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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2017‒02‒12
twelve papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Carol Newman; John Page |
| Abstract: | Firms tend to cluster in close geographic proximity to each other to benefit from reduced transport costs, shared inputs, and productivity spillovers due to learning and technology transfers. Evidence from low-income countries suggests that such agglomeration economies may be substantial in endogenously formed clusters. This raises the question of whether spatial industrial policies can be designed to facilitate clustering. In this paper, we consider the case for creating Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Africa. We document at the country level the state of current SEZ programmes and the policy measures in place for their promotion. We give an overview of the evidence on their success and provide a set of policy recommendations to improve SEZs performance. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, Special Economic Zones, spatial industrial policy, Africa |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-15&r=geo |
| By: | DEBARSY, Nicolas; DOSSOUGOIN, Cyrille (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium); ERTUR, Cem; GNABO, Jean-Yves |
| Abstract: | We contribute to the literature on international risk spillovers by developing a unified framework based on spatial econometrics that enables to address the following questions: (i) what are the channels of transmission for sovereign risk across countries and/or regions, (ii) what are the most dominant ones, and (iii) which countries are the most at risk for their environment and those suffering the most of international exposure. Our analysis based on 41 advanced and emerging economies from 2008Q1 to 2012Q4 shows that the informational channel is the most relevant to explain the transmission of bond yield spreads across countries. Our results challenge previous findings from the literature that consider transmission channels in separate models while we propose to feature multiple sources of transmission altogether in a single model. Eventually, our stress-testing analysis reveals important insights on countries prone either to international spillovers, international exposure or both at regional and worldwide level. |
| Keywords: | sovereign risk; transmission channels; spatial dynamic panel data; spillover analysis |
| JEL: | C33 C51 F34 F42 |
| Date: | 2016–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2016053&r=geo |
| By: | Pierre-Philippe Combes (IEP Paris - Sciences Po Paris - Institut d'études politiques de Paris, GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Etienne - Université de Lyon - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon); Gilles Duranton (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania - University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia]); Laurent Gobillon (PSE - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We propose a new nonparametric approach to estimate the production function for housing. Our estimation treats output as a latent variable and relies on the firstorder condition for profit maximisation with respect to nonland inputs by competitive house builders. For parcels of a given size, we compute housing by summing across the marginal products of nonland inputs. Differences in nonland inputs are caused by differences in land prices that reflect differences in the demand for housing across locations. We implement our methodology on newlybuilt singlefamily homes in France. We find that the production function for housing is reasonably well, though not perfectly, approximated by a CobbDouglas function and close to constant returns. After correcting for differences in user costs between land and nonland inputs and taking care of some estimation concerns, we estimate an elasticity of housing production with respect to nonland inputs of about 0.80. |
| Keywords: | production function,housing |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01412393&r=geo |
| By: | Antonelli, Cristiano; Crespi, Francesco; Mongeau, Christian; Scellato, Giuseppe (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of the composition of the regional stock of knowledge in explaining innovation performance. The paper provides three main contributions. First, it investigates the relevance of Jacobs knowledge externalities in characterizing the technological capabilities at the regional level. Second, it applies the Hidalgo-Hausmann (HH) methodology to analyze knowledge composition by looking at patent data of 214 regions, located in 27 state members of the European Union (EU) during the years 1994- 2008. Third, it econometrically assesses the role of knowledge base composition in a knowledge generation function. The results of the empirical analysis confirm that the characterization of regional knowledge base through the HH indicators provides interesting information to understanding its composition and to qualify it as a provider of the Jacobs knowledge externalities that account for the dynamics of regional innovative performance. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201607&r=geo |
| By: | Rudiger Ahrend; Emily Farchy; Ioannis Kaplanis; Alexander C. Lembcke |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates agglomeration benefits across five OECD countries, and represents the first empirical analysis that combines evidence on agglomeration benefits and the productivity impact of metropolitan governance structures, while taking into account the potential sorting of individuals across cities. The comparability of results in a multi-country setting is supported through the use of a new internationally-harmonised definition of cities based on economic linkages rather than administrative boundaries. In line with the literature, the analysis confirms that city productivity increases with city size but finds that cities with fragmented governance structures tend to have lower levels of productivity. This effect is mitigated by the existence of a metropolitan governance body. Comment rendre les villes plus productives? : Economies d’agglomération et rôle de la gouvernance urbaine: une étude sur 5 pays de l’OCDE Cet article teste l’existence d’économies d'agglomération dans cinq pays de l’OCDE. Ce papier est la première analyse empirique prouvant l’existence d’économies d’agglomération et l’impact des différentes structures de gouvernance sur la productivité, tout en neutralisant l’effet d’appariement sélectif des individus entre les différentes villes (différentes villes attirent des individus au profil différent). L’utilisation d’une nouvelle définition harmonisée des aires urbaines fondée sur les liens économiques plutôt que sur les frontières administratives garantit la comparabilité des résultats entre les pays. A l’instar de la littérature sur le sujet, cette analyse confirme que la productivité dans les agglomérations urbaines augmente avec la population (taille de l’agglomération), mais conclut que la « fragmentation » de leur gouvernance induit des niveaux de productivité plus faibles. Cet effet négatif d’une gouvernance fragmentée semble atténué par l’existence d’une entité de coopération métropolitaine (par exemple, une communauté d’agglomération). |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economics, cities, governance, productivity |
| JEL: | H73 R12 R23 R50 |
| Date: | 2017–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaac:6-en&r=geo |
| By: | Gómez-Zaldívar, Manuel; Mosqueda, Marco T.; Duran, Jazmin A. |
| Abstract: | We document how the localization of production in Mexico’s range of manufacturing subsectors and the specialization of its states have evolved as a result of the process of trade opening. We use the global estimate methodology to calculate the extent to which all industries are localized or all regions specialized. The results show that: i) since 1993, there has been an increase in global localization and specialization in manufacturing production; (ii) transportation equipment, chemicals, and food products account for the greatest share of the overall increase in localization during this period; (iii) those states closest to the US contributed most to the overall increase in specialization. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Localization; Regional Specialization; Economic Integration