|
on Economic Geography |
| By: | Klaesson, Johan (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: | A major characteristic of the economic development in European and North America during the past 10-15 years is a fast expansion of the producer-service sector. This paper considers the location dynamics of two categories of firms: contact-intensive producer-service suppliers and other firms, where the latter form the rest of the economy. Urban regions are decomposed into urban areas, and the latter into zones. In the theoretical framework firms have randomchoice preferences and respond in a non-linear way to time distances in their contact efforts. They make their location decisions in response to local, intra-regional and extra-regional access to market demand. This leads to a non-linear system that over time generates cumulative change processes of growth and decline. The econometric analysis makes use of information about time distances between zones in urban areas as well as between urban areas in the same agglomeration and between urban areas in different agglomerations. This information is employed in an econometric model that depicts for each urban area how the number of jobs in different sectors change in response to the access to customers’ purchasing power in the entire set of urban areas. The estimation results show that the cumulative change processes feature non-linear behaviour. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration; business services; accessibility; non-linear |
| JEL: | L84 R12 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0153&r=geo |
| By: | David Albouy |
| Abstract: | The standard revealed-preference hedonic estimate of a city's quality of life is proportional to that city's cost-of-living relative to its wage-level. Adjusting the standard hedonic model to account for federal taxes, non-housing costs, and non-labor income produces quality-of-life estimates different from the existing literature. The adjusted model produces city rankings positively correlated with those in the popular literature, and predicts how housing costs rise with wage levels, controlling for amenities. Mild seasons, sunshine, and coastal location account for most quality-of-life differences; once these amenities are accounted for, quality of life does not depend on city size, contrary to previous findings. |
| JEL: | H4 J3 Q51 Q54 R1 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14472&r=geo |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Tselios, Vassilis |
| Abstract: | Past studies of regional economic disparities in the EU are entirely based on the information provided by macroeconomic variables. This paper considers the microeconomic perspectives of a region, paying attention not only to average but also to inequality levels of individual incomes within regions. It maps regional personal income distribution in western Europe, using data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) data survey covering more than 100,000 individuals, for 102 regions, and over the period 1995-2000. The Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis on income per capita and inequality revealed a rich set of findings. (1) There is a strong negative relationship between income per capita and inequality which is highly robust across inequality measurements. (2) 80 percent of the income inequality in Europe takes place among individuals living in the same region. (3) Regions with similar income conditions tend to cluster, not only within national borders but also across nations. (4) There is a North-South and an urban-rural divide where Northern regions and city-regions have the highest economic development as well as the lowest levels of inequality. |
| Keywords: | income inequality,regions,Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis,Europe,urbanisation,EU North-South divide. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:dynreg33&r=geo |
| By: | Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M.; Wendlan, Nicolai |
| Abstract: | Over the recent decades, scholars and planning practitioners have developed strategies for directed urban decentralization, which aim at the optimization of urban commuting patterns by allowing households to locate closer to job opportunities. However, given ongoing changes in the socioeconomic framework, households are becoming less likely to choose their residences with respect to location of the workplace. In order to optimize trip patterns with respect to public transport and to simultaneously promote sustainable urban growth, we therefore suggest a strategy of Directed Urban Concentration, which purports the generation of very strong (employment) sub-centers, if not multiple central business districts (CBDs), as a complementary strategy to established approaches of mixed and multifunctional land use. In an empirical analysis we show that in the case of Berlin, Germany, the emergence of the second CBD during the first half of the past century was largely driven by market access generated by rail-based public transport. Our results suggest that city planners could successfully promote the emergence of new urban economic cores with focal transport nodes that are equivalently well-connected to their hinterlands as well as to the existing CBD. |
| Keywords: | Directed urban concentration; urban transport; market access; urban planning; Berlin |
| JEL: | N74 N94 R29 R33 R41 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11572&r=geo |
| By: | Kim, Man-Keun; Harris, Thomas R. |
