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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Giuseppe Arbia; Marco Bee; Giuseppe Espa |
| Abstract: | In this paper we compare the relative efficiency of different forecasting methods of space-time series when variables are spatially and temporally correlated. We consider the case of a space-time series aggregated into a single time series and the more general instance of a space-time series aggregated into a coarser spatial partition. We extend in various directions the outcomes found in the literature by including the consideration of larger datasets and the treatment of edge effects and of negative spatial correlation. The outcomes obtained provide operational suggestions on how to choose between alternative forecasting methods in empirical circumstances. |
| Keywords: | Spatial correlation, Aggregation, Forecast efficiency, Space–time models, Edge effects, Negative spatial correlation. |
| JEL: | C15 C21 C43 C53 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpde:0720&r=geo |
| By: | Ron A. Boschma (Utrecht University, Department of Economic Geography, Utrecht, Netherlands); Michael Fritsch (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, German Institute of Economic Research, Berlin, and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the regional distribution and the effect of people in creative occupations based on data for more than 450 regions in eight European countries. The geographic distribution of the creative class is highly uneven. The creative class is not attracted to highly urbanized regions per se, but rather a climate of tolerance and openness seem to be rather important factors. We find that the creative class has a positive and significant effect on employment growth and new business formation at the regional level. Human capital as measured by creative occupation outperforms indicators that are based on formal education. |
| Keywords: | Creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, regional development |
| JEL: | O31 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2007–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-066&r=geo |
| By: | Botezatu, Elena |
| Abstract: | Even if Romania succeeded to become a member of the European Union, the development gaps between its regions and those in the other member states continue to be significant. The paper will focus on analyzing the regional disparities in Romania, in terms of GDP/capita, FDI and possibly state interventions, with the view of creating a so-called typology of “winners and losers”. After determining the winners and losers, a brief description will follow, underlining the key aspects that differentiate them from the other regions. Next, the paper will discuss some aspects related to the future perspectives for regional development in Romania, taking into account the perspective of reform at European level and discussions that are currently developing, related to trade-off between equity and efficiency, between cohesion and competitiveness. The last part of the paper will focus on providing a possible answer for the future of regional development, by analyzing the investment in research and innovation and the impact it could have in Romania. |
| Keywords: | regional development; cohesion; catching up; regional disparities |
| JEL: | R11 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:4948&r=geo |
| By: | Tom Broekel (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group); Thomas Brenner (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group) |
| Abstract: | The regional or national innovation performance has been repeatedly measured in the literature; but it has so far not been discussed what this means, especially in relation to a region. What is the contribution of a region to innovation output? The usual approaches implicitly assume that higher innovation outputs per inhabitant, employee, or R+D employee can be assigned to a region. We argue that more insights are gained if we distinguish between various mechanisms that influence the innovation activities in a region. Different analyses need to be conducted, using different variables and including different local factors. Furthermore, we see no justification for using a linear dependence of innovation activity on the number of inhabitants or employees as a benchmark for performance. We use a method that takes into account these arguments and apply it to the Electrics + Electronics industry in Germany. |
| Keywords: | Regional innovation performance, regional innovativeness, non-parametric performance analysis, measurement of regional innovativeness |
| JEL: | R11 R15 O31 |
| Date: | 2007–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-065&r=geo |
| By: | Fernando Gaiger Silveira; Alexandre Xavier Ywata Carvalho; Carlos Roberto Azzoni; Bernardo Campolina; Antonio Ibarra |
| Abstract: | The recent emphasis on fighting poverty in Brazil makes the determination of the size of the targeted population an important issue (What is the right poverty line? What is the real size of the poor population? How much money should be given to each poor family?). The application of poverty lines based on national income levels tends to produce important distortions at the regional level. Using data from a Household Expenditure Survey (HES) that covered some regions in Brazil, the paper develops and applies a methodology to define poverty lines for all regions and urban areas. These lines are based on nutritional requirements, thus avoiding the purchasing power parity problem, and take into account non-monetary income and in-kind consumption, aspects that are very important at the rural level. The HES results are matched with Census data, allowing for the estimation of rural and urban poverty lines for Brazilian regions. |
| Date: | 2007–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1278&r=geo |
| By: | David C. Maré (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Steven Stillman (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Melanie Morten (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Twenty-three percent of New Zealand's population is foreign-born and forty percent of migrants have arrived in the past ten years. Newly arriving migrants tend to settle in spatially concentrated areas and this is especially true in New Zealand. This paper uses census data to examine the characteristics of local areas that attract new migrants and gauges the extent to which migrants are choosing to settle where there are the best labour market opportunities as opposed to where there are already established migrant networks. We estimate McFadden's choice models to examine both the initial location choice made by new migrants and the internal mobility of this cohort of migrants five years later. This allows us to examine whether the factors that affect settlement decision change as migrants spend more time in New Zealand. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Settlement, Mobility, New Zealand |
