|
on Economic Geography |
| By: | Idan Porat; Maxim Shoshany; Amnon Frenkel |
| Abstract: | The present study examines the spatial development of the residential build area in the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, a metropolitan core city and a world city in evolution, over the course of 30 years. We employed spatial autocorrelation model in order to test the urban development of the city built-up area. The analysis presented in this paper is unique in a sense of using spatial autocorrelation model on residential Construction Initiations (CI) information that represent additional and renewal of built floor area (FA), its land use and location. The suggested spatial autocorrelation model used annual and accumulative CI as a database for urban growth analysis. We consider spatial autocorrelation (Moran I) as a statistic tool for urban growth analysis. The combination of long time series of CI (available since the middle seventies at a sub-quarters resolution) enable to test the data on annual and accumulative base, thus contribute to the examination of spatial urban processes. The results obtained from employing the various autocorrelation indices used in the study (Moran: Annual and Cumulative) show significantly high clustering level of the residential accumulative CI system in Tel Aviv-Yafo. Such result was partly expected due to the development of new residential areas in Northern Tel Aviv. However, there is another interesting component of this clustering which relates to the regeneration in the older neighborhoods. Assessment of the differences between the yearly and accumulative autocorrelations allows new insight into the urban CI dynamics, whereby the annual data show a tendency toward a more random spatial organization in parallel to the accumulation into clusters. Generalizing this new phenomenon is expected to contribute to the understanding of the evolution of urban regions undergoing both expansion and internal renewal. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p301&r=geo |
| By: | Alexander Pelyasov |
| Abstract: | ERSA Congress can be seen as laboratory of ideas with broad representation not only European, but also scientists from US, Japan, Korea, Brazil, African and Asian countries. With very high speed new thoughts and phenomena from the European regional scientific community appear on the stages of the ERSA annual Congresses. Three new features were characteristic for the 2005 ERSA Congress in comparison with the previous ones. First, special focus on the factors of density in the regional development. That was not surprising as the meeting was held in the city of Amsterdam with the highest density in Europe where land and space are scarce goods. Second, integrative tendencies in attempt to use natural factors to explain traditional phenomena of the regional science. Issues of land and water management coincide with economic growth and regional development in many reports. Third, for the first time theme of networks and network society was embedded in many sections of the Congress and in the very title of the Congress itself. All these aspects as participants demonstrated could be positive creative factors increasing cultural assets of the European regions, efficiency of the knowledge transfer, leisure activities; or negative as the source of disaster and risk for human beings. Density factors (lack of people or lack of space?) divide European regional science into two sciences – urban for the populated regions and regional for the territories scarcely populated with very different themes, methods and tools of research. Housing markets, urban sprawl and commuting patterns are popular topics in the first case; labour markets and human capital in the second case. New Economic Geography models work smoothly in the first regions but are inappropriate in the second. Competition is harder in the labour markets of the populated regions but is softer in the regions with scattered population where it is substituted by the forces of cooperation. Contemporary regional society can be sustainable only as network society. In the reports networks were examined on different levels: a) as transportation networks in the investment national or interregional projects; b) as policentricity urban structures replacing Cristaller’s hierarchy of central places; c) as public-public, public-private partnerships combining public and private stakeholders in the decision-making process. Transition of the European regions from the industrial to network/service has begun 25 years ago. Position of the concrete region on this route determines clearly the type and intensity of its problem and research agenda. The more advanced is the region or nation on this route the more often terms like “reinventâ€, “rethinkâ€, “revisited†are used in the scientific community. Rediscovery of the old concepts, definitions, essence (as Amsterdam Congress demonstrated) is very creative and challenging process of the post-industrial regional science. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p437&r=geo |
| By: | Giuseppe Arbia; Laura De Dominicis; Henri L.F. De Groot |