| Abstract: | The hypothesis that regional size increases regional efficiency is tested in this study. Data Envelopment Analysis and the Directed Acyclic Graph were used to reveal the causal relationship between regional efficiency and region size in terms of population density. Region size and the infrastructure directly cause regional efficiency, and regional efficiency affects regional income indirectly via formulation of Metropolitan area |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6338&r=geo |
| By: | Carlos Medina; Leonardo Morales; Jairo Nuñez |
| Abstract: | We use data from Bogotá and Medellín to describe key quality of life indicators of each city and illustrate their spatial segregation at the census sector level and present evidence that the main two Colombian cities are highly spatially segregated according to their education levels and access to education, coverage of public services, households headed by women and key demographic variables like their levels of adolescent pregnancy. Not surprisingly, our estimated quality of life indexes resemble the mentioned segregation patterns in each city. We present evidence that the spatial agglomeration is statistically significant for each of the variables enumerated. We estimate hedonic models of house values and life satisfaction for Bogotá and Medellín and find that the importance of the average level of education at the census sector level to determine house prices is striking. We also compare hedonic models for Bogotá and Medellín. Bogotá is better endowed than Medellín in the variables included in the analysis, in particular, it has higher education levels, and additionally, education is more equally distributed within census sectors. Bogotá has also better access to gas, and has in general houses with better conditions. The models based on house values and life satisfaction approaches used in this article lead to similar conclusions in the aggregate when comparing their implied quality of life indexes. Although each approach allows us to rank the specific determinants of quality of life, and these determinant depend on the approach, their implied aggregated indexes suggest that they are just different faces of the same story. From a policy perspective, the evidence suggests that redesigning the current socioeconomic stratification system in a way that still allows reaching the poorest while preventing segregation to deepen, might be among the most important challenge to face in order to improve quality of life in main Colombian cities. |
| Date: | 2008–11–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:005126&r=geo |
| By: | Andersson, Hans; Hoffmann, Ruben |
| Abstract: | Changes in EU agricultural policies towards additional focus on rural development issues raise questions regarding the economic impact of local/spatial competition. Traditionally, farmers have typically been price takers in markets for major agricultural products. This is, however, not necessarily true in the case of local markets for €ܮew enterprises€ݮ This article examines local/and spatial competition for farm tourism services, specifically €ܓelf cateringÂ€Ý in Sweden. The results show that spatial dependences exist and have to be considered in the econometric estimation of the hedonic pricing model. Using spatial econometrics it is shown that the price is affected by the average price, the demand for and supply of lodging in the regional market. Notable is that the results indicate that local competition has a positive effect on the price while regional competition has a negative effect. Marketing channels used as well as size and ranking of the service were found to affect the price of lodging. Diversification does not seem to positively affect prices. The findings illustrate the potential importance of local competition for rural developments studies. It also raises questions concerning policies promoting diversification and multifunctionality as a way of revitalizing urban areas. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6156&r=geo |
| By: | Gwynne, Robert N. |
| Keywords: | wine, Argentina, wine cluster, regional development, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Industrial Organization, Production Economics, Q1, |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aawewp:42658&r=geo |
| By: | Cho, Seong-Hoon; Lambert, Dayton M.; Roberts, Roland K.; Kim, Seung Gyu |
| Abstract: | This research evaluates the effects of a hypothetical land value tax as a smart growth policy to curtail urban sprawl in the mid-sized metropolitan areas of the Southeastern United States. The effectiveness of a hypothetical land value tax on moderating urban sprawl is determined by changes in demand for neighborhood open space, and its relationships with lot size and proximity to the central business district (CBD). Achieving this goal will (1) provide applied researchers with an empirical foundation from which the spatial dynamics of urban sprawl in local housing markets can be measured, and (2) provide policy makers, especially in the large and mid-sized metro areas of the Southeast, with an ex ante instrument through which alternative incentives targeting open space preservation can be evaluated. We estimate the effects of a hypothetical land value tax on urban sprawl gauged through the three metrics of demand for neighborhood open space, lot size, and proximity to the CBD by comparing the forecasted values of the demand for these goods under alternative land value taxation schemes. The first is a €ܲegular property taxÂ€Ý when the tax rates on the assessed values of land and structures are identical. The second is a hypothetical €ܬand value taxÂ€Ý that places more weight on the value of land than on the value of structures, holding annual total county tax revenue constant. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6150&r=geo |
