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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Aldashev, Alisher (Kazakh-British Technical University of Almaty); Dietz, Barbara (Institute for Eastern European Studies, Regensburg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze economic and spatial determinants of interregional migration in Kazakhstan using quarterly panel data on region to region migration in 2008-2010. In line with traditional economic theory we find that migration is determined by economic factors, first of all income: People are more likely to leave regions where incomes are low and more likely to move to regions with a higher income level. As predicted by gravity arguments, mobility is larger between more populated regions. Furthermore, distance has a strong negative impact on migration, indicating high migration related costs and risks. Assuming that high migration costs are caused by poor infrastructure, investments in public and social infrastructure should facilitate regional income convergence in Kazakhstan and improve living standards in depressed regions. |
| Keywords: | interregional migration, Kazakhstan, gravity model |
| JEL: | J61 P36 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6289&r=geo |
| By: | Monastiriotis, Vassilis; Kaplanis, Ioannis |
| Abstract: | Employment flexibility is commonly associated to greater labour mobility and thus faster cross-regional adjustments. The literature however offers very little hard evidence on this and quite limited theoretical guidance. This paper examines empirically the relationship between employment flexibility and cross-regional adjustment (migration) at the regional and local levels in the UK. Employment flexibility is associated to higher labour mobility (but only at a rather localised scale) and at the same time seems to reduce the responsiveness of migration to unemployment. This suggest that rising flexibility may be linked to higher persistence in spatial disparities, as intra-regional adjustments are strengthened while extraregional adjustments weakened. Keywords: Employment flexibility, regional migration, labour market adjustment JEL Codes: R11, R23, J08, J61 |
| Keywords: | Ocupació, Mercat de treball, Migració interna, 331 - Treball. Relacions laborals. Ocupació. Organització del treball, |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/179671&r=geo |
| By: | Fabiano COMPAGNUCCI (IUAV - Venezia); Augusto CUSINATO (IUAV - Venezia) |
| Abstract: | The spatial implications of fordist and district-based patterns of development have had a profound effect on the debate about the role of the city. While the city is reputed to be the crucial provider of fixed social capital within the fordist model, its role seems more nuanced, if not disputable, when the district model prevails. This disregard for the city is probably due to (a) the fact that the revival of the debate on marshallian industrial districts (IDs) has placed strong emphasis on the agglomeration economies internal to the districts themselves, when not emphasising the burden of urban diseconomies; and (b) the countryside roots of most district pioneers. The quarrel was further fuelled with the advent of ICTs, and the feasibility of displacing productive phases at a global level. The paper argues that this is only the early part of the history. The advent of ICTs has had not only functional consequences but also an important impact on the internal organisation of firms and industry and on economic geography as a whole. It has also made knowledge and innovation the crucial drivers of the competitiveness of firms and local economic systems. The notion of knowledge has profoundly changed too, and the main change consists in the shift that is occurring within the industry itself from the ontological to the hermeneutical approach. According to this view, the main hypothesis is that the city is a crucial socio-spatial device for knowledge generation. The paper investigates this issue on both the theoretical and the empirical level by introducing a new analytical category - "Knowledge-creating services (KCS)". With reference to the Italian case, the outcomes corroborate the above hypothesis and open an original perspective on the relationships between the city and IDs in the knowledge age: the city is shown to be not only the gateway for functionally connecting IDs with the global market but also a true Knowledge-creating District. Within this new situation, a reassessment is needed of the relationships between IDs and the city, due to the misalignment that is likely to occur between competences in "producing" manufactured goods and knowledge. |
| Keywords: | city, industrial districts, knowledge economy |
| JEL: | O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:365&r=geo |
| By: | Francesca Mameli; Simona Iammarino; Ron Boschma |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of regional sectoral diversity on regional employment growth in Italy over the period 1991-2001. Assuming that externalities may be stronger between industries selling similar products or sharing the same skills and technology (i.e. related industries), we analyze the role of different forms of sectoral variety at the Local Labour System (LLS) level. Our results show strong evidence of a general beneficial effect of a diversified sectoral structure but suggest also the need to differentiate the analysis between manufacturing and services. In particular, overall local employment growth seems to be favoured by the presence of a higher variety of related service industries, while no role is played by related variety in manufacturing. When looking at diversity externalities between macro-aggregates, the service industry is affected by related variety in manufacturing, while no evidence of externalities is found from tertiary sectors to manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | related variety, knowledge spillovers, agglomeration economies, regional growth, Italy |