| Abstract: | In recent years, a large number of studies investigated the spatial distribution of economic activities in Western Europe by means of various measures of geographical concentration. The fundamental problem with the indices currently used in the literature is that they do not take explicitly into account the spatial structure of the data, and as a result the same degree of concentration is compatible with very different localization schemes. In the present work we present an analysis which combines the information provided by the standard measure of concentration of Ellison and Glaeser together with the measure of spatial correlation introduced by Moran. The problem known in geography as MAUP is here addressed by considering both administrative and functional regions in the empirical analyses. Data on employment and plant size for the years 1991 and 2001 are used to identify sectoral location patterns in Italy and The Netherlands within the manufacturing and service sectors. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p497&r=geo |
| By: | Janos Rechnitzer; Melinda Smaho |
| Abstract: | The territorial examination of human resources and their training institutions was disregarded by the hungarian regional researches. The cause of the time-lag is that data concerning the qualification of the population are connecting to the census, which is carried out in every 10th year and it is not possible to work out reliable analyses on the territorial level (regional, county, in case of some variable settlement) without them. There is rather broad information base on the institutions training human resources. For example information on the network of secondary level education, higher education, their service palette (training directions), quantity development (number of students, teachers), state of supply (equipments), and data can be collected about the rating of institutons (mainly on secondary level) as well (the number of matriculating students). The first part of the study focuses on the relation between human resources and regional development. It sets out that human capacity is a new resource, which has more and more important role in shaping of territorial processes. The authors examine the regional features of human resources in five dimensions. First, they review the human factors like the more important demographical factors, the qualification and the Human Development Index. In case of life quality they analyse the civil society and the regional/local identity. When analysing the change of living conditions they review the role of the info-communication infrastructure in the city network. In the part on knowledge and communication network they study the regional structure and changes of training institutions (from primary school to high education) and research and development. Finally they evaluate the innovation environment of the city network in the transition period. The essay proves that regional disparities can be shown in the human resources, but their character is different from the expected, which can be experienced in the economy or settlement network. To conclude, regional disparities are manifold, the structure is divided by factors and the concentration effects of large centers is quite strong. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p434&r=geo |
| By: | George Mihailidis; Giorgos Georgiadis; Nikos Koutsomarkos |
| Abstract: | (This paper is the result of a research program that was carried out by the Laboratory for Evaluation of Development Policies and Programs, University of Thessaly, for the Greek Ministry of Economics and National Economy). Does size matter? Is regional competitiveness affected by the regions size? Are regional problems in Greece the same or differentiated among regions? Could an administrative reform create better development preconditions? The designation of the 13 Regions in the 80s in Greece basically stemmed from the need to create development units for programming and managing the development planning. Nonetheless, the designation of regions under the effect of historical factors and political expediency led to uneven area as well as population sizes. Moreover, up to today, Greece has put its major developmental effort in the infrastructures sector, while the new 4th programming period 2007-2013 imposes competitiveness objectives and an integration of the Lisbon Strategy in the Coherence policy that constitute an innovation for the Greek reality. Thus, the question occurs whether the Greek Regions are capable to formulate and implement corresponding strategies and programmes. This paper discusses the performance of the 13 Greek regions against other comparable EU regions and presents indexes reflecting the relative progress of the Greek regions, through critical review of statistical data concerning development level and regional competitiveness. At the same time the paper considers how a restructure of resources, competences, and geographical boundaries will enable: i. Concentration of managerial effort ii. Better control of programme implementation. iii. Better utilization of the limited available personnel . iv. More economical use of equipment and facilities. And finally programme operation monitoring at the regional level through the formation of larger and more powerful regional entities, vis-vis the central Administration. To this purpose administrative decentralization schemes of various EU Countries are reviewed. The paper proposes a restructuring as follows: All the competences concerning decision-making and management of the programming are concentrated to Regional Unions. The Regions retain only proposal functions, as centers of local bodies¢ consensus and local initiatives' mobilization. The paper also elaborates on a generalized administrative scheme for the Unions and the Regions. Summing up the discussion highlights the necessity to form larger and more powerful regional units in Greece, where one¢s strategic disadvantages will be compensated by the advantages of the other and through them many local economies altogether will build a scale capable to integrate their productive structure, to cause the emergence of new functions and to constitute their negotiatory advantage for FDI and activities attraction. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p838&r=geo |