| By: | Samarasinghe, Oshadhi; Sharp, Basil |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of flood hazard zone location on residential property values. The study utilises data from over 2,000 private residential property sales occurred during 2006 in North Shore City, New Zealand. A spatial autoregressive hedonic model is developed to provide efficient estimates of the marginal effect of flood prone risks on property values. Our results suggest that a property located within a flood hazard zone sells for 4.3% less than an equivalent property located outside the flood hazard zone. Given the median house price, estimated discount associated with flood risks is approximately NZ$22,000. |
| Keywords: | Flood hazard, Spatial hedonic, Amenity value, Land Economics/Use, Q15, Q51, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare08:6013&r=geo |
| By: | Rafael, González-Val |
| Abstract: | This work presents a simple method for calculating deviations regarding city size and the size which would correspond to it with a Pareto exponent equal to one unit (Zipf’s Law). Recent works show that when considering the entire sample without size restrictions, the estimated Pareto exponent tends to be much lower than one. Our aim is to analyse the distribution element by element, taking data from all American cities in 2000, and explain the deviation of the size predicted by Zipf’s Law and the real size of each city, using variables for each city of per capita income, distribution of employment among sectors, individuals by level of education, etc.; explicative variables which attempt to capture the influence of local externalities. To do this a Multinomial Logit Model is used. |
| Keywords: | Cities; Zipf’s Law; deviations; Pareto distribution; Multinomial logit |
| JEL: | C16 R00 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11504&r=geo |
| By: | Kuethe, Todd H.; Foster, Kenneth A.; Florax, Raymond J.G.M. |
| Abstract: | The following paper outlines a new econometric model designed to capture both the temporal and spatial dynamics of housing prices. The paper combines existing spatial econometric techniques with a model that allows parameters to evolve over time. In addition, we provide an empirical application to the price effects of confined animal feeding operations to a data set of residential real estate in Tippecanoe County, Indiana from 1993 through 2006. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6306&r=geo |
| By: | Canning, Patrick; Perez, Agnes |
| Abstract: | This study examines wine trade in the United States to assess the impact of higher energy costs on the average distance of world and U.S. regional wine shipments, or wine miles, to U.S. markets. To examine this issue we calibrate a spatial equilibrium model of the U.S. wine industry. The model accounts for (i) consumer preferences for variety, (ii) monopolistic-competition/increasing-returns in the production of differentiated wine products, and (iii) transportation costs. Wine production areas are grouped into nine U.S. and seven world producing regions. U.S. markets are grouped into the 50 States plus the District of Columbia. Results indicate that U.S. consumers are willing to pay substantial transportation costs in order to consume a wide variety of wines from premier U.S. and world wine growing regions. As increasing energy costs drive up the price of freight services, wine mile impacts are limited by the degree of regional product differentiation in U.S. and world producing regions. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aawewp:43891&r=geo |
| By: | Pede, Valerien O.; Florax, Raymond J.G.M.; Holt, Matthew T. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates non-linearity in spatial processes models and allows for a gradual regime-switching structure in the form of a smooth transition autoregressive process. Until now, applications of the smooth transition autoregressive (STAR) model have been largely confined to the time series context. The paper focuses on extending the non-linear smooth transition perspective to spatial processes models, in which spatial correlation is taken into account through the use of a so-called weights matrix identifying the topology of the spatial system. We start by deriving a non-linearity test for a simple spatial model, in which spatial correlation is only included in the transition function. Next, we propose a non-linearity test for a model that includes a spatially lagged dependent variable or spatially autocorrelated innovations as well. Monte Carlo simulations of the various test statistics are performed to examine their power and size. The proposed modeling framework is then used to identify convergence clubs in the context of U.S. county-level economic growth over the period 1963€Ӳ003. |
| Keywords: | spatial econometrics, non-linearity, utoregressive smooth transition, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C12, C21, C51, O18, R11, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6518&r=geo |
| By: | Sarmiento, Camilo; Wilson, William W. |