| JEL: | D62 O18 O52 R11 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1203&r=geo |
| By: | Emanuela Marrocu; Raffaele Paci |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to assess the role played by creativity and other components of human capital on the process of economic growth for 257 regions in the 27 member countries of the European Union. We first decompose the regional human capital endowment to distinguish between the educational component (the share of individuals with a university degree) and the creativity component, which considers the actual occupations of individuals in specific jobs like science, engineering, education, arts and entertainment. We define three non overlapping categories of human capital (creative graduates, bohemians and non creative graduates) which are simultaneously included in a spatial model as determinants of regional growth measured by labour productivity. After extending the analysis to control for other relevant factors which may affect regional development, such as physical, technological and social capital, cultural diversity, industrial and geographical characteristics, we provide robust evidence on the growth enhancing effects of graduates, in particular for those of the creative category. |
| Keywords: | human capital; creativity; regional growth |
| JEL: | R11 J24 O40 C21 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201202&r=geo |
| By: | Barbara Pistoresi; Valeria Venturelli |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the relationship between finance and regional economic growth. The dataset consists of a panel of 53 regions belonging to three countries, Germany, Italy and Spain, for the period 1995-2008. To avoid a problem of endogeneity, we estimate a dynamic panel using the generalised method of moments (GMM). The results underline the important role played by bank lending in regional economic growth. The distinction between mutual and commercial credit suggests that both types of bank are important for regional growth but the role of mutual banks is greater in economically deprived areas [EDAs]. Similar results are obtained for the venture capital variable |
| Keywords: | regional economic growth, relationship lending, venture capital, economically deprived areas, dynamic panel techniques |
| JEL: | C21 G21 G24 O43 O57 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0680&r=geo |
| By: | Wrede, Matthias |
| Abstract: | Combining a spatial equilibrium model with a matching unemployment model, this paper analyzes the regional quality of life when wages, rents, and unemployment risk compensate for local amenities and disamenities. In particular, the paper shows for quasi-linear utility that the effects of any amenity on wages and unemployment rates are of opposite sign. Additionally, the wage rate and the labor market tightness increase and the unemployment ratio decreases in reaction to an increase in the level of an amenity if the amenity is marginally more beneficial to producers than to consumers per unit of land. Based on the model, quality of life of the unemployed in West German counties is estimated. -- |
| Keywords: | quality of life,unemployment,matching,mobility |
| JEL: | R12 R13 R14 H22 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwqwdp:012012&r=geo |
| By: | João Carlos Lopes; Tanya Araujo |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to further understanding the economic performance of Portuguese and Spanish regions, using a stochastic network approach. The empirical analysis is made at the territorial level of NUT 3 regions and covers the period 1995-2008. The performance of regions is based on GDP per capita at Purchasing Power Standards. The network analysis is based on a metric space built from the correlation coefficients between the log-difference of annual growth rates. The metric space and the corresponding topological coefficients are compared with the independent performance of randomly generated data. The metric space is graphically represented along the 3 dominant eigenvalues and the strongest connections are selected and represented in a network of Iberian regions. The main purpose of this research is to find the most relevant geographical and demographic determinants of regional development, namely a “border effect”, an “interiority (without border) effect”, a “coastal effect”, a “metropolitan effect” and an “ultra periphery effect”. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:isegwp:wp042012&r=geo |
| By: | Riccardo Crescenzi (London School of Economics); Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (IMDEA Social Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses recent developments in the literature on local and regional innovative performance in order to show how an 'integrated' conceptual framework based on the cross-fertilisation of different theories can serve as a foundation for the comparative analysis of territorial innovation dynamics in both developed and developing countries. The paper outlines a conceptual framework to explain the differences between innovation systems and their geography by drawing on elements of endogenous growth, new economic geography and regional innovation systems. This framework forms the basis of the subsequent analysis of the differences in innovative capacity between the European Union, the Unites States – as the leader system to be challenged – and China and India as emerging competitors for international technological leadership. The systematic analysis of a large body of empirical literature shows important differences between the spatial patterning of 'emerging' (China and India) and 'mature' (EU and US) innovation systems. |