| By: | Vasilis Patsilaras |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the evolution of urban land uses in Greece and USA in the last twenty years and reviews the role of the market forces and the role of the land-use regulations in shaping the current urban form in both countries. The paper proposes a framewrk of coordination between these two elements in order to improve and make more effective urban planning efforts. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p933&r=geo |
| By: | Salvary, Stanley C. W. |
| Abstract: | Availability of financial capital and location decisions are variables that influence regional manufacturing output. This study maintains that a region’s manufacturing growth depends upon the region’s firm-type dominance. That is, the type of firms that dominate the region’s manufacturing output can be classified as non-local (national or foreign - NF) vs. local and large vs. small. Accordingly, for policy analysis, regions can be classified by firm-type dominance. This distinction is important since, invariably, location decision options and availability of financial capital are more favourable for the larger NF firms than for local firms. In an attempt to assess the impact of firm-type dominance, this study draws upon the dominant industry model which has established that, in any given region, there is a dominant industry (the driving force of the region) to which a region’s manufacturing growth is linked. The information on the impact of firm-type dominance on a region's manufacturing output may enable policy-makers to design workable (or revise existing) manufacturing diversification policies. |
| Keywords: | state-regions and industry-regions; chemical industry region; regional policy analysis; manufacturing growth; firm-type dominance; availability of financial capital; dominant industry model; manufacturing firms' location decisions; regional economic development; foreign-owned manufacturing plants. |
| JEL: | R1 R12 R11 |
| Date: | 2007–08–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:4591&r=geo |
| By: | Andreas P. Cornett; Nils Karl Soerensen |
| Abstract: | A recent study for the Danish government has identified innovation as one of the major drivers of regional competitiveness in Denmark. Innovation and the capacity to innovate are crucial factors in the development of a firm and its ability to adapt to changes in the external environment. In particular changes in the international production system with increasing out-sourcing of physical production from Western Europe has highlighted the need for an alternative economic base in many regions. As a consequence, attention has been on the role of innovation policy in economic policy in general and regional development in particular. The aim of this paper is to analyze the interaction between the actors in the innovative environment (i.e. the firm, advisory and research institution) and the external environment as a part of a broader network of innovative relations covering intra-firm as well as extra-firm relations and processes. The project covers the following aspects: • In the first part of the paper concepts and policies of innovation are discussed with regard to their ability to move the economy toward higher growth. • The second section provides a brief overview of regional convergence and disparities in Denmark in the last decade, and compares with the trends in a broader European perspective. • The next section summarizes the findings of a recent study of the regional system of innovation in Western Denmark, and provides a critical review of the role of innovation in the process of economic restructuring in the perspective of growing internationalization in many branches. Based on this assessment the future perspectives of regional policy in Denmark are discussed on the background of the ongoing reorganization of local and regional government in general, and the introduction of five regional growth-forums in particular. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p102&r=geo |
| By: | Vassilis Pappas |
| Abstract: | Patras is the third urban complex in Greece, concerning the population size, sited in the North-West Pelopennese and one of the oldest ones, having a continuous history of 4.000 years. The modern history of city of Patras is characterized by a rapid and continuous development and transformation, concerning its structure, function and its physiognomy. This fact is documented by studying a lot of facts and figures, but mainly from a simple reading of its spatial evolution, characteristics and changes. Although Patras is the first city having an official Master Plan, in modern Greece (since 1827), its historical route and evolution is far from a rational and planned one. On the contrary, and as the typical Greek model of cities´ development is, it follows an absolutely non-rational, non-planned model, that does not secure the quality of