| Abstract: | This article estimates factors that impact location decisions by new ethanol plants using logistic regression analysis and spatial correlation techniques. The results indicate that location decisions are impacted by the agricultural characteristics of a county, competition, and state-level subsidies. Spatial competition is particularly important. Existence of a competing ethanol plant reduces the likelihood of making a positive location decision and this impact decreases with distance. State-level subsidies are significant and a very important factor impacting ethanol location decisions. |
| Keywords: | ethanol, location decisions, spatial correlation, Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6175&r=geo |
| By: | Gries, Thomas; Naude, Wim |
| Abstract: | Start-ups of new firms are important for economic growth. However, start-up rates differ significantly between countries and within regions of the same country. A large empirical literature studies the reasons for this and attempts -Date identify the regional determinants of start-ups. In contrast, there is a much smaller theoretical literature that attempts the formal modelling of the start-up process within a region. In this paper, we attempt -Date contribute -Date this small literature by introducing a general theoretical model of the entrepreneurial start-up process. The model links start-ups -Date economic growth and can be applied -Date understand growth in a regional context. We derive five propositions that fit the stylized facts Date the empirical literature: (i) growth in the regional economy is driven by an expansion in the number of start-up firms that supply intermediate goods and services; (ii) improvements in human capital will enhance the rate of start-ups; (iii) improvements in the relative rates of return -Date entrepreneurs and business conditions will raise start-up rates; (iv) an increase in regional financial concentration will reduce the start-up rate in a region and; (v) increased agglomeration/urbanization in a region has an a priori ambiguous effect on start-up rates. |
| Keywords: | start-ups, entrepreneurship, frictions, economic growth |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-70&r=geo |
| By: | Giuri, Paola; Mariani, Myriam |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Previous research suggests that knowledge spillovers benefit from geographical proximity in technologically active and rich regions more than elsewhere. An alternative view explains the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers as a function of the characteristics and personal networks of the individuals. We test these two competing theories by using information provided directly by the inventors of 6,750 European patents (PatVal-EU survey). Our results confirm the importance of inventors' personal background. However, compared to previous research, we find that the level of education of the inventors is key in shaping the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Highly educated inventors rely more on geographically wide research networks than their less educated peers. This holds after controlling for the mobility of the inventors and for the scientific nature of the research performed. Differently, location matters only in the very rare regions in Europe that perform the bulk of the research in the specific discipline of the inventors. |
| Keywords: | education/geography/inventors/knowledge spillovers/patents |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:dynreg31&r=geo |
| By: | McCulloch, Neil; Sjahrir, Bambang Suharnoko |
| Abstract: | Indonesia's"big bang"decentralization in 2001 shifted much of the responsibility for local economic development from central government to district and city governments, which today number more than 450. But the performance of these districts has varied widely. This paper attempts to understand the determinants of sub-national (district/city) growth in Indonesia and map how these determinants have changed since before the 1997/98 economic crisis. The authors exploit a rich dataset that includes a wide range of district-level characteristics, including education, population, cultural, economic, and infrastructure variables, as well as a set of variables relating to distance, to try to explain growth. The analysis finds that, after accounting for differences in other variables, poorer districts tend to grow faster than better off districts. Similarly, there is evidence of spatial divergence, in the sense that districts tend to grow faster if their neighbors are growing quickly. However, the quality of the existing district-level data makes it difficult to identify whether endowments or factors related to distance are systematically associated with growth. |
| Keywords: | Achieving Shared Growth,Economic Growth,Economic Theory&Research,Inequality,Nutrition |
| Date: | 2008–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4769&r=geo |
| By: | Bahlmann, R.D. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen en Econometrie (Free University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics Sciences, Business Administration and Economitrics); Huysman, M.H.; Elfring, T.; Groenewegen, P. |
| Abstract: | Recent theorizing in cluster literature emphasizes the importance of inter-cluster knowledge linkages in addition to local knowledge dynamics, enabling new and innovative ideas to flow from one cluster to the other. This paper contributes to this topic by studying inter-cluster knowledge linkages at an individual level of analysis, making use of qualitative social network measures. Central to this case is the Amsterdam New Media-cluster, with a special focus on entrepreneurs engaging in lively inter-cluster exchange of knowledge and debate, resulting in the exchange of new visions and ideas across cluster boundaries. The results reported in this paper provide us with an opportunity to discuss cluster boundaries as a social construction, especially in relation to the knowledge- based view of clusters. |
