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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2016‒07‒02
fourteen papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia; Alfonso Díez-Minguela; Julio Martinez-Galarraga |
| Abstract: | This article attempts to quantify how the effect of agglomeration economies on population growth has evolved over time. Using district population in Spain between 1860 and 1991, recorded approximately every decade, this article examines whether initial population affects subsequent population growth. Our results show that, while the relationship between these two variables hardly existed during the second half of the 19th century, this link increased significantly between 1910 and 1970, although this trend was abruptly interrupted by the Civil War and the autarkic period that followed. The intensity of this relationship debilitated in the 1970s, a process that continued during the 1980s as rural out-migration diminished and de-industrialisation hit traditional manufacturing sectors. Our findings also stress that agglomeration economies were stronger in medium-size districts, especially from 1960 onwards, thus suggesting that congestion costs began to mitigate the benefits arising from agglomeration economies in the largest locations. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration economies, regional growth, Spain |
| JEL: | N93 N94 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1636&r=geo |
| By: | Andrew B. Bernard; Andreas Moxnes; Yukiko U. Saito |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of buyer-supplier relationships, geography and the structure of the production network in firm performance. We develop a simple model where firms can outsource tasks and search for suppliers in different locations. Low search and outsourcing costs lead firms to search more and find better suppliers. This in turn drives down the firm's marginal production costs. We test the theory by exploiting the opening of a high-speed (Shinkansen) train line in Japan which lowered the cost of passenger travel but left shipping costs unchanged. Using an exhaustive dataset on firms' buyer-seller linkages, we find significant improvements in firm performance as well as creation of new buyer-seller links, consistent with the model. |
| Keywords: | production networks, trade, productivity, infrastructure |
| JEL: | F14 D22 D85 L10 L14 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1435&r=geo |
| By: | Mota, Nuno (Fannie Mae); Patacchini, Eleonora (Cornell University); Rosenthal, Stuart S. (Syracuse University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the influence of neighborhood peer effects on the decision of women to work using panel data that follows clusters of adjacent homes between 1985-1993. Modeling assumptions imply rank order restrictions that enable us to classify individuals into peer groups while identifying peer effects and underlying mechanisms. For women, peer effects influence labor supply in part because women appear to emulate the work behavior of nearby women with similar age children. For men, peer effects are mostly absent, consistent with inelastic work decisions. Geographically concentrated panel data are crucial for these estimates. Our approach could also be applied to other instances in which neighborhood peer effects are important. |
| Keywords: | neighborhood peer effects, female labor supply |
| JEL: | R2 J2 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9985&r=geo |
| By: | van Vuuren, Aico (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates an equilibrium search model in which search frictions are increas- ing with the distance to a city’s central business district, allowing for on-the-job search and endogenous wage formation and land allocation. The findings suggest that the decentralized market results in a more segregated outcome than may be socially desirable. The externality comes from the misguided incentives for the low-paid workers, who have a high preference for central locations in order to climb up the job ladder. Policies reducing the rental costs of unemployed workers for locations close to the central business district may potentially increase welfare. |
| Keywords: | Search; city structure; urban economics |
| JEL: | J00 J64 R14 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0662&r=geo |
| By: | Claude Diebolt; Ralph Hippe |
| Abstract: | Human capital is an important factor for economic and social development, as has been underlined by recent theoretical models. A range of contributions has focused on the international evolution of human capital over the last decades and beyond. However, the regional dimension of human capital in Europe remains insufficiently explored, particularly in a long-run perspective. For this reason, this paper addresses this gap in the literature and highlights the regional evolution of human capital in Europe between 1850 and 2010 by using numeracy, literacy and educational attainment proxies. The results show that intranational inequalities in human capital have always been important and are in a number of cases more important than international differences. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Regional Development, Inequality, Europe. |
| JEL: | N33 N93 O18 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2016-33&r=geo |
| By: | Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB)); Camille Hémet (UEcole Normale Supérieure (PSE) & Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB)); Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal (Universitat de Barcelona & Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB)) |