| Keywords: | innovation systems; geography; endogenous growth; new economic geography; Europe; United States; China; India |
| Date: | 2012–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2012-02&r=geo |
| By: | Sebastian Klüsener (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Brienna Perelli-Harris (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Nora Elisa Sanchez Gassen (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of states and regions in shaping spatial patterns of non-marital fertility in Europe since 1960 using a dataset of 497 European subnational regions and smaller countries. Almost all regions registered substantial nonmarital fertility increases over the last 50 years. Prior research by Watkins (1991) has shown that in the first half of the 20th century states played a dominant role in drawing the demographic map of Europe. As a result, subnational regional variation decreased, while differences between countries increased. In this paper, we investigate whether states continue to play such a dominant role in delineating patterns of nonmarital fertility between 1960 and 2007. We find that variation in nonmarital fertility levels increased as a whole across Europe, and states continued to be important for determining these patterns. However, the role of states relative to regions declined in the latest period examined (1990 and 2007). Possible explanations for the changes include increased supranational integration, for example within the European Union, and decentralisation within states leading to increases in variation in subnational contextual conditions. |
| Keywords: | Europe, fertility, geography, nuptiality, spatial analysis |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2012-005&r=geo |
| By: | João Pereira (University of Évora, Department of Economics and CEFAGEUE); Aurora Galego (University of Évora, Department of Economics and CEFAGEUE) |
| Abstract: | TTypically, studies on regional wage differentials are based on OLS estimates and use Blinder (1973) and Oaxaca (1973) decomposition. Quantile regression is an alternative approach which allows for studying these differences across the whole wage distribution. In this study, the quantile regression framework is considered for the analysis of regional wage differences in Portugal. Our findings reveal significant differences in wage equations coefficients between regions for the various quantiles. Furthermore, we conclude that the regional wage differentials and the components explained by differences in endowments and differences in returns increase across the whole wage distribution. |
| Keywords: | Regions; Wage differentials; Quantile regression; Quantile-based decompositions. |
| JEL: | J31 J38 C21 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2011_25&r=geo |
| By: | José M. Albert (Universitat Jaume I); Nikolaos Georgantzis (Universidad de Granada); Jorge Mateu (Universitat Jaume I); José I. Silva (Universitat de Girona) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the spatial distribution of economic activity and labor market variables in Greece from 1980 to 2006. Using a distance-based method within a stochastic point process, we identify two periods with opposite trends regarding the concentration of economic activity in the Greek territory. First, twenty years (1980- 1999) of a moderately decreasing trend of agglomeration due to systematic e®orts by the Greek governments to decentralize the economic activity away from the capital. Second, a short period (2000-2006) of sharp increases in agglomeration, coinciding -in space and time- with the public and private investments for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In the same period, a similar e®ect of a smaller size is observed on the concentration of the labor force, employment and unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Concentration, Olympic Games, D-function, L-function, K-function, point process, spatial economics. |
| JEL: | C15 C16 C21 L16 R10 R50 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2012/02&r=geo |
| By: | Sidorov, Alexander |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the interplay between production, commuting and commuting and costs shapes the economy at intra-urban level. Specifically, we study how economic integration affects the internal stricture of cities and how decentralizing of production and consumption of goods in secondary employment centers allows firms located in a large city to maintain their performance. The main distinctive feature of the model is two-dimensional city structure with variable number of secondary business districts. Several new results in urban economics are established, which all agree with empirical evidence and some of them cannot be obtained in framework of the linear city model. |
| Keywords: | City structure; Secondary business centers; Commuting costs; Communication costs |
| JEL: | F12 R12 R14 |
| Date: | 2012–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36696&r=geo |
