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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Artis, Michael J; Miguélez, Ernest; Moreno, Rosina |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the influence of agglomeration economies on economic outcomes across British regions. The concentration of economic activity in one place can foster economic performance due to the reduction in transportation costs, the ready availability of customers and suppliers, and knowledge spillovers. However, the concentration of several types of intangible assets can boost productivity as well. Thus, using an interesting dataset which proxies regional productivity, we will assess the relative importance of agglomeration and other assets, controlling both for endogeneity and for spatial autocorrelation at the same time. Our results suggest that agglomeration has a definite positive influence on productivity, although our estimates of its effect are dramatically reduced when spatial dependence and other hitherto omitted variables proxying intangible assets are controlled for. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies; endogeneity; intangible assets; spatial autocorrelation |
| JEL: | C21 R10 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7267&r=geo |
| By: | Muriel Fadairo (CREUSET - Centre de Recherche Economique de l'Université de Saint-Etienne - CNRS : FRE2938 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne); Nadine Massard (CREUSET - Centre de Recherche Economique de l'Université de Saint-Etienne - CNRS : FRE2938 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne) |
| Abstract: | The "Geography of Innovation" is based on the desire to give empirical foundations to the explanations behind the pronounced spatial polarisation of the innovation activities. It focuses on an attempt to measure the spatial dimension of knowledge externalities, in order to reveal their role in the organisation of research systems. The aim of this paper is to survey this empirical literature in order to highlight the main results interesting for the innovation policy. This analysis emphasises one main role of technology policy : supporting the institutions which generate knowledge and learning. These are found at various territorial levels, especially within the European Union. Here attention is drawn to the regional intervention level. |
| Keywords: | technology policy, geography of innovation, knowledge externalities, European regions, knowledge-based economy |
| Date: | 2009–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00377007_v1&r=geo |
| By: | Ron Johnston; Michael Poulsen; James Forrest |
| Abstract: | Much work on residential segregation in urban areas has focused on aspatial indices of urban residential segregation, largely ignoring locational aspects of the degree of spatial separation of different ethnic groups. The adoption of measures of global and local spatial autocorrelation has recently been suggested as a way of introducing a more explicit spatial approach to studying segregation. This paper uses two of those measures – Moran’s I and Getis and Ord’s G* – to explore segregation of the four main ethnic groups in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest and most multi-ethnic city, at the four most recent censuses held there. They are used to identify the clusters of census reporting units (meshblocks) where each group is significantly over- and under-represented, and to chart the degree of segregation within such clusters. |
| Keywords: | segregation, ethnicity, Auckland, local statistics |
| JEL: | R1 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:09/214&r=geo |
| By: | Ron Johnston; Michael Poulsen; James Forrest |
| Abstract: | Much has been written about ethnic residential segregation in urban areas, almost all of it deploying single-index numbers to measure the degree of segregation. These give very little detailed appreciation of the extent to which different ethnic groups live apart from each other, and where. This paper suggests that a combination of measures derived from local spatial statistics, which identify the geography of clustering, and a typology of residential areas, which describes the population composition of each area, provides much greater insight into the nature and extent of segregation. Data for London in 2001 illustrate the potential of this approach. |
| Keywords: | segregation, ethnicity, London, local statistics |
| JEL: | R1 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:09/213&r=geo |
| By: | Andersson, Martin (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Koster, Sierdjan (Urban and Regional Studies Institute, Faculty of Spatial Science, University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between start-up rates and regional economic development has been studied rather extensively in recent years. Dynamics in start-up rates have however received considerably less attention. In this paper we analyze the persistence of start-up rates across Swedish regions over a decade and analyze the sources of persistence. We find overall persistence in start-up rates. Start-up rates of a decade earlier are able to explain over 40 % of the variation in current start-up rates across regions. The paper introduces and tests two mechanisms that can account for persistence in start-up rates across regions: (i) path-dependence in start-up activity, such that there is a response mechanism between previous and current start-up activity and (ii) spatially ‘sticky’ and durable determinants of start-ups. A dynamic panel analysis applying the system GMM estimator of lagged start-up rates on current start-up rates, confirms that persistence in start-up activity can be explained by both effects. Using transition probability analysis and quantile regression techniques, we also show that there is a regional dimension in persistence. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; start-ups; persistence; path-dependence; start-up dynamics; geography of entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | L26 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0177&r=geo |