| Abstract: | Recent evidence reveals that transportation’s improvements within metropolitan areas have a clear effect on population and job decentralization processes. Yet, very little has been said on how these improvements affect the spatial organization of the economic activity in the suburbs. This paper analyses the effects of transportation’s changes on employment subcenters formation. Using data from metropolitan Paris between 1968 and 2010, we first show that rail network improvements cause the expected job decentralization by attracting jobs to suburban municipalities. Our main contribution is to show that the new rail transit clearly affects the spatial organization of employment through the number and size of the employment subcenters: not only does the presence of a rail station increase the probability of a suburban municipality of belonging to a subcenter by 5 to 10 %, but a 10 % increase in municipality proximity to a suburban station is found to increase its chance to be part of a subcenter by 3 to 5 %. |
| Keywords: | urban spatial structure, decentralization, subcenters, polycentric city, transportation |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R14 R4 O2 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2016-14&r=geo |
| By: | Claude Diebolt; Ralph Hippe |
| Abstract: | Human capital is supposed to be an important factor for innovation and economic development. However, the long-run impact of human capital on current innovation and economic development is still a black box, in particular at the regional level. Therefore, this paper makes the link between the past and the present. Using a large new dataset on regional human capital and other factors in the 19th and 20th century, we find that past regional human capital is a key factor explaining current regional disparities in innovation and economic development. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Economic Development, Innovation, Regions, Europe. |
| JEL: | I25 N90 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2016-31&r=geo |
| By: | VENEZIANO DE CASTRO ARAUJO; RENATO GARCIA |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2014:161&r=geo |
| By: | Amugeh, Naomi; Van der Sluis, Evert |
| Abstract: | Industry clusters (ICs) are a popular strategy followed by state and local governments to achieve regional and local economic growth and development. We investigate the presence of ICs in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the Midwest between 2000 and 2010, and the degree to which the ICs have contributed to economic growth. Results indicate that the manufacturing, retail trade, health care and social assistance, finance and insurance, wholesale trade and construction industries were the six most common industries with concentrations across the MSAs in the Midwest. Also, only few industries (manufacturing, construction, utilities and wholesale trade) consistently showed statistically significant connections with the economic growth variables considered, even though most industries considered correlate positively with the economic development indicators. Changes in control variables such as population density, unemployment rate and education have greater impacts on economic development than do the cluster variables. Our study supports the hypothesis that while the presence of an industry cluster contributes to economic development, changes in other variables, such as a reduction in unemployment rate, have relatively greater impacts. Thus, the IC approach may not necessarily be among the most preferred strategy to boost economic development in the Midwest. |
| Keywords: | Industry clusters, regional economies, economic growth, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Midwest, Community/Rural/Urban Development, R10, |
| Date: | 2016–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236696&r=geo |
| By: | Cristian Barra (Università di Salerno); Ornella Wanda Maietta (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Roberto Zozzi (Università di Salerno) |
| Abstract: | In National Innovation Systems (NIS), knowledge is generally understood to be produced and accumulated through an interactive innovation process that is embedded in a national context which in turn may help determine propensity for innovation. This paper aims to verify how product and process innovation in the European food and drink industry are affected by: i) NIS structure ii) NIS output in terms of WoS indexed publications and the supply of graduates iii) NIS fragmentation and coordination and iv) NIS scientific impact and specialisation. The main source of data on innovation by firms is the EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-UniCredit dataset. This is supplemented by information from the International Handbook of Universities, Eurostat and the bibliometric analysis of academic research output. The results obtained suggest that large research institutions in the public sector may well be detrimental to interaction between university and industry and that the indicators used for public research assessment are not necessarily the most appropriate proxies of local knowledge spillovers. |
| Keywords: | university–industry interaction, firm R&D collaboration, product and process innovation, academic research quality, university education |
| JEL: | O3 I23 D22 R1 |
| Date: | 2016–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:447&r=geo |
| By: | Kumo, Kazuhiro |
