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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Sedef Akgüngör (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, Dokuz Eylül University); Pinar Falcioglu (Department of Management, Isik University) |
| Abstract: | The dynamics of industrial agglomeration across the regions and the reasons for such agglomeration have been the focus of interest particularly in exploring the effects of economic integration of regions on the spatial distribution of economic activity. In this context, following the predictions of the literature on economic geography, Turkey’s integration with the European Union as a candidate member is a likely cause of changes in economic dispersion of the economic activity over the years. The major objective of the study is to complement the findings of the studies on industrial agglomeration in Turkey’s manufacturing industry by exploring whether specialization and concentration patterns have changed over time and to expose the driving forces of geographic concentration in Turkey’s manufacturing industry, particularly during Turkey’s economic integration process with the European Union under the customs union established in 1996. Industrial concentration and regional specialization are measured by GINI index for NUTS 2 regions at the 2-digit level for the years between 1992 and 2001. To investigate which variables determine industry concentration, the systematic relation between the characteristics of the industry and geographical concentration is tested. A regression equation is estimated, where the dependent variable is GINI concentration index and the independent variables are the variables that represent the characteristics of the sectors. The major finding of the study is that Turkey’s manufacturing industry has a tendency for regional specialization. Increase in the average value for regional specialization supports the prediction developed by Krugman that regions become more specialized with regional integration. But there is no evidence for increased industrial concentration in Turkish manufacturing industry, contrary to the expectations. As for the answer to which variables determine industry concentration, the analysis supports the hypothesis that the firms tend to cluster in regions where there are economies of scale and there are significant linkages between firms, supporting the predictions of new trade theory and economic geography. |
| Keywords: | Regional specialization, geographical concentration, economic integration, geographical economics |
| JEL: | L60 R10 R11 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2005–11–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:deu:dpaper:0501&r=geo |
| By: | Jan K. Brueckner (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine); Amihai Glazer (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine) |
| Abstract: | Consider two types of residents, who prefer two different values of a policy. A current majority in some city, seeking to increase the probability that it will set policy in the following period, may adopt current policies that are particularly unattractive to the minority, leading some members of the minority to emigrate. Such behavior can lead to extremist policies, to wasteful taxes, and to similar inefficiencies. |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irv:wpaper:050620&r=geo |
| By: | Jan K. Brueckner (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the efficacy of the urban growth boundary (UGB) as a second-best substitute for a first-best toll regime in a congested city. Numerical results show that, while a UGB is welfare improving, validating previous theoretical results, the utility gain it generates is a very small fraction of that achieved under a toll regime. Thus, the UGB is not a useful instrument for attacking the distortions caused by unpriced traffic congestion. |
| Date: | 2005–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irv:wpaper:050610&r=geo |
| By: | Gianfranco E. Atzeni; Oliviero A. Carboni |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates on a marked case of regional inequality concerning the information and communication technology adoption process and the role of subsidies in Italy. There is a consolidated and persistent gap between the industrialized North and the sensibly backward South. Econometric results show that adoption of ICT is affected by the geographical location, the industry and firm characteristics. A matching estimator is applied to explore subsidies effectiveness. We find that subsidies have a significant impact but only for small firms. Given the firm system in Italy, we conclude that, to limit the acceleration of Italian North-South dualism, subsidies should only be granted to small firms. |
| Keywords: | Information and Communication Technologies, Regional Disparities, Digital Divide, Subsidies, Treatment Effect, Nearest Neighbour Matching Estimator |
| JEL: | C21 D21 L2 O18 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:200608&r=geo |
| By: | Swenson, David A. |