| By: | Berliant, Marcus; Zenou, Yves |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to explore the structure of cities as a function of labor differentiation, gains to trade, a fixed cost for constructing the transportation network, a variable cost of commodity transport, and the commuting costs of consumers. Firms use different types of labor to produce different outputs. Locations of all agents are endogenous as are prices and quantities. This is among the first papers to apply smooth economy techniques to urban economics. Existence of equilibrium and its determinacy properties depend crucially on the relative numbers of outputs, types of labor and firms. More differentiated labor implies more equilibria. We provide tight lower bounds on labor differentiation for existence of equilibrium. If these sufficient conditions are satisfied, then generically there is a continuum of equilibria for given parameter values. Finally, an equilibrium allocation is not necessarily Pareto optimal in this model. |
| Keywords: | city structure; heterogeneous labor; transportation network; general equilibrium |
| JEL: | D51 R14 |
| Date: | 2012–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36207&r=geo |
| By: | Arntz, Melanie; Gregory, Terry; Lehmer, Florian |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of gross labour flows in a context where modeling the migration decision as a wage-maximizing process may be inadequate due to regional wage rigidities that result from central wage bargaining. In such a context, the framework that has been developed by Borjas et al. (1992) on the selectivity of internal migrants with respect to skills has to be extended to allow migrants to move to regions that best reward their skills in terms of both wages and employment. The extended framework predicts skilled workers to be disproportionately attracted to regions with higher mean wages and employment rates as well as higher regional wage and employment inequalities. Estimates from a labour flow fixed effects model and a GMM estimator show that these predictions hold, but only the effects for mean employment rates and employment inequality are robust and significant. The paper may thus be able to explain why earlier attempts to explain skill selectivity in Europe within a pure wage-based approach failed to replicate the US results. -- |
| Keywords: | gross migration,selectivity,wage inequality,employment inequality |
| JEL: | R23 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11074&r=geo |
| By: | Pedro Valadas Monteiro (Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries for Algarve region and Research Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, University of Algarve); Teresa de Noronha (Faculty of Economics and Research Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, University of Algarve); Paulo Neto (Economics Department and Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics, University of Évora) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of the current paper is to provide a critical state-of-the-art review of current research on clusters and its correlation to innovation dynamics in small and medium-sized regions. In particular, we focus on the systematization of the main concepts and theoretical insights that are tributary to the cluster overview in terms of its relevance for the sustainability of the innovation processes, knowledge production and diffusion, which take place inside small and medium-sized regions. The present working paper takes into account the initial studies on English industrial districts (in the nineteenth century), passing through the Italian industrial districts (in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century), until the modern theories of business clusters and innovation systems. These frameworks constitute the basis of an approach to endogenous development, which gives a central role to the interaction between economic actors, the society and the institutions and to the identification, mobilization and combination of potential resources within a particular geographical area. |
| Keywords: | Cluster; Innovation; Endogenous development; Territory. |
| JEL: | E23 D23 R12 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2011_24&r=geo |
| By: | Mario J. Crucini; Mototsugu Shintani; Takayuki Tsuruga |
| Abstract: | Using micro price data across US cities, we provide evidence that both the volatility and persistence of deviations from the law of one price (LOP) are positively correlated with the distance between cities. A standard, two-city, equilibrium model with time-varying technology under homogeneous information can predict the relationship between the volatility and distance but not between the persistence and distance. To account for the latter fact, we augment the standard model with noisy signals about the state of nominal aggregate demand that are asymmetric across cities. We further establish that the interaction of imperfect information and sticky prices improves the fit of the model. |
| JEL: | D40 E31 F31 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17815&r=geo |
| By: | Sklias, Pantelis; Tsampra, Maria |
| Abstract: | This paper extrapolates the patterns and volume of business development within the Western Balkans region. This is a war-torn area with social, cultural, religious and political specificities. Despite noticeable institutional and growth progress of the individual countries, regional business is still lagging as persistent state rigidities create trade distortions. We argue that intra-regional business clusters, embedded in shared socio-cultural characteristics, can be the alternative to underdevelopment. Political willingness is the prerequisite, as market forces in transitional areas seem to be of secondary importance to regional business development and integration. New analytical approaches are needed to capture the complex reality. |