| Abstract: | This paper examines regional economic conditions and their effects on interregional population redistribution patterns in Russia. After reviewing striking changes in population flows before and after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, an application of the gravity model on population migration in Russia is presented using a newly obtained interregional in- and out-migration flow matrix from 1990 to 2013, which were supplied by Rosstat (formerly Goskomstat). The analysis conducted comparison of factors affecting migration patterns between those in the Soviet era and in modern Russia, focusing on geographical factors, namely, the attractiveness of resource-mining regions. The analysis clearly showed major changes in the effect of governmental investment in determining migration flow before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2016-2&r=geo |
| By: | Demet Yilmazkuday (Department of Economics, Florida International University); Hakan Yilmazkuday (Department of Economics, Florida International University) |
| Abstract: | This paper models and estimates the gasoline price dispersion across time and space by using a unique data set at the gas-station level within the U.S.. Nationwide effects (measured by time Â…fixed effects or crude oil prices) explain up to about 51% of the gasoline price dispersion across stations. RefiÂ…nery-specific costs, which have been ignored in the literature due to using local data sets within the U.S., contribute up to another 33% to the price dispersion. While state taxes explain about 12% of the price dispersion, spatial factors such as local agglomeration externalities, land prices, distribution costs of gasoline explain up to about 4%. The contribution of brand-specifiÂ…c factors is relatively minor. |
| Keywords: | Gasoline Prices, Gas-Station Level Analysis, Nighttime Lights, Land Prices, the United States |
| JEL: | L11 L81 R32 R41 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fiu:wpaper:1602&r=geo |
| By: | Hector Eduardo Arango Marin; Andrés Grajales Marín |
| Abstract: | En este trabajo se hace una aproximación formal a las nuevas teorías de la geografía económica y se muestra la relación que aquellas tienen con las nuevas teorías del comercio internacional desde los instrumentos de representación conceptual. Esto se hace a partir de la indagación sobre los aspectos esenciales que permitan explicar la construcción del pensamiento asociado, según los planteamientos históricos más relevantes y el seguimiento al desarrollo matemático detallado del modelo de competencia monopolística de Dixit-Stiglitz propuesto en el capítulo 3 del texto de los profesores (Fujita, Krugman, & Venables, 2000). El propósito es mostrar lo que está implícito en el tratamiento formal, para que las personas interesadas en el tema encuentren una herramienta que les permita abordar esta parte, y que además, puedan comprender la relación de las teorías desde su revisión sintética. |
| Keywords: | Geografía económica; economía internacional; competencia monopolística. |
| JEL: | F12 R13 |
| Date: | 2015–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:014631&r=geo |
| By: | Pasquale Pavone; Valentina Fiordelmondo; Margherita Russo |
| Abstract: | There is an increasing attention on the needs to support SMEs in enhancing their innovation op-portunities and capabilities. Through a policy measure to foster the regional innovation system, 12 innovation poles were active in Tuscany in the period 2011-2014 to provide to their members (af-filiation is needed) a range of knowledge-intensive services such as knowledge and technology mapping, R&D partnership formation, technical assistance in R&D projects, technology transfer. Each pole was created as a consortium of organizations operating as public or private research cen-tres and service centres (universities, innovation centres or technology transfer centres and firms). In this paper we adopt a statistical analysis of textual content produced by the innovation poles to identify distinctive or common elements in the various texts they produced in three years of activi-ty and to draw some assessment of their communication on their activities. Documents under analysis are of different types: designed as written texts (on Smart Specializa-tion Strategy and monitoring the activities of the poles), transcripts of spoken language (the re-cordings of interviews); web communication. Through and automatic analysis we propose a sys-tematic comparison of all these documents that would not be possible through direct reading of texts: on the whole it is over 56,000 graphic forms, for a total of over two million occurrences. To compare both the intra diversity across the same type of document and across the different types of documents, first we analyse each of the four body separately, in order to identify the specific con-tent and the four languages used by the poles of innovation: "report", texts structured in the format of the monitoring; "design", the documents on smart specialization strategy; "reflection and analy-sis", in the transcription of interviews; and "communication", that characterizes the web sites. For this analysis, each document is associated with one or more categories (such as, for example, pole' band category, date of the document) that allow us to group or isolate relevant content in different contexts. In this work we first introduce the set of processing of texts aimed at the selection of graphic forms on which we focus our analysis. Then, we present for each corpus the description of the analysed documents, the results of calculations performed for the treatment of the text and the analysis of the main components that explain the variability of language within each corpus. These analyses (represented by the factorial of two main components) interpret the selection of graphic forms be-ing analysed with respect to categorical variables, defined for each document in each of the corpo-ra. The analysis concludes |
| Keywords: | linguistic analysis; web communication; innovation poles; regional innovation policies |
| JEL: | R10 O25 Y8 C88 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:cappmo:0142&r=geo |