living and mainly does not form a visual and sustainable development aim in the European or, at least, in the Greek context. The city – whatever that means – seems to be unready to face these challenges and does not have the proper infrastructure and planning framework to be able and conscious to form its own development route. No matter how it sounds, the city is a simple viewer of its own restructure and transformation route. The strategic planning alternatives are missing or are absolutely insufficient. The planning process is limited to fragmentary studies, actions, activities and/or initiatives. This work presents and analyses Patras` main characteristics, its evolution, the limitations and problems, in planning process, and forms and documents a proposal concerning a modern planning framework based on a social controlled planning conservancy. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p865&r=geo |
| By: | Carmen Lopez Martin; Pedro Pablo Perez Hernandez; Araceli Rios Berjillos |
| Abstract: | Spanish state descentralization is very similar to the most important federal countries. In spite of the advances in the regional financing system it hasn’t been able to give the needed autonomy and financial sufficiency to fund the transferred competencies in the Spanish Autonomies. From 1987 to nowdays four different models of financiation have been implemented. The last one, approved in 2001 and though it seemed to be succesfull, it is going to be remodelled shortly . There are objective reasons to justify the system modification: evolution of the public expenses, inmigration, in general terms, society evolution. However, it is a political reason what has brought this topic on. Last proposal comes from the Catalonian Government. Some parts of the proposal take as model the German länder financial system, specially the basket tax and the interregional solidarity system. The aim of this research is to compare socioeconomic features in regions belonging to Germany and Spain as well as their financial system in order to know what can be useful to Autonomic Spanish financial system taken from the German one. The methodology used is the following one: a) First of all, we have studied the main socioeconomic features of Spanish regions and of German länders. In this part of the work, we have been able to get similarities between regions in both countries. Similarities that can justify directly or indirectly some aspects of the financing. b) Secondly, it has been made a description of the financial system applied in German länders and in the Spanish Autonomies. It has been specially compared the extent of autonomy and solidarity in each system. c) Thirdly, it has been studied the reform proposed by the Catalonian Government identifying its relation to the German regional financial system. d) And finally, it has been made a valoration about the Catalonian Government proposals and some other conclusions have been drawn over the possibility to implement German system to Spanish regions. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p478&r=geo |
| By: | Uwe Blien; Friedrich Graef |
| Abstract: | An in-depth analysis of regional labour markets requires information not only on stocks but also on flows. As a tool for detailed flow analysis the Multi Account System (MAS) has been developed at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) which uses fine grained transition matrices as basic information. To estimate these transition matrices from possibly incomplete and inconsistent statistical data the ADETON procedure has been worked out to compute matrices which are struc-turally similar to given reference matrix and at the same time satisfy certain linear con-straints. As main advantage of ADETON in comparison to conventional methods soft constraints may be specified which allow information of inherently fuzzy character about transition flows to be taken into account. By using soft constraints of this kind it is possible to in-clude data affected by sampling errors or are distorted by some kind of “noiseâ€. To obtain structural similarity to a reference matrix two different distance measures can be used: relative entropy and the chi-square distance function. They have been proven to give approximately identical results. Up to now ADETON has shown to be an efficient computation method even for complex problems with thousands of matrix elements and constraints. ADETON has been applied to estimate matrices of the Multi Account System. The results are used for the guidance of regional labour market policy. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p157&r=geo |
| By: | Andersson, Martin (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on how characteristics of regions pertaining to local information about product varieties and markets as well as networks for the transmission of information about innovation opportunities influence the arrival of innovation ideas to existing and potential entrepreneurs. We formulate a model where entrepreneurs or innovating firms introduce new products in a quasi-temporal setting. Market conditions are characterized by monopolistic competition between varieties belonging to the same product group, in which there is entry and exit of varieties. Firms innovate in response to the arrival of innovation ideas. To realize these ideas firms have to make an R&D investment and a firm’s decision to export a variety to a new market is associated with a market channel investment. The theoretical model is used as a reference when formulating two regression models, with which we estimate factors that can explain the introduction of new export varieties by firms in different regional milieus. In one model we examine the emergence of new export firms, and in the second model we investigate the appearance of new export varieties. Results are consistent with the assumption that knowledge and information flows have a positive influence on the frequency of arrival of innovation ideas to firms. |
