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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Lauridsen, Jørgen T. (Centre of Health Economics Research (COHERE)); Zeren, Fatma (Department of Econometrics); Ari, Ayse (Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The study investigates selected factors affecting crime rates in the EU-15 countries during the years 2000 to 2007 with an especial focus on inflation rate, level of education, income and employment. While these topics have been investigated in former studies, the present study adds by introducing spatial panel data methods to the case. Regarding the effects of these factors, the present study obtains results comparable to those from former studies, whereby the robustness of these are confirmed. |
| Keywords: | Determinants of crime rates; cost-benefit analysis of crime; EU countries; spatial panel data analysis |
| JEL: | A12 C50 K40 |
| Date: | 2013–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2013_002&r=geo |
| By: | Hideaki Hirata; M. Ayhan Kose; Christopher Otrok |
| Abstract: | Both global and regional economic linkages have strengthened substantially over the past quarter century. We employ a dynamic factor model to analyze the implications of these linkages for the evolution of global and regional business cycles. Our model allows us to assess the roles played by the global, regional, and country-specific factors in explaining business cycles in a large sample of countries and regions over the period 1960-2010. We find that, since the mid-1980s, the importance of regional factors has increased markedly in explaining business cycles especially in regions that experienced a sharp growth in intra-regional trade and financial flows. By contrast, the relative importance of the global factor has declined over the same period. In short, the recent era of globalization has witnessed the emergence of regional business cycles. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles, Comovement; Synchronization, Trade linkages, Financial linkages |
| JEL: | C11 C32 E32 F41 F42 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2013-09&r=geo |
| By: | Lööf, Hans (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Nabavi, Pardis (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the productivity and growth of Swedish exporting firms. Using data on 9,580 manufacturing firms with 10 or more employees for the period 1997-2008, it estimates a dynamic GMM model that captures both the impact of recurrent knowledge investment through innovation and potential spillovers from the local milieu. The majority of the exporting firms are non-innovative. The data reveal that patent applicants located in knowledge intense milieus account for almost 40 percent of total Swedish exports, but only 2 percent of the firms. From the regressions it is shown that, relative to a firm that does not engage in innovation and has scarce access to external knowledge, the level of productivity is 2-12 percent higher for an innovative firm, depending on how innovation is defined and where the innovator is located. The annual long-run growth rate is 0.2-0.7 higher for innovative firms. Moreover, the performance gap between innovative and non-innovative exporters increases with accessibility to external knowledge for the former. |
| Keywords: | Productivity; exports; innovation; geographical knowledge spillovers; panel data |
| JEL: | C23 F14 L25 O31 R32 |
| Date: | 2013–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0296&r=geo |
| By: | Zahabi, Seyed Amir H.; Miranda-Moreno, Luis; Patterson, Zachary; Barla, Philippe |
| Abstract: | This work examines the temporal-spatial variations of daily automobile distance traveled and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and their association with built environment attributes and household socio-demographics. A GHGs household inventory is determined using link-level average speeds for a large and representative sample of households in three origin-destination surveys (1998, 2003 and 2008) in Montreal, Canada. For the emission inventories, different sources of data are combined including link-level average speeds in the network, vehicle occupancy levels and fuel consumption characteristics of the vehicle fleet. Built environment indicators over time such as population density, land use mix and transit accessibility are generated for each household in each of the three waves. A latent class (LC) regression modeling framework is then implemented to investigate the association of built environment and socio-demographics with GHGs and automobile distance traveled. Among other results, it is found that population density, transit accessibility and land-use mix have small but statistically significant negative impact on GHGs and car usage. Despite that this is in accordance with past studies, the estimated elasticities are greater than those reported in the literature for North American cities. Moreover, different household subpopulations are identified in which the effect of built environment varies significantly. Also, a reduction of the average GHGs at the household level is observed over time. According to our estimates, households produced 15% and 10% more GHGs in 1998 and 2003 respectively, compared to 2008. This reduction is associated to the improvement of the fuel economy of vehicle fleet and the decrease of motor-vehicle usage. A strong link is also observed between socio-demographics and the two travel outcomes. While number of workers is positively associated with car distance and GHGs, low and medium income households pollute less than high-income households. |
| Keywords: | Greenhouse gas emissions, spatio-temporal variations, built environment, latent class regression, household clusters, Environmental Economics and Policy, R42, R48, Q54, Q58, |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:144271&r=geo |
| By: | Hess, Wolfgang (Department of Economics, Lund University); Persson, Maria (Department of Economics, Lund University); Rubenbauer, Stephanie (Department of Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich); Gertheiss, Jan (Department of Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich) |