| Keywords: | inter-cluster knowledge linkages, entrepreneurship, Amsterdam New Media-cluster, Social networks |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:vuarem:2008-13&r=geo |
| By: | Alexandre Almeida (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); António Figueiredo (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Mário Rui Silva (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | In the spirit of “The Lisbon strategy”, public policies are redirecting support from investment-driven policies to knowledge building as the main driver for competitiveness and innovation. This re-orientation poses different challenges to regions and RIS concept may be the central element, simultaneously goal and toolbox, for devising innovation promotion policies. The RIS framework stresses the need to combine a systemic and inclusive view of innovation along with territorially embedded specificities. In this paper we explore how to operationalize the concept of RIS in terms of innovation policy, arguing against a “one size fits all” approach. Concentrating our analysis on follower regions, we bridge the concept of RIS with the structural deficiencies and challenges posing to this kind of regions, for which innovation policy should seek an adequate combination between science push and demand pull perspectives. We also address the importance of taking advantage of the catching-up status, building upon R&D cost-advantages and clustering around external initiatives as well as the correction of important constraints to the construction of a RIS. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Regional Innovation Systems, Innovation Policy, Follower Regions |
| JEL: | O18 O31 O14 O33 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:301&r=geo |
| By: | Dorfman, Jeffrey H.; Patridge, Mark D.; Galloway, Hamilton |
| Abstract: | We investigate the recently advanced theory that high-technology workers are drawn to high amenity locations and then the high-technology jobs follow the workers. Using a novel data set that tracks high-technology job growth by U.S. county, we estimate spatial parameters of the response of job growth to the level of local natural amenities. We achieve this estimation with a reasonably new class of models, smooth coefficient models. The model is employed in a spatial setting to allow for smooth, but nonparametric response functions to key variables in an otherwise standard regression model. With spatial data this allows for flexible modeling such as a unique place-specific effects to be estimated for each location, and also for the responses to key variables to vary by location. This flexibility is achieved through the non-parametric smoothing rather than by nearest-neighbor type estimators such as in geographically weighted regressions. The resulting model can be estimated in a straightforward application of analytical Bayesian techniques. Our results show that amenities can definitely have a significant effect on high-technology employment growth; however, the effect varies over space and by amenity level. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian econometrics, employment growth, high technology, smooth coefficient models, spatial modeling., Labor and Human Capital, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6459&r=geo |
| By: | Sardana, Kavita; Bowker, J. Michael; Bergstrom, John C.; Starbuck, C. Megan; English, Donald B.K. |
| Abstract: | Spatial differences in site characteristics and user populations may result in heterogeneity of recreation preferences and values across geographic regions. Non-linear mixed effects models provide a potential means of accounting for this heterogeneity. This approach was tested by estimating a national-level recreation demand model with encouraging results. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6437&r=geo |
| By: | Alexandre Almeida (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Cristina Santos (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Mário Rui Silva (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | The concept of Regional Innovation System (RIS) builds upon an integrated perspective of innovation, acknowledging the contribution of knowledge production subsystem, regulatory context and enterprises to a region’s innovative performance. Science and Technology parks can act as a platform to the production of knowledge and its transfer to the economy in the form of spin-offs or simple knowledge spillovers, enhanced by the co-location of R&D university centers and high technology enterprises on site. Although reflecting mainly a science push perspective, they may constitute central nodes in an infrastructural system of competitiveness that articulates other entrepreneurial location sites and bridges Universities to the economy in a more efficient and effective way, being crucial to increasing technology transfer and interchange speed, promoting the technological upgrading of the regional economy. In this paper we discuss the importance of Science and Technology Parks in the building up of a Regional Innovation System, promoting the technological intensification of the economy, a more effective knowledge transfer and sharing and the construction of competitive advantages, with particular importance in follower regions facing structural deficiencies. We oppose to the predominant closed paradigm, which understands science parks’ role in a narrow and “enclavist”, arguing in favor of an open and “integrative” paradigm where the interconnection to other infrastructures and agents boosts the park’s performance and upgrades the regional economies competitiveness infra-structures and innovation capability. We further stress the importance of science parks in signaling capabilities and hence attracting R&D external initiatives, namely, R&D FDI. |