| Keywords: | innovation ideas; exports; entrepreneurship; location; knowledge spillovers |
| JEL: | O31 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2007–08–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0095&r=geo |
| By: | Meng, Bo; Chao, Qu |
| Abstract: | Structural decomposition techniques based on input-output table have become a widely used tool for analyzing long term economic growth. However, due to limitations of data, such techniques have never been applied to China's regional economies. Fortunately, in 2003, China's Interregional Input-Output Table for 1987 and Multi-regional Input-Output Table for 1997 were published, making decomposition analysis of China's regional economies possible. This paper first estimates the interregional input-output table in constant price by using an alternative approach: the Grid-Search method, and then applies the standard input-output decomposition technique to China's regional economies for 1987-97. Based on the decomposition results, the contributions to output growth of different factors are summarized at the regional and industrial level. Furthermore, interdependence between China's regional economies is measured and explained by aggregating the decomposition factors into the intraregional multiplier-related effect, the feedback-related effect, and the spillover-related effect. Finally, the performance of China's industrial and regional development policies implemented in the 1990s is briefly discussed based on the analytical results of the paper. |
| Keywords: | Input-Output, Decomposition, Economic growth, China’s regional economies, China, Local economy, Imput-output tables |
| JEL: | C67 C82 O40 R15 |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper102&r=geo |
| By: | Peter Huber (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of previous enlargements of the European Union on the regional structure of production. Focusing on regional development five years before and seven years after integration, we find relatively small and heterogeneous effects. For enlargement by Greece a robust tendency of decentralisation is found. For Southern Enlargement effects on border regions are significant for wages and employment and for Northern Enlargement no significant effects are found. Finally, for nearby old member states results are contradictory and are not robust to correcting from potential bias arising from serial autocorrelation of the error term. |
| Keywords: | EU-Accession, Regional Effects of Integration |
| Date: | 2007–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2007:i:283&r=geo |
| By: | Oyama, Daisuke |
| Abstract: | This paper considers forward-looking behavior of rational migrants in a dynamic two-region model with quadratic adjustment costs. A global analysis is conducted to show that, except for the knife-edge case with symmetric regions, there exists a unique spacial configuration that is absorbing and globally accessible when the degree of friction is sufficiently small. |
| Keywords: | economic geography; forward-looking expectation; stability; potential |
| JEL: | C61 R12 C62 |
| Date: | 2006–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:4562&r=geo |
| By: | Stelios Gialis; Polyzois Kanelleas |
| Abstract: | The present recommendation summons up matter from a project in progress, concerning the possibilities and conditions of founding a Social Geographical Information System (GIS) in the Municipality of Rhodes. It is argued that, on the level of local societies and their self-administration, the importance of GIS can prove decisive for the rational management of resources and mainly for a better service of the citizens. Local governments, being that very institution at the closest possible relationship and contact with the resident-citizen, are called to cope with a constantly expanding spectrum of functions and services, often with insufficient infrastructures and limited resources. Today’s stage of the applied development of the GIS technology permits an overall arrangement and regulation of a series of functions that are important elements of everyday life in a city. In this sense, the use of GIS, although in the beginning seems as an “unnecessary luxury†for Greek administrational matters, can contribute in a creative way to the realization of the institutional role of local government organizations, to the accomplishment of the declared goals of each municipal authority but also to the saving of time and expenses. However, beyond the applications of GIS related to the improvement of a city’s functions, and which are the most frequent, there is a whole constellation of additional uses that are often downgraded or ignored. It is about those dimensions and applications, during which the GIS are utilized as an implement of social studies and search, as a mechanism of tendency diagnosis, as a starting point for awareness on the problems of urban areas and of their residents. It is the perspective and necessity of such applications that we are trying not to downgrade in the present, initial stage of development of a “Social GIS for the Municipality of Rhodesâ€. Our fundamental point of view is that no modern “leading-edge†technology, no advanced implement is by itself a panacea. It can simply assist the development procedures, when it is in the right hands and with the appropriate staff, information and infrastructure. Procedures that have finally reference to the level of central or local political choices but also to the disposition, dynamic or not dynamic, of the body politic for interference and action. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p800&r=geo |