| Abstract: | In Iowa, both in urban areas and more rural territories, there is a general awareness of sales leakages. These leakages take the forms of out-of-region intermediate input purchases, overall household and institutional imports, and the normal regional competitive losses in small communities to neighboring trade centers. As an economic development service extension, we have developed a useful prototype for measuring regional import substitute opportunities and identifying the potential regional gains from such a campaign. This paper will describe the basics of the approach using IMPLAN along with an example of a recent buy local report. |
| JEL: | C5 |
| Date: | 2006–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12645&r=geo |
| By: | Amihai Glazer (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine); Hiroki Kondo (Departament of Economics, Shinshu University) |
| Abstract: | Residents both enjoy the policies adopted in their cities, and choose those policies. If some people can better evaluate policies than can others, then the most perceptive people will be the most willing to move to the city with better policies, thereby making that city more likely to adopt good policies in the future. Such migration can cause agglomeration, with some cities prospering and others failing. |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irv:wpaper:050613&r=geo |
| By: | Michèle Belot (University of Essex and ISER); John Ermisch (ISER, University of Essex and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | A common finding in analyses of geographic mobility is a strong association between past movement and current mobility, a phenomenon that has given rise to the so called ‘moverstayer model’. We argue in this paper that one of the driving forces behind this heterogeneity is the strength of local social ties. We use data from the BHPS on the location of the three closest friends and the frequency of contacts. We estimate the processes of friendship formation and residential mobility jointly, allowing for correlation between the two processes. Our results show that the location of the closest friends matters substantially in the mobility decision, and matters more than the frequency of contacts. |
| Keywords: | geographical mobility, social ties, friendship formation |
| JEL: | J61 Z13 |
| Date: | 2006–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2209&r=geo |
| By: | Paula Mota Santos (University Fernando Pessoa); João Borges de Sousa (Porto University) |
| Abstract: | Information on the presence of Chinese and Ukrainian communities in Portugal, and namely in Greater Porto (northern Portugal) will be presented to then investigate how recent work on evolving networks might be a helpful tool in analysing the integration of migrant communities in urban systems, namely in helping to understand if the differential relationships between ‘nodes’ and ‘vertices’ might help to account for the higher and lesser visibility of these two communities within Greater Porto. |
| Keywords: | Chinese, Ukrainian, Migrant Communities, Self Evolving Networks |
| JEL: | O15 O18 Z13 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2006.70&r=geo |
| By: | Alfredo M. Pereira (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary); Jorge M. Andraz (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to investigate the economic and fiscal impact of road infrastructure investment in Portugal, focusing on the effects for each region of both local investments and investments in other regions. We estimate VAR models for the national economy as well as for each of the five administrative regions in the country. Empirical results suggest that investment in road infrastructures has been a powerful instrument to increase private investment, new permanent jobs and to promote long-term growth in all regions. More importantly, investment in road infrastructure, both at the aggregate level and for each one of the five administrative regions, generates fiscal effects that largely exceed the initial investment itself. Accordingly, there is no trade off in the long-term between the potentially positive economic effects and the potentially negative budgetary effects of such investments, i.e., both economic and budgetary effects are positive. As a corollary, policies that would reduce current road investment as a response to the current budgetary concerns will result in lower long-term growth as well as worse future budgetary conditions. |
| Keywords: | public invesetment, road transportation infrastructure, regional spillovers, Portugal |
| JEL: | C32 H54 R53 |
| Date: | 2006–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:33&r=geo |
| By: | Javier Pérez Burgos |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo recopila ciertos resultados de la localización del empleo manufacturero en Bogotá durante la década de los setenta, y analiza su continuidad para el período 1992-2003. Por medio de cálculos de tasas de natalidad, mortalidad y movilidad se describen los cambios espaciales que ha tenido la ciudad. Zonas alejadas del centro de la ciudad comienzan a desempeñar el papel de incubación del empleo industrial. El análisis de la movilidad mostró cómo las industrias prefieren ubicarse en sectores que ofrecen las mismas condiciones de su lugar de origen. Para el período en estudio, la generación del empleo fue producto de las nuevas firmas con menos de 25 trabajadores. Por último, la dispersión industrial ocurrida entre 1970-1975, parece haberse revertido en la última década. |
