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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2014‒09‒05
twelve papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | M. Deidda |
| Abstract: | This survey reviews theoretical and empirical evidence on the impact of insularity on regional economic development. Far from being a mere geographical condition, insularity can be regarded as a permanent phenomenon of economic and social peripheralization that prevents islands to reach the goals of sustainable development that are reached by the mainland. Even if the issue of the consequences of insularity on economic development is garnering greater interest in light of the growing recognition of the significant economic disadvantage faced by islands, both the theoretical and empirical literature in this regard are fragmented. More importantly, the effects of insularity on economic development are not disentangled from similar conditions such as remoteness, smallness and peripherality. The survey focus as well on the two-sided nature of insularity, since if it is true that islands suffer from permanent handicaps, adequate policy interventions may not only mitigate insularity effect, but also transform insularity into an asset leading a great potential for growth. Finally, some policy suggestions are drawn, highlighting the need for custom-tailored policy measures. |
| Keywords: | Insularity, Islands, regional development |
| JEL: | O50 R12 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201407&r=geo |
| By: | Rickman, Dan S. |
| Abstract: | Intellectual appeal and simplicity of use has led to the widespread application of the spatial hedonic model in assessing regional quality of life. Yet, the traditional spatial hedonic approach contains numerous assumptions, which typically are untested. Violation of the assumptions in practice can lead to significantly biased estimates of regional quality of life. More sophisticated econometric approaches have been developed to reduce the biases. However, each approach typically only addresses one or two of the concerns. More promising, is the use of structural models, which by design have the potential to overcome all the limitations of the spatial hedonic approach. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic estimation; Spatial equilibrium; Quality of life |
| JEL: | Q51 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2014–08–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58109&r=geo |
| By: | Betz, Mike; Farren, Michael; Lobao, Linda; Partridge, Mark D. |
| Abstract: | Coal mining has a long legacy of providing needed jobs in isolated communities but it is also associated with places that suffer from high poverty and weaker long-term economic growth. Yet, the industry has greatly changed in recent decades. Regulations, first on air, have altered the geography of coal mining, pushing it west from Appalachia. Likewise, technological change has reduced labor demand and has led to relatively new mining practices such as invasive mountain-top approaches. Thus, the economic footprint of coal mining has greatly changed in an era when the industry appears to be on the decline. This study investigates whether these changes along with coal’s “boom/bust” cycles have affected economic prosperity in coal country. We separately examine the Appalachian region from the rest of the U.S. due to Appalachia’s unique history and different mining practices. Our study takes a new look at the industry by assessing the winners and losers of coal development around a range of economic indicators and addressing whether the natural resources curse applies to contemporary American coal communities today. The results suggest that modern coal mining has rather nuanced effects that differ between Appalachia and the rest of the U.S. We do not find strong evidence of a resources curse, except that coal mining has a consistent inverse association with measures linked to population growth and entrepreneurship, and thereby future economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Coal, Economic Development, Regional Labor Markets |
| JEL: | O10 O13 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58016&r=geo |
| By: | INOUE Hiroyasu; NAKAJIMA Kentaro; SAITO Yukiko |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the localization of establishment-level knowledge creation by using data from the Japanese patent database. Using distance-based methods, we obtained the following results. First, Japanese patent-creating establishments are significantly localized at the 5% level, with the range of localization at approximately 80 km. Second, localization was found for all patent technology classes, while the extent of localization differs among the classes. Third, the extent of localization is stronger in more creative establishments, in terms of both the number of patents created and the number of citations. These results suggest that geographical proximity is important for knowledge spillover regardless of the concerned technology and that creative establishments require external knowledge. |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:14053&r=geo |
| By: | Drivas, Kyriakos; Economidou, Claire |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relative geographic scope of two different channels of knowledge flows, a market channel where knowledge diffuses via patent transactions and a non-market channel where knowledge spillovers operate via patent citations. While there is significant work on informal non-market channels of knowledge diffusion, formal market channels of knowledge transfer are less studied, primarily due to the lack of comprehensive data. Using a newly compiled dataset by the Office of the Chief Economist at the United States Patent and Trademark Office of transactions of US issued patents, we are able to provide novel insights on the spread of patent transaction flows across the states of the US. Our findings support that geographic proximity, in terms of distance and border, matters for the spread of knowledge for both channels; however, it is more essential to the operation of market based (patent trades) than to the operation of non-market based (citations) flows. Although both flows are highly localized, the geographic scope of knowledge flows based on citations is larger than that of traded patents. Intra-sectoral flows are also found to be very localized with Mechanical sector to exhibit the most geographically confined knowledge flows, while flows from information technology sectors, i.e., Electronics and Computers, are the most far reached compared to the knowledge flows from the rest of the sectors, both in the US and abroad. Finally, there is no nuance evidence that the importance of distance has declined over time, either at state or national level for both types of flows. |
