeier (Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Karlsruhe, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The need to develop and disseminate solutions to address environmental challenges such as climate change or resource depletion is more urgent than ever. However, the spatial dimension of pathways towards sustainability has only attracted scholarly interest in recent years, particularly through largely parallel research on the geography of eco-innovations and the geography of sustainability transitions. By systematically reviewing the literature, this article aims to compare both lines of research, devoting special attention to the role of regions and actors. While the geography of eco-innovations field focuses on local and regional conditions that enable the emergence of environmentally friendly technologies and industries, research on the geography of sustainability transitions highlights the place-specific but multiscalar nature of socio-technical change, taking into account the role of different actor groups. The review identifies numerous complementarities between both fields that may serve as starting points to further integrate geographical work on eco-innovations and transformative change. |
| Keywords: | geography, eco-innovations, sustainability transitions, green technologies, socio-technical systems, systematic literature review |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoe:wpaper:2107&r= |
| By: | Fabio Manca; Giuseppe Piroli |
| Abstract: | What are the drivers of growth and convergence in productivity at regional level? Differences in the stock of human capital across regions are hypothesized to be the major cause of differences in the speed by which following regions converge and catch-up with the most advanced ones. In addition, we test the role played by R&D expenditures and institutions exploiting a database covering European regions from 1995 to 2015, which includes regional total factor productivity (TFP) computed by the conventional residual approach. We find robust empirical evidence for these hypotheses in terms of both model specifications and sectoral disaggregation. |
| Keywords: | Regional Studies, European Regions, Catching-up, Total Factor Productivity |
| JEL: | P48 D24 J24 E02 C31 C33 |
| Date: | 2021–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2021_07&r= |
| By: | Victoria Galan-Muros (Innovative Futures Institute); Fatime Barbara Hegyi (European Commission - JRC); Alep Blancas; Andrea Sagredo |
| Abstract: | In the last decades, so-called geographies of innovation have emerged worldwide as vehicles to drive economic development. These urban areas are planned and actively managed spatial clustering of a wide range of innovative organisations and intermediaries to undertake collaborative innovation activities. However, the concept of geography of innovation (or innovation geography) remains ambiguous. In addition, there are no commonly accepted definitions or classifications of different models of geographies of innovation. Terms such as park, hub, district, cluster, and ecosystem are used interchangeably, and their definitions can be far-reaching and adaptable. The key question addressed in this research is the main challenges of current policies for geographies of innovation in Europe, offering a view on how governments can better support the emergence and development of geographies of innovation in Europe.Hence, this report aims to explore the concept of geographies of innovation as an evolution of industrial and business clustering combining theoretical and practical approaches. The authors propose a definition and classification of the different models of geographies of innovation, highlighting some of the main challenges in implementing this identification and measurement. The comparative case study analysis containing thirteen case studies from four cities provide evidence supporting the development of European, national, or regional policies, enabling current and future geographies of innovation to enhance their performance and their contributions to greener, cleaner, socially more just, and overall to more developed cities and regions in Europe and beyond. |
| Keywords: | geographies of innovation, innovation districts, economic development, social development, policy development, policy support |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc125482&r= |
| By: | Federico Attili |
| Abstract: | This paper considers a partitioned population and develops a decomposition of the Gini index in two components, which measure the within and the between groups inequality. Differently from the most widespread inequality measure decompositions, having a between component that compares the means of the groups, ours informs about the distance between their entire distributions. This makes the decomposition helpful in several frameworks, such as in the measurement of spatial concentration A Monte Carlo experiment supports the appropriateness of our components highlighting that they strongly correlate with two axiomatically derived benchmarks. The presentation of a case study concerning the income distribution in the Italian provinces concludes the work and stresses the informativeness of the proposed decomposition. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 O15 R10 R12 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1167&r= |
| By: | Sanghamitra Mukherjee |
| Abstract: | This work studies the role of socio-economic and geospatial factors in shaping battery electric vehicle adoption for the case study of Ireland. It provides new insights on the level and timing of likely adoption at scale using a Bass diffusion model combined with a spatial model. The Bass model demonstrates that a country like Ireland may experience peak sales between 2025 and 2030 given current trends, reaching overall uptake levels that are not commensurate with current policy goals, whilst also potentially creating gulfs in regional take-up. The key conclusion from the spatial analysis is that location matters for uptake, through various channels that help or hinder adoption such as resources, information, and policy. Additional investment in public charging infrastructure facilities may also be needed as gaps in coverage exist, especially in rural areas to the West and South-West of the country. Although Ireland enjoys good network coverage overall, this study suggests that more charge points may be needed in some counties and Dublin city and suburbia where the number of charge points is currently disproportionate to a minimum network coverage comparable with the land area, population size, number of private vehicle owners, and travel behaviour. As the urgency for climate action intensifies in the coming decade, our spatio-temporal approach to studying uptake will not only help meet Ireland’s socio-ecological vision for the future, but also provide insights and strategies for comparable countries that are similarly placed in terms of electric vehicle adoption. |
| Keywords: | Battery electric vehicle adoption; Spatial analysis; Consumer behaviour; Bass diffusion model; Ireland |
| JEL: | D1 D9 O3 Q4 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:202119&r= |