| Keywords: | Regional development; business clusters; transition economies |
| JEL: | R58 F23 R12 |
| Date: | 2011–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36341&r=geo |
| By: | Gibbons, Steve (London School of Economics); McNally, Sandra (London School of Economics); Viarengo, Martina (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | Improving the educational attainment of disadvantaged students in urban schools is a priority for policy worldwide, but existing research is equivocal about the effectiveness of additional funding for achieving this objective. This study exploits anomalies in the spatial dimension of school funding policy in England to provide new evidence on this question. An "area cost adjustment" and other aspects of the formula that allocates central grants to Local Authorities (school districts) means that neighbouring schools with similar intakes, operating in the same labour market and facing the same prices for inputs can receive very different incomes. We find that these funding disparities give rise to sizeable differences in pupil attainment in national tests at the end of primary school. This shows that school resources have an important role to play in improving educational attainment. The results have direct implications for the current "Pupil Premium" policy in England. |
| Keywords: | urban schools, education, resources |
| JEL: | R0 I21 H52 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6281&r=geo |
| By: | Aleksejs Melihovs; Igors Kasjanovs |
| Abstract: | This paper, attempting to tackle separately real and structural convergence, is an in-depth study of the convergence processes in Latvia and Europe. Latvia's structural convergence towards both the EU and other neighbouring (Baltic) countries is estimated using the Krugman index. Real convergence processes in the EU, distinguishing between ? convergence and beta convergence, are likewise studied. In addition, cluster analysis with grouping European countries by their structural features is conducted. In this study, the current beta convergence and sigma convergence processes within the EU are identified, yet an in-depth study disclosed that it was mostly the EU12 countries that were the convergence process drivers, with convergence at the regional level well behind that at the national level. The convergence among the EU Member States primarily depended on the wealthier regions of countries becoming richer (characteristic of EU12 in particular), with the process proceeding at a faster pace in relatively poorer countries. This suggests that within a country the discrepancies between rich and poor regions intensify over time. That leads to a conclusion that the European regional policy aimed at decreasing regional income heterogeneity did not prove efficient in the reference period. Structural convergence in Latvia was mainly observed in 2008 and 2009, i.e. the years of real divergence enhanced by the onset of the crisis. Structural convergence in the breakdown of gross value added was mainly driven by the fluctuations of the value added ratio of trade, tourism and transport, manufacturing and construction sector. The conducted cluster analysis demonstrates that over time European countries have become more homogenous or mutually similar in terms of economic structure. A particular focus on the specific economic characteristics of countries leads to a different conclusion: the countries in Europe agglomerated into several specific groups, thus clearly outlining the different drivers of growth in the post-crisis period. |
| Keywords: | Latvia, the EU, structural convergence, real convergence, specialisation, cluster analysis |
| JEL: | C20 C50 F15 E13 E60 |
| Date: | 2011–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ltv:dpaper:201101&r=geo |
| By: | Patrice Engle; Santiago Cueto; María Estela Ortíz; Aimee Verdisco |
| Abstract: | El presente documento entrega el marco conceptual y la fundamentación del Proyecto Regional de Indicadores de Desarrollo Infantil (PRIDI), una iniciativa del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), cuyo objetivo es generar un programa regional de compilación y uso de datos e indicadores comparables de resultados sobre Desarrollo Infantil (DI). Inspirado por las experiencias del Banco en apoyar pruebas estandarizadas como son el LLECE y el SERCE, esperamos que el carácter regional de los resultados sirva para fomentar el diálogo regional de política y para el intercambio de ideas y experiencias. |
| Keywords: | Educación :: Educación y calidad de los maestros, Educación :: Educación en la primera infancia, Educación |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:62398&r=geo |
| By: | Franta, Michal (Czech National Bank); Guzi, Martin (IZA) |
| Abstract: | We explore a potential source of human capital spatial disparities: the unequal access to tertiary education caused by the absence/presence of a local university. Because the entrance to a university is a sequential process in the Czech Republic we model both a student's decision to apply to a university and the admission process. Two possible sources of unequal access to university are distinguished: cost savings and informational advantages for those residing close to a university. Estimation results suggest that the presence of a university per se is not driving student's decision to apply. Further we find that information advantage due to university proximity plays a significant role in the admission process. However this advantage is specific to the field of study, and becomes stronger in the case of highly oversubscribed study fields. To equalize the chance of admission, policy makers should consider geographical expansion of the system of universities accompanied by the expansion of university programs. |