| Keywords: | Science Parks, New technology-based firms, Innovation, Regional Policy |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O38 R58 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:302&r=geo |
| By: | Laura Hering; Sandra Poncet |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the role of economic geography in explaining regional wages in China. It investigates the extent to which market proximity can explain the evolution of wages, and through which channels. We construct a complete indicator of market access at the provincial level from data on domestic and international trade flows; this is introduced in a simultaneous-equations system to identify the direct and indirect effect of market access on wages. The estimation results for 29 Chinese provinces over 1995-2002 suggest that access to sources of demand is indeed an important factor shaping regional wage dynamics in China. We investigate three channels through which market access might influence wages beside direct transport-cost savings: export performance, and human and physical capital accumulation. A fair share of benefits seems to come from enhanced export performance and greater accumulation of physical capital. The main source of influence of market access remains direct transport costs. |
| Keywords: | Economic geography; international trade; wage; trade openness; capital accumulation; China |
| JEL: | F12 F15 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2008-20&r=geo |
| By: | Mercedes Teruel-Carrizosa (GRIT, Universitat Rovira i Virgili); Agustí Segarra-Blasco (GRIT, Universitat Rovira i Virgili) |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the effect of immigration flows on the growth and efficiency of manufacturing firms in Spanish cities. To date, most studies have tended to focus on the effect immigrants have on labour markets at an aggregate level. Here, however, we undertake an exhaustive analysis at the firm level and report conclusive empirical findings. Ten years ago, Spain began to register massive immigration flows, concentrated above all on its most dynamic and advanced regions. Here, therefore, rather than focusing on the impact this has had on Spain’s labour market (changes to the skill structure of the workforce, increase in labour supply, the displacement of native workers, etc.), we examine the arrival of immigrants in terms of the changes this has meant to the structure of the country’s cities and their amenities. Thus, we argue that the impact of immigration on firm performance should not only be considered in terms of the labour market, but also in terms of how a city’s amenities can affect the performance of firms. Employing a panel data methodology, we show that the increasing pressure brought to bear by immigrants has a positive effect on the evolution of labour productivity and wages and a negative effect on the job evolution of these manufacturing firms. In addition, both small and new firms are more sensitive to the pressures of such immigrant inflows, while foreign market oriented firms report higher productivity levels and a less marked impact of immigration than their counterparts. In this paper, we also present a set of instruments to correct the endogeneity bias, which confirms the effect of local immigration flows on the performance of manufacturing firms. |
| Keywords: | firm growth, firm location, regional effects |
| JEL: | L25 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2008-11&r=geo |
| By: | Tanaka, Katsuya; Yoshida, Kentaro; Kawase, Yasushi |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to develop spatially-explicit choice model and investigate its validity and applicability in CA studies. This objective is achieved by applying locally-regressed geographically weighted regression (GWR) and GIS to survey data on hypothetical dogrun facilities (off-leash dog area) in urban recreational parks in Tokyo, Japan. Our results show that spatially-explicit conditional logit model developed in this study outperforms traditional model in terms of data fit and prediction accuracy. Our results also show that marginal willingness-to-pay for various attributes of dogrun facilities has significant spatial variation. Analytical procedure developed in this study can reveal spatially-varying individual preferences on attributes of urban park amenities, and facilitates area-specific decision makings in urban park planning. |
| Keywords: | Choice experiments, conjoint analysis, dogrun, geographically weighted regression, spatial econometrics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea08:6233&r=geo |
| By: | Villano, Renato; Fleming, Euan; Fleming, Pauline |