| By: | Marius BRÜLHART; Nicole A. MATHYS |
| Abstract: | We estimate agglomeration economies, defined as the effect of density on labour productivity in European regions. The analysis of Ciccone (2002) is extended in two main ways. First, we use dynamic panel estimation techniques (system GMM), thus offering an alternative methodological treatment of the inherent endogeneity problem. Second, the sector dimension in the data allows for disaggregated estimation. Our results confirm the presence of significant agglomeration effects at the aggregate level, with an estimated long-run elasticity of 13 percent. Repeated crosssection regressions suggest that the strength of agglomeration effects has increased over time. At the sector level, the dominant pattern is of cross-sector "urbanisation" economies and own-sector congestion diseconomies. A notable exception is financial services, for which we find strong positive productivity effects from own-sector density. |
| Keywords: | employment density; productivity; european regions; dynamic panel GMM |
| JEL: | R10 |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:07.04&r=geo |
| By: | Wilhelmsson, Mats (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Innovation networking has become both more feasible with improved telecommunication and more important as it usually produces research of higher quality. However, the spatial distribution of academic networks and innovative networks are not uniform. Despite overwhelming evidence on the benefits of collaboration, patent data from 1994-2001 in Sweden demonstrate that innovation networks are not very common. In addition, the pattern of innovative networks is very fragmented. Our results indicate that innovation networks are more likely to exist in densely populated areas with a diversified industry. Face-to-face contacts in such areas seem to promote networking. Moreover, science-oriented industries appear to benefit more from proximity to universities when it comes to collaboration. However, the size of the market does not matter at all when it comes to collaboration, more important is the density and diversity of the market. |
| Keywords: | innovation; networks; patent; collaboration |
| JEL: | N34 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2007–08–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0091&r=geo |
| By: | Lall, Somik; Deichmann, Uwe; Coulibaly, Souleymane |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1980s, Turkey has been going through a rapid urbanization process at a pace beyond the World average. This paper aims at assessing the impact of this rapid urbanization process on the country ' s sector productivity. The authors built a database combining two-digit manufacturing data and some geographical, infrastructural, and socio-economic data collected at the provincial level by the Turkish State Institute of Statistics. The paper develops a parsimonious econometric relation linking sector productivity to accessibility, localization, and urbanization economies, proxying variables in the tradition of the New Economic Geography literature. The estimation results suggest that both localization and urbanization economies, as well as market accessibility, are productivity-enhancing factors in Turkey, although the causation link between productivity and these agglomeration measures is not clearly established. The sector-by-sector estimation confirms this result, although the localization economies effect is negative for the non-oil mineral sector, and the urbanization economies effect is weak for natural-resource-based sectors such as the wood and metal industry. Although the data cover the period up to 2000 and thus ignore the financial crisis that hit Turkey in 2001, the current structural transformation of the country away from the agricultural sector gives room to use the insights of these results as a preliminary step to understand the new challenges faced by the Turkish manufacturing sector. The results provide a discussion base to revisit the policy agenda on the improvement of the accessibility to markets, the improvement of the business environment to ease the creation and development of new firms, and a well-managed urbanization process to tap in the economic potential of cities. |
| Keywords: | E-Business,Population Policies,Municipal Financial Management,Economic Theory & Research, |
| Date: | 2007–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4327&r=geo |