| Keywords: | patent transactions, citations, knowledge flows, localization, distance |
| JEL: | F10 F23 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–08–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58105&r=geo |
| By: | ONO Arito; MIYAKAWA Daisuke; HOSONO Kaoru; UCHIDA Hirofumi; UCHINO Taisuke; UESUGI Iichiro |
| Abstract: | A firm's choice of location is very important because it reveals the firm's dynamics. Using a unique firm-level data set, we examine whether and how the presence of incumbent transaction partners (i.e., suppliers, customers, and lender banks) affects this choice. To this end, we focus on those firms that were forced to relocate their headquarters because of the severe damage inflicted upon them by the Tohoku Earthquake. We find that, after the earthquake, firms tended to move to areas where their customers were located, but not to areas where their suppliers were located. We also find that firms tended to move to areas where the bank branches with which they had transacted were located. Furthermore, we find that the sizable impact of the presence of incumbent customers and banks on the probability of the firms' relocations diminished if the customers and the bank branches also suffered damage from the earthquake. On balance, these results suggest that the presence of healthy transaction partners is an important factor in the firms' choice of location. |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:14054&r=geo |
| By: | Sylvie Charlot (GAEL UMR 1215, INRA; University of Grenoble, France.); Riccardo Crescenzi (London School of Economics, Spatial Economics Research Centre, UK.); Antonio Musolesi (Dept. of Economics and Management. University of Ferrara, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | By adopting a semiparametric approach, the 'traditional' regional knowledge production function is developed in three complementary directions. First, the model is augmented with region-specic time trends in order to account for endogeneity due to selection on unobservables. Second, the nonparametric part of the model relaxes the standard assumptions of linearity and additivity regarding the effect of R&D and human capital. Finally, the assumption of homogeneity in the effects of R&D and human capital is also relaxed by explicitly accounting for the differences between developed and lagging regions. The analysis of the genesis of innovation in the regions of the European Union unveils nonlinearities and threshold effects, complex interactions, and shadows effects that cannot be uncovered by standard parametric formulations. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Europe, R&D, Regional knowledge production function, Semiparametric models |
| JEL: | O32 R11 C14 C23 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:2414&r=geo |
| By: | De Vita, Glauco; Livanos, Ilias; Salotti, Simone |
| Abstract: | Using European Union Labour Force Survey data on over 2.5 million workers in Italian regions for the period 1999-2010, we investigate the determinants of involuntary non-standard (temporary and part-time) employment (INE). We find that regional differences significantly affect the probability of workers being involuntarily employed in non-standard jobs, with higher probabilities for workers in the southern and insular regions than in the rest of the country. Women, young individuals, and low-skilled workers are particularly at risk of INE. The same holds for graduates, whose chances of finding satisfactory full-time permanent jobs are lower than those of individuals with diplomas. Finally, we find that INE follows a counter-cyclical behaviour, with it more likely to be higher when GDP growth is low and unemployment high. |
| Keywords: | Involuntary employment, regions, part-time employment, temporary employment, non-standard employment |
| JEL: | J21 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58117&r=geo |
| By: | Attila Varga |
| Abstract: | Two modern approaches to development policy have recently evolved and dispute with each other, the space-neutral and the place-based approaches Perhaps the most notable conceptual development common in these modern approaches is a strong awareness of the key role of geography in policies targeting aggregate economic growth. It became clear in new policy thinking that the impact of countries' structural policies largely depends not only on the specific instruments (e.g., human capital development, infrastructure investments, SME support) applied but also on the concrete geographic patterns in which these instruments are deployed geographically. It is suggested in this paper that economic models that integrate both the national and regional levels could usefully help policymakers in their choice of a particular geography-instrument mix. I survey the most important modeling challenges raised by modern economic development. To illustrate how economic models can respond to these challenges I briefly introduce the GMR economic modeling approach with a policy analysis application. integrated macro and regional modeling As indicated above it is a conceptual paper with an example application |
| Keywords: | EU, Regional modeling, General equilibrium modeling |
| Date: | 2014–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ekd:006356:7151&r=geo |