| Abstract: | Using panel data, we estimate technology gaps for four distinct sheep-producing regions in Eastern Australia (Northern New South Wales, Central and South-Eastern New South Wales, South-Western New South Wales and South-West Victoria) that reflect spatial environmental and technological differences in wool production. A deterministic stochastic metafrontier production function model is estimated that envelops the stochastic frontiers of the four regions. This metafrontier approach enables us to estimate the environment-technology gap ratio that reflects these spatial differences in the environment and variations in production technologies in the wool enterprise for benchmarked farmers in each region. As a result, a more accurate estimation is possible of changes in total factor productivity on farms in the different regions. The major findings are that environment-technology gaps do exist between regions but they are relatively small. Greater variation is apparent within regions. Variation in technical efficiency seems to depend on the harshness of the production environment and whether consultancy advice is regularly received by the benchmarking group. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency, Productivity, Metafrontier, Technology Gaps, Wool Production, Spatial, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare08:6036&r=geo |
| By: | Nijkamp, P. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen en Econometrie (Free University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics Sciences, Business Administration and Economitrics); Zwetsloot, F.; Wal, S. van der |
| Abstract: | Creative regions are nowadays seen as strategic areas for a fierce – and often global – competition. This paper aims to provide an operational assessment framework for judging the innovation potential of competing regions on the basis of indicators that mirror the indigenous regional creative resources. Various evaluation methods are proposed to assess this innovation potential, on the basis of a set of 9 regions in Europe. The robustness of the findings is tested by applying a meta-multicriteria analysis. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:vuarem:2008-17&r=geo |
| By: | Hye Jin Rho; Dean Baker; Danilo Pelletiere |
| Abstract: | This report compares the ownership and rental costs in 100 major U.S. metropolitan areas. Extending the work from a previous CEPR/NLIHC paper, "The Cost of Maintaining Ownership in the Current Crisis: Comparisons in 20 Cities," this study, while demonstrating the wide diversity in housing markets across the nation, finds that in many areas, homeownership costs are in line with rental costs. In these areas, it is practical and desirable to focus on policies that keep homeowners in their homes. The report goes on to show that in bubble-inflated markets, however, homeownership is not only a costly and risky proposition, but continuing price declines mean that homeowners will not accrue any equity. The authors suggest that policy makers should be sure to consider affordable rental options as part of the solution when drafting proposals to help households in these markets. |
| Keywords: | housing bubble, homeownership, housing policy |
| JEL: | G G21 G28 R R21 L85 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2008-14&r=geo |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Tselios, Vassilis |
| Abstract: | Does inequality matter for regional growth? This paper addresses this question by using microeconomic data for more than 100,000 individuals over a period of 5 years from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) dataset, complemented with Eurostat's Regio data, in order to examine the impact of income and educational distribution on regional economic growth. Educational distribution is measured in terms of educational achievement as well as educational inequality, and income distribution in terms of income per capita and income inequality, not only for the whole of the population, but also for normally working people. Our results indicate that, given existing levels of inequality, an increase in a region's income and educational inequality has a significant positive relationship with subsequent economic growth. Nevertheless, the reverse does not seem to be the case, as we do not find a causal link between growth and changes in inequality levels. Despite the fact that educational achievement is positively correlated with economic growth, the results also suggest that inequalities in income and educational attainment levels matter more for economic performance than average income and educational attainment, respectively. Initial income levels, in contrast, are irrelevant for regional economic growth as they are very sensitive to the inclusion of control variables. |
| Keywords: | Income inequality,educational attainment,educational inequality,economic growth,regions,Europe/growth |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:dynreg34&r=geo |
| By: | Dean Baker; Danilo Pelletiere; Hye Jin Rho |
| Abstract: | This report compares the ownership and rental costs in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas. The study finds that in many markets, homeownership costs are in line with rental costs. In these areas, it is practical and desirable to focus on policies that keep homeowners in their homes. The report goes on to show that in bubble-inflated markets, however, homeownership is not only a costly and risky proposition, but continuing price declines mean that homeowners will not accrue any equity. The authors suggest that policy makers should be sure to consider affordable rental options as part of the solution when drafting proposals to help households in these markets. |
| Keywords: | housing bubble, homeownership, housing policy |
| JEL: | G G21 G28 R R21 L85 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2008-12&r=geo |