| Abstract: | When analyzing panel data using regression models, it is often reasonable to allow for time-varying covariate effects. We propose a novel approach to modelling timevarying coefficients in panel data regressions, which is based on penalized regression techniques. To illustrate the usefulness of this approach, we revisit the well-known empirical puzzle of the 'death of distance' in international trade. We find significant differences between results obtained with the proposed estimator and those obtained with 'traditional' methods. The proposed method can also be used for model selection, and to allow covariate effects to vary over other dimensions than time. |
| Keywords: | Penalized Regression; Lasso-type Penalties; Varying Coefficient Models; Gravity; Death of Distance; Missing Globalization Puzzle |
| JEL: | C23 C52 F10 |
| Date: | 2013–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2013_005&r=geo |
| By: | Andersson, Martin (CIRCLE Lund University, Blekinge Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | It is often claimed that there are locally embedded values and attitudes towards entrepreneurship, exerting a strong influence on the rate and level of entrepreneurial activity in regions. The concept of regional entrepreneurship culture aims to capture such phenomena, and refers in a general sense to the level of social acceptance and encouragement of entrepreneurs and their activities in a region. This paper discusses regional entrepreneurship culture as a source of persistent differences in regional rates of new firm formation, and presents a number of empirical regularities for Sweden to illustrate the empirical relevance of the main arguments. Using data on rates of new firm formation across Swedish regions over time, the paper further explores the association between start-up activity and the business cycle, as well as how the geographic distribution of start-up rates changes during a major economic crisis. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; start-ups; geography; culture; business cycles; social capital; persistence |
| JEL: | L26 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_001&r=geo |
| By: | Balsvik, Ragnhild (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Skaldebø, Linde Tøndel (Chr. Michelsen Institute) |
| Abstract: | What drives the observed tendency of new FDI, other things equal, to be attracted to locations where many other foreign investors are located? One explanation in the literature on FDI location is that expected bene ts from agglomeration externalities make rms want to locate in agglomerated regions. Alternatively, potential investors get information about conditions in a host from rms in their own business network that already have experience from that country. We study how Norwegian FDI location choice depends on previous Norwegian presence, using information about institutional quality to separate the impact of information sharing from agglomeration externalities. The impact of previous Norwegian investors is larger in countries with low institutional quality. We interpret this as consistent with the presence of information sharing among Norwegian investors. |
| Keywords: | FDI; location choice; networks; information; agglomeration. |
| JEL: | D80 F23 |
| Date: | 2013–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2013_003&r=geo |
| By: | Juan Felipe García; Daniel Mejia; Daniel Ortega |
| Abstract: | The Plan Nacional de Vigilancia Comunitaria por Cuadrantes (PNVCC) is a new police patrolling program introduced in the eight major cities of Colombia in 2010 by the National Police. The strategy divides the largest cities into small geographical areas (cuadrantes), assigns six policemen to each, establishes a new patrolling protocol involving more community contact, and holds officers accountable for crime in their assigned area. The plan warranted a comprehensive training program for over 9,000 police officers aimed at improving interpersonal skills and implementation of the new patrolling protocols. By staggering the training schedule between three randomly chosen cohorts of police stations, we generate experimental variation in the exposure to training and in the effective implementation of the new police protocols induced by the Plan Cuadrantes. Comparing the 4 months immediately after training with the same months from the previous year, we find a significant reduction in several types of crime attributable to the training program, ranging from around .13 of a standard deviation for homicides to .18 of a standard deviation for brawls. These impacts are driven by very large effects in high crime areas and very small -or zero- effects in low crime neighborhoods. Once we take into account the high spatial concentration of crime, the estimated effects account for an overall reduction in the number of homicides of about 22%. We suggest that the training program affected crime by increasing the patrol police’s sense of accountability to the population and also possibly through higher police motivation. Large efficiency gains in public service provision may be attainable with relatively inexpensive interventions that bring public servants closer to their clients. |
| Date: | 2013–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:010497&r=geo |
| By: | Romão, João (University of Algarve); Rodrigues, Paulo M. (University of Algarve); Guerreiro, João (University of Algarve) |
| Abstract: | The differentiation of tourism destinations depends on the innovative integration of local cultural and natural characteristics of the territory into the regional touristic supply. A panel data model is used to identify – and to confirm – the influence of these “new” conditions for sustainable tourism development in the regional attractiveness in Southwest Europe, between 2003 and 2008. Other “traditional conditions” are also taken into consideration, namely those related to infrastructures and economic conditions. The work includes a critical literature review on the regional tourism systems, their relation with regional systems of innovation and the contribution of natural and cultural assets for the differentiation of tourism destinations. |
| Keywords: | Tourism; Innovation; Differentiation; Nature; Heritage; Region |
| JEL: | C23 O33 Q56 |
| Date: | 2013–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:cieodp:2013_003&r=geo |