| JEL: | J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:07_11&r=geo |
| By: | Nelson Zackseski; Maria Lelia O. F. Rodriguez |
| Abstract: | The knowledge of the regional and state levels of the federal government?s performance is essentials for the crafting development politics. Base in this idea, the financial execution of the Union was studied and reorganized to get comparisons between the years 1995- 1998 and 2002. The methodology developed to do this allowed a series of exercises based on the main categories of the public accounting: types of expenditures to the functions as function-program classification categories adopted by the Integrated Budgetary Data System (SIDOR and SIAFI). The results ? that the joined comparison and inconsistencies stand out ? indicate a slight aiming of the expenses for the poorer and more populous regions and states. The stability that was found, however, also indicates the state?s inability to transform the ?status quo?. |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1265&r=geo |
| By: | M. Hashem Pesaran (Cambridge University, USC and IZA); Elisa Tosetti (Cambridge University) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the statistical analysis of large panel data sets where even after conditioning on common observed effects the cross section units might remain dependently distributed. This could arise when the cross section units are subject to unobserved common effects and/or if there are spill over effects due to spatial or other forms of local dependencies. The paper provides an overview of the literature on cross section dependence, introduces the concepts of time-specific weak and strong cross section dependence and shows that the commonly used spatial models are examples of weak cross section dependence. It is then established that the Common Correlated Effects (CCE) estimator of panel data model with a multifactor error structure, recently advanced by Pesaran (2006), continues to provide consistent estimates of the slope coefficient, even in the presence of spatial error processes. Small sample properties of the CCE estimator under various patterns of cross section dependence, including spatial forms, are investigated by Monte Carlo experiments. Results show that the CCE approach works well in the presence of weak and/or strong cross sectionally correlated errors. We also explore the role of certain characteristics of spatial processes in determining the performance of CCE estimators, such as the form and intensity of spatial dependence, and the sparseness of the spatial weight matrix. |
| Keywords: | panels, common correlated effects, strong and weak cross section dependence |
| JEL: | C14 D13 D91 L14 O12 |
| Date: | 2007–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3032&r=geo |
| By: | Balázs Égert; Dubravko Mihaljek |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the determinants of house prices in eight transition economies of central and eastern Europe (CEE) and 19 OECD countries. The main question addressed is whether the conventional fundamental determinants of house prices, such as GDP per capita, real interest rates, housing credit and demographic factors, have driven observed house prices in CEE. We show that house prices in CEE are determined to a large extent by the underlying conventional fundamentals and some transition-specific factors, in particular institutional development of housing markets and housing finance and quality effects. |
| Keywords: | House prices, housing market, transition economies, central and eastern Europe, OECD countries |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:236&r=geo |
| By: | Dominique Mignot (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Anne Aguiléra (LVMT - Laboratoire Ville, Mobilité, Transports - [INRETS] - [Université de Marne la Vallée] - [Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées]) |
| Abstract: | La concentration des populations, des activités et des richesses sur certains territoires, quelle que soit leur échelle (régions, métropoles), se conjugue avec des phénomènes de ségrégation au sein même de ces territoires. Eclairer les dynamiques et les logiques territoriales de l'articulation entre les processus de concentration et ceux qui conduisent à la « mise à l'écart » de certaines parties des territoires et/ou de certaines parties de la population mais aussi questionner les réponses apportées en la matière par les politiques publiques, tels étaient les objectifs du 39ème colloque de l'ASRDLF, qui s'est tenu à Lyon du 1er au 3 septembre 2003. Outre les entrées disciplinaires principales de l'économie spatiale et de la géographie, le colloque a été également l'occasion d'une ouverture à la sociologie et aux sciences politiques. Les articles retenus, que soit pour ce numéro spécial de la RERU, pour le numéro spécial des Cahiers Scientifiques du Transport (2004, n°45) sur « Métropolisation, formes urbaines et mobilité » ou pour l'ouvrage reprenant les communications les plus liées à la thématique du colloque, reflètent la diversité des entrées et des approches. |
| Keywords: | concentration ; ségrégation ; convergence ; métropolisation |
| Date: | 2007–09–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00076660_v1&r=geo |
| By: | Andersson, Mats (VTI) |
| Abstract: | New railway legislation in Sweden has increased the need for transparent access charges on the Swedish railway network. We estimate cost functions for infrastructure operation, maintenance and renewal in the Swedish national railway network, using unobserved effects models and calculate marginal costs for railway infrastructure wear and tear. We find evidence of unobserved fixed effects at a track section level for infrastructure operation and maintenance costs. The estimated weighted average marginal infrastructure operation cost is SEK 0.12 per train kilometre and the estimated marginal maintenance cost is SEK 0.0073 per gross tonne kilometre. Altogether, the results indicate that the current charge for railway infrastructure wear and tear in Sweden is below marginal cost. |
| Keywords: | Railway; Infrastructure operation; Maintenance; Renewal; Marginal costs; Fixed effects |
| JEL: | C23 H54 L92 R48 |
| Date: | 2007–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2007_011&r=geo |