| Date: | 2006–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:001051:002531&r=geo |
| By: | María Ángeles Caraballo (Universidad de Sevilla); Carlos Usabiaga (Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo pretende contribuir a un mejor conocimiento de la inflación andaluza y española. Los datos empleados provienen del IPC (1993-2001). Hemos trabajado con datos del agregado, de las regiones, de las provincias y de las capitales de provincia españolas. Desde otra perspectiva, también hemos trabajado a nivel sectorial (33 y 57). La amplia estadística descriptiva presentada en la primera parte de nuestro trabajo apunta hacia una notable homogeneidad de la estructura de la inflación entre los distintos entornos geográficos considerados. Sin embargo, en la comparación entre los sectores se aprecia una importante heterogeneidad. En la segunda parte de nuestro trabajo empleamos la metodología de Ball y Mankiw (1995) para detectar si existen rigideces nominales en la determinación de los precios, encontrando una evidencia muy robusta en este sentido tanto para Andalucía como para España. |
| Keywords: | Inflación, rigideces nominales, Andalucía |
| JEL: | E31 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cea:doctra:e2006_07&r=geo |
| By: | Jaime Bonet; Adolfo Meisel Roca |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo avanza en el estudio de la convergencia en el ingreso regional en Colombia, a través del análisis de las cifras de ingreso departamental calculadas por el CEGA recientemente. Los resultados muestran un proceso de polarización entre Bogotá y el resto de departamentos. También queda demostrada la clara supremacía de Bogotá durante los años de estudio, ya que la capital presentó un ingreso per cápita que es más del doble de la media nacional y más de ocho veces el observado en el departamento con menor ingreso, Chocó. Esta situación persistió a lo largo de todo el período: Bogotá se consolidó a la cabeza de los ingresos regionales per cápita, mientras que los departamentos de la periferia se mantuvieron en los últimos lugares. Estos hallazgos obligan a pensar en la necesidad de establecer una política de Estado orientada a corregir las enormes disparidades observadas en el ingreso per cápita departamental. |
| Date: | 2006–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:001038:002536&r=geo |
| By: | Carlofilippo FRATESCHI (Universit… di Padova, Dipartimento di Scienze economiche "Marco Fanno") |
| Abstract: | In this paper I consider the economic and social evolution of the PECO countries at the regional level. Growing integration in the EU market, and the general economic and financial globalization are the main external conditioning processes of that evolution. Local economies, characterized by different economic, social and geographic initial conditions, reacted in differentiated ways. The paper highlights four typical paths of evolution, common to all the ex-socialist East-European countries. |
| Date: | 2006–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpspec:5&r=geo |
| By: | Adolfo Meisel Roca; Gerson Javier Pérez V |
| Abstract: | En los últimos años prestigiosos investigadores económicos han señalado la importancia de la geografía para entender el desarrollo económico en el largo plazo, así como las diferencias en los niveles de renta que se observan entre países y entre las regiones de un mismo país. Esta literatura empírica se aparta del análisis de los determinantes próximos de las desigualdades en los niveles de productividad, básicamente capital humano e infraestructura, para ir un poco más a fondo tratando de encontrar las raíces de las diferencias en el ingreso. En esa literatura predominan dos variantes principales: los que encuentran un efecto directo de la geografía sobre el nivel del ingreso per capita, vía su efecto sobre la productividad agrícola, la salud y el acceso a los mercados, y los que argumentan que ese efecto se produce vía la influencia que la geografía tuvo en el pasado sobre la creación de instituciones que han tenido una gran continuidad en el tiempo. Pero en ambas corrientes es evidente que la geografía es uno de los aspectos más importantes para tener en cuenta y entender el desempeño económico de largo plazo de un país o región. Por esa razón, en este trabajo hemos querido estudiar en detalle los aspectos principales de la geografía física de la Costa Caribe, una región rezagada en su desarrollo económico en relación al resto del país. En la primera sección se describen las principales características de la geografía física de la Costa Caribe: orografía, ubicación de los principales cuerpos de agua, altitud sobre el nivel del mar, régimen de lluvias y características agro ecológicas de los suelos, así como sus usos actuales y potenciales. Luego se analiza la distribución espacial de la población en el territorio Caribe, con énfasis en la densidad población entre las diferentes subregiones. |
| Date: | 2006–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:001038:002533&r=geo |