| Keywords: | human capital, spatial distribution, access to tertiary education |
| JEL: | I20 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6285&r=geo |
| By: | Ajay K. Agrawal; Iain M. Cockburn; Alberto Galasso; Alexander Oettl |
| Abstract: | Large labs may spawn spin-outs caused by innovations deemed unrelated to the firm's overall business. Small labs generate demand for specialized services that lower entry costs for others. We develop a theoretical framework to study the interplay of these two localized externalities and their impact on regional innovation. We examine MSA-level patent data during the period 1975-2000 and find that innovation output is higher where large and small labs coexist. The finding is robust to across-region as well as within-region analysis, IV analysis, and the effect is stronger in certain subsamples consistent with our explanation but not the plausible alternatives. |
| JEL: | O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17793&r=geo |
| By: | Schimke, Antje; Teichert, Nina; Ott, Ingrid |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the contribution of local knowledge endowment to employment growth in nanotechnology firms. We exploit a unique data set focusing on firms operating in fields that apply nanotechnology. Our findings suggest that regions that offer knowledge can stimulate employment growth in smaller and younger firms. By contrast, being embedded into specialised regions might be counterproductive, especially for firms belonging to a particularly knowledge intensive sector and older firms. -- |
| Keywords: | employment growth,local knowledge endowment,general purpose technology,specialisation,nanotechnology,spillover |
| JEL: | D83 L25 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:38&r=geo |
| By: | Elena Gennari (Bank of Italy); Giovanna Messina (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | An extensive literature analyses the impact of upper-tier transfers on the spending behaviour of lower level governments. According to the median voter framework, a transfer from the centre should act as a lump sum grant to residents and thus be spent by jurisdictions in the same proportion as residents are willing to spend their own money on public goods and services. But the actual local expenditure response to central government transfers is stronger than predicted by the theory, giving rise to the “flypaper effect”. Using the database on municipal accounts, and various other information sources, this work aims at assessing the size of the effect for Italian municipalities and the symmetry in the local expenditure response to central government transfers. Our dataset enables us also to investigate the role of some political factors. We find a sizeable effect and a remarkable asymmetric response of municipal expenditures to central government transfers as well as a significant role for political variables. |
| Keywords: | flypaper effect, intergovernmental transfers, fiscal federalism |
| JEL: | D72 H30 H72 H77 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_844_12&r=geo |
| By: | Gu, Yiquan; Wenzel, Tobias |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces price-dependent individual demand into the circular city model of product differentiation. We show that for any finite number of firms, a unique symmetric price equilibrium exists provided that demand functions are not too convex. As in the case of unit demand, the number of firms under free entry decreases in the fixed cost of entry while increases in the transportation cost of consumers. However, this number is no longer always in excess of the socially optimal level. Insufficient entry occurs when the fixed and transportation costs are high. -- |
| Keywords: | spatial models,price-dependent demand,horizontal product differentiation,demand elasticity,excess entry theorem |
| JEL: | L11 L13 R1 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:43&r=geo |
| By: | Robert; Claudia Klaerding |
| Abstract: | Economic geographers have recently been confronted with attempts to constitute a new paradigm of evolutionary economic geography. The paper aims at advancing theoretical economic geography by reviewing its core critique and proposed solutions, particularly that of integrating the perspective of a geographical political economy. Although we sympathize with the identified shortcomings of an evolutionary economic geography we criticise the alternative approach for being too narrow and reductionist. In contrast, a relational economic perspective is argued to theorize the core weaknesses of EEG, namely power, social agency and particularly the interrelatedness of influences on different scales, more comprehensively. By combining evolutionary and relational approaches in certain respects we, furthermore, plead for an advancement of theoretical economic geography by engaged pluralism. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary economic geography, sympathetic critique, relational perspective, engaged pluralism |
| JEL: | R11 N94 O14 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1202&r=geo |