| By: | Aico van Vuuren; Michiel van Leuvensteijn |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of homeownership on unemployment duration using a theoretical model of job search. Earlier studies suggest that this relationship should be positive because workers are less mobile when they own a home. Nevertheless, most of the empirical studies in Europe find an opposite relationship. In this paper, we investigate whether this is due to an omission in the original analysis or whether it is due to an endogeneity problem, i.e. those who can leave unemployment easily are more likely to be a homeowner. In our empirical analysis, we use additional information about the differences in unemployment benefits between homeowners and renters. We find that homeowners have higher hazard rates out of unemployment to a job in the local labour market. The impact is significant but not very large. Homeownership has a negative but insignificant impact on the hazard to leave unemployment to the non-local labour market. Finally, we find that homeowners would reduce their probability to receive a job offer from the local labour market when they become renters. The probability to receive a job offer from the non-local labour market would increase for short spells of unemployment when home owners become renters. However, this probability would be reduced for long spells of unemployment. |
| Keywords: | housing market; transaction costs; labor mobility; unemployment |
| JEL: | J60 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2007–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:86&r=geo |
| By: | Ruben Mercado; Antonio Páez |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of mean trip distance traveled by different mode types. The study uses data from the Hamilton CMA in Canada, and multilevel models to investigate demographic aging factors, gender differentials, and neighbourhood attributes on distance traveled. The results of the study validate previous findings regarding the decline in distance traveled as age advances. In addition, it is found that: 1) While this effect of age is present for all modes analyzed (car-driving, car-passenger, and bus) it is considerably more marked for car-driving; 2) There are significant gender effects compounded by the interrelated factors of employment constraints, household dynamics, and greater reliance on travel modes other than car driving; and 3) Neighbourhoods with high commercial and residential mix showed a negative relation with distance traveled only in the case of car-driver. |
| Keywords: | distance traveled, aging, elderly, gender, neighbourhood influence, multilevel analysis |
| JEL: | R22 R23 R41 R52 R58 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:sedapp:209&r=geo |
| By: | Raven E. Saks; Abigail Wozniak |
| Abstract: | This paper establishes the cyclical properties of a novel measure of worker reallocation: long-distance migration rates within the U.S. This internal migration offers a bird's eye view of worker reallocation in the economy, as long-distance migrants often change jobs or employment status. We examine gross migration patterns during the entire postwar era using historical reports of the Current Population Survey, and supplement this analysis with statistics compiled by the Internal Revenue Service on inter-state and inter-metropolitan population flows since 1975. We find that internal migration within the U.S. is strongly procyclical, even after accounting for variation in relative local economic conditions. This procyclicality is common across most major demographic and labor force groups, although it is strongest for younger workers. Our findings suggest that cyclical fluctuations in internal migration are driven by economy-wide changes in the net cost to worker reallocation with a major role for the job finding rate of young workers. |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2007-32&r=geo |
| By: | Yogi Vidyattama |
| Abstract: | The discussion of income disparity has emphasized the need for research in finding the growth determinant. This chapter will investigate the determinants of provincial growth of income per capita. It uses the regional panel data within a country, namely the 1983–2003 Indonesian provincial data sets. This will bring up some issues that will differentiate the application in sub national to cross country application and try to address those issues. To achieve this goal, this study will utilise GMM dynamic panel estimation and the reduced form of the Solow-Swan growth model in order to estimate a regional growth model. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita with and without mining sector value added as well as household consumption per capita are the proxies of income in this studies. The results are as follows. The overall investment (gross fixed capital formation) is estimated to have an insignificant impact on the growth of all income proxies. The average year of schooling has a different impact on different proxies of income. There are negative impacts on growth from local government spending on GDP per capita and GDP non mining per capita. The impact of transportation infrastructure in term of roads per capita is significantly positive on GDP per capita growth, and weakly significantly positive on household expenditure. The ratio of trade to GDP, as a proxy of openness, is the only significant growth determinant of all income proxies. The result from institutional variable is positively significant for GDP per capita but not significant for GDP non mining and household consumption. On the other hand, financial institutions variable is only significant in determining GDP non mining growth. |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:deg:conpap:c012_044&r=geo |