| By: | Aiello, Francesco; Pupo, Valeria |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the economic effects of Structural Funds in Italy. After presenting the distribution of Funds across Italian Regions over the period 1996-2007 and documenting how the Regions manage the financial resources recevied by EU, the paper assesses the impact of Structural Funds on the regional convergence process. While the impact of Funds is positive when considering the growth of regional GDP per capita, this evidence is not confirmed when using the convergence of labour productivity. |
| Keywords: | Structural Funds. Economic Divide in Italy. Convergence. |
| JEL: | R58 H50 C23 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14429&r=geo |
| By: | Kenneth K. Chow (Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research); Matthew S. Yiu (Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research); Charles Ka Yui Leung (City University of Hong Kong); Dickson C. Tam (China International Capital Corporation Limited) |
| Abstract: | The "overheating" of the Chinese housing market in recent years has caught the attention of policy makers, the research community, as well as the general public. Leung and Wang (2007) shows that the qualitative features of the aggregate Chinese housing market are well captured by the DiPasquale-Wheaton (1992) model. This paper estimates a version of the DiPasquale-Wheaton (1994) model with four major Chinese cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing. It examines the factors which affect the housing price and construction. Policy implications and future research directions are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Housing Market Dynamics, Cross-city Difference, Panel Data Method |
| JEL: | C33 E30 R00 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hkm:wpaper:212008&r=geo |
| By: | O. Ashton Morgan; Stuart E. Hamilton |
| Abstract: | In small coastal communities with uniform flood risk, amenity value is comprised of two components – view and access. Having controlled for view, it is assumed that any residual amenity value represents the benefit derived from households from accessing the beach for leisure or recreational purposes. However, as properties closer to the beach typically have improved viewsheds, the two amenities are highly correlated, and disentangling view and access is problematical. We posit that for many coastal communities, access is restricted to designated public access points, precluding local residents from accessing the beach area directly from their property. To appropriately account for restricted access, we incorporate a network distance access measure into a spatial autoregressive hedonic model to capture ease of beach access for local residents. Our findings suggest that, as network distance varies independently from property viewshed, collinearity effects are mitigated, and access and view can be disentangled. Key Words: |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:09-10&r=geo |
| By: | Giuseppe C.Ruggeri (University of New Brunswick) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the methodology for the calculation of federal fiscal flows in a federation and the measurement of interregional redistribution. It identifies five major steps: (a) the selection of the approach for calculating federal fiscal flows, (b)the allocation of federal revenues and expenditures among regions, (c) the choice of the appropriate concept of regional economic disparities, (d) the selection of the relevant indicators of interregional redistribution, and (e) the estimation of these indicators. It concludes with some suggestions for further research, stressing the need to develop a common methodology and to place the study of interregional redistribution in a dynamic context. |
| Keywords: | Methodology, interregional redistribution, fiscal federalism. |
| JEL: | B41 H77 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2009/4/doc2009-4&r=geo |
| By: | Björn Alecke; Timo Mitze; Gerhard Untiedt |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the causal linkages between regional labour market variables and internal migration flows among German states between 1991–2006. We adopt a Panel VAR approach to identify the feedback effects among the variables and analyse the dynamic properties of the system through impulseresponse functions.We also use the model to track the evolution of the particular East-West migration since re-unification aiming to shed more light on the East German “empirical puzzle”, characterized by lower migration responses than expected from the regional labour market position relative to the West. We indeed get evidence for such a puzzle throughout the mid-1990s, which is likely to be caused by huge West-East income transfers, a fast exogenously driven wage convergence and the possibility of East-West commuting. However, we also observe an inversion of this relationship for later periods:That is, along with a second wave of East-West movements around 2001 net flows out of East Germany were much higher than expected after controlling for its weak labour market and macroeconomic performance. Since this second wave is also accompanied by a gradual fading out of economic distortions, this supports the view of “repressed” migration flows for that period. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration, Panel VAR, System GMM |
| JEL: | C33 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0096&r=geo |
| By: | Tara Watson |
| Abstract: | American metropolitan areas have experienced rising residential segregation by income since 1970. One potential explanation for this change is growing income inequality. However, measures of residential sorting are typically mechanically related to the income distribution, making it difficult to identify the impact of inequality on residential choice. This paper presents a measure of residential segregation by income, the Centile Gap Index (CGI) which is based on income percentiles. Using the CGI, I find that a one standard deviation increase in income inequality raises residential segregation by income by 0.4-0.9 standard deviations. Inequality at the top of the distribution is associated with more segregation of the rich, while inequality at the bottom and declines in labor demand for less-skilled men are associated with residential isolation of the poor. Inequality can fully explain the rise in income segregation between 1970 and 2000. |
| JEL: | R21 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14908&r=geo |