| By: | Kenmei Tsubota; Satoru Kumagai; Kazunobu Hayakawa; Ikumo Isono; Souknilanh Keola |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of trade cost reduction on the Asian economy by employing a sub-national level model based on New Economic Geography. Our model comprises seven sectors, including manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors, and 1,715 regions in 18 countries/economies in Asia in addition to the two economies of the US and the European Union. As a Computable General Equilibrium of New Economic Geography, we have developed a simulation model for multi-region and multi-sector that consists of the agriculture sector, five manufacturing sectors and the service sector. We assume that there are increasing returns to scale in manufacturing and service sectors. We have introduced modal choice and separation of trade costs respect to physical and non-physical infrastructure. While physical infrastructure improvements are expected to have a drastic impact on the distribution of economic activities, we found that the positive effects of physical transport infrastructure improvements are rather limited to the neighboring regions of the projects and that the existing concentrations of economic activities are rather persistent. Furthermore, we also find that, besides the ongoing physical transport infrastructure improvements, further trade facilitation or tackling behind-the-border issues among countries could enhance the prevalence of economic growth in each country. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR, Macao, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam with rest of the world, Regional modeling, Impact and scenario analysis |
| Date: | 2013–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ekd:004912:5006&r=geo |
| By: | Adolfo Meisel |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the non-reversal of fortune thesis proposed by Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2002) in the light of the Colombian experience over the last 500 years. Using a total of 14 national population censuses and the record of tributary Indians in 1559, it is found that the population density of Colombian regions presented a high degree of persistence through time. Thus, the evidence indicates that those places that were prosperous circa 1500 remain so today, and viceversa. These results indicate that the long run influences of geography on regional economic disparities within a country are not negligible. |
| Keywords: | Comparative Economic History, Demographic Economics, Latin America. |
| JEL: | N16 J10 N36 |
| Date: | 2014–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000094:012051&r=geo |
| By: | Neumeier, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Die Erreichbarkeit von Einrichtungen der Grundversorgung spielt sowohl für Standortentscheidungen als auch für die individuelle Lebenssituation der Bürger eine wichtige Rolle, denn Erreichbarkeitsverhältnisse bestimmen neben der Qualität des Infrastrukturangebots den regionalen Versorgungsgrad mit Infrastruktur. Damit sind sie ein wichtiger Faktor der regionalen Entwicklung. Auch für die Diskussion über die Sicherung der Daseinsvorsorge sind aktuelle Informationen über die Erreichbarkeit von Einrichtungen der Daseinsvorsorge notwendig, um sich vor dem Hintergrund des normativen Anspruches der Aufrechterhaltung gleichwertiger Lebensbedingungen in allen Landesteilen ein sachliches und realistisches Bild über die derzeitige Situation als Ausgangsbasis für ggf. notwendige Politikmaßnahmen/-interventionen machen zu können. Vor diesem Hintergrund befasst sich die vorliegende Studie mit der Erreichbarkeit von Supermärkten und Discountern als eine - insbesondere in ländlichen Räumen - wichtige Schlüsseldienstleistung für die Versorgung der Bürger mit Gütern und Dienstleistungen des täglichen Bedarfs in engerem Sinn. Dazu wird anhand der Analyse der Erreichbarkeit von Supermärkten und Discountern auf Basis eines rasterbasierten GIS-Erreichbarkeitsmodells ein einfacher generischer Erreichbarkeitsindikator ermittelt. Als Ergebnis lässt sich festhalten, dass in Deutschland ein Supermarkt oder Discounter im Durchschnitt bei 60 km/h innerhalb von 3,4 Minuten Fahrzeit erreicht wird. Allerdings zeigt eine regionalisierte Betrachtung, dass vor allem in ländlichen Räumen Entfernun-gen von mehr als 15 km in Kauf genommen werden müssen, um den dem Wohnort nächstgelegenen Supermarkt oder Discounter zu erreichen. Eine Abschätzung der davon betroffenen Bevölkerung hat ergeben, dass dies nur für einen sehr kleinen Anteil von ca. 0,1 % der Bürger zutrifft. Fußläufig sind Supermärkte oder Discounter insbesondere in ländlichen Räumen schlecht erreichbar. Hier benötigt etwas mehr als ein Drittel der Bevölkerung (38 %) mehr als 15 Minuten, um zu Fuß den nächsten Supermarkt oder Discounter zu erreichen. -- Accessibility is as important for location decision and regional development as it is for the individual life situation of the citizens. The reason is that accessibility determines the regional quality and provision of infrastructure. Considering the normative political claim to provide comparable living conditions in all regions of Germany actual empirically sound information about the accessibility of services of general interest are important in order to get an objective and realistic impression about the current situation which can function as input for future policy actions and interventions. The study focuses on the accessibility of supermarkets and discounters as one core service of general interest important for provision with goods and services of daily need of the citizens by analysing the accessibility of supermarkets and discounters based on a raster-based GIS accessibility analysis. Thereby the study especially focuses on the accessibility of super-markets and discounters in rural areas. The analysed data allows to reason a supermarket or discounter can still be accessed within 3,4 minutes driving time on average throughout the country. Although a regional consideration shows that there exists regions with supermarkets or discounters less accessible, mainly in rural areas, an estimation of the affected population based on the population data of the EWZ250 raster reveals that only approximately 0.1 % of Germany's citizens have to cover a distance greater than 15 km to reach the supermarket or discounter next to their home. Nevertheless, by foot especially in rural areas supermarkets or discounter are comparable bad accessible. Here a great percentage of the population (38 %) needs more than 15 minutes by foot to reach the next supermarket or discounter. |
| Keywords: | Entwicklung ländlicher Räume,Nahversorgung,Supermärkte,Discounter,Rasterbasierte GIS-Erreichbarkeitsanalyse,rural development,local supply,supermarket,discounter,raster based GIS- accessibility analysis |
| JEL: | R12 C19 L81 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtiwp:16&r=geo |