| By: | Carree, Martin; Kronenberg, Kristin |
| Abstract: | This study identifies and analyzes the effects of university/college graduates’ personal, household and employment characteristics as well as the attributes of their study, work and home locations on their college-to-work, college-to-residence, and commuting distances. The results illustrate that graduates are drawn to prospering regions with ample job opportunities, supposedly in order to advance their careers. They choose their places of residence so as to balance their commuting distances and the distances to their previous places of study. Residential amenities have a comparatively small effect on graduates’ locational choices, whereas they appear to value accessibility of the place of residence. |
| Keywords: | distance; migration; locational choice; commuting; college-to-work; college-to-residence |
| JEL: | R41 R23 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36221&r=geo |
| By: | H. Spencer Banzhaf; Omar Farooque |
| Abstract: | Understanding the spatial variation in housing prices plays a crucial role in topics ranging from the cost of living to quality-of-life indices to studies of public goods and household mobility. Yet analysts have not reached a consensus on the best source of such data, variously using self-reported values from the census, transactions values, tax assessments, and rental values. Additionally, while most studies use micro-level data, some have used summary statistics such as the median housing value. Assessing neighborhood price indices in Los Angeles, we find that indices based on transactions prices are highly correlated with indices based on self-reported values, but the former are better correlated with public goods. Moreover, rental values have a higher correlation with public goods and income levels than either asset-value measure. Finally, indices based on median values are poorly correlated with the other indices, public goods, and income. |
| JEL: | H4 R2 R30 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17809&r=geo |
| By: | Maria A. Cunha-e-Sa; Sofia F. Franco; Renato Rosa |
| Abstract: | This paper has developed a model of a single forest owner operating with perfect foresight in a dynamic open-city environment that allows for switching between alternative competing land uses (forest and urban use) at some point in the future. The model also incorporates external values of an even-aged standing forest in addition to the value of timber when it is harvested. Timber is exploited based on a multiple rotation model a la Faustmann with clear-cut harvesting. In contrast to previous models, our alternative land use to forest land is endogenous. Within this framework, we study the problem of the private owner as well as that of the social planner, when choosing the time to harvest, the time to convert land and the intensity of development. We also examine the extent to which the two-way linkage between urban development and forest management practices (timber production and provision of forest amenities) contributes to economic efficiency and improvements in non-market forest benefits. Finally, we consider policy options available to a regulator seeking to achieve improvements in efficiency including anti-sprawl policies (impact fees and density controls) and forest policies such a yield tax. Numerical simulations illustrate our analytical results. JEL codes: |
| Keywords: | Deforestation, Urban Development, Forest Management Practices, Anti-Sprawl Policies, Yield Taxes |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp559&r=geo |
| By: | Stávková, Jana; Procházková, Zuzana |
| Abstract: | The paper deals with income differentiation of households in different regions of the Czech Republic. Actual analysis are based on previous considerations about the origins and dynamics of income disparities in the Czech republic, about the method used to definethe group of respondents, the characteristics of a file with an emphasis on the income variable, the share of social transfers in disposable income, indicators of inequality and poverty assessment of vulnerable households. The primary data sourceare the survey results European Union – Statistics onIncome and Living Conditions in 2005 and 2008. This investigation has become obligatory for the Czech Republic after joining the European Union since 2005. The investigation provides long-term comparative data on income and social situation of households. According to common methodology applied within other EU countries results are compare even between EU member states. To achieve the objectives there will be used following methods: descriptive statistics on the characteristics of income (disposable income of households, the share of social transfers in household disposable income, net cash income of households, average income, revenue deficits). For monitoring the level of income inequality and deepness of poverty will be used Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve. Mentioned characteristics will be compared within the regions of the Czech Republic and the trend will be formulated for the period 2005 - 2008.Household income is one of the decisive factors determining the style of family life, their priorities, to meet their needs, and eisure-time activities. Differences between regions determine preferences and identify opportunities. |
| Keywords: | poverty; poverty line; at-risk-of poverty; income situation of households; income situation of population |
| JEL: | I30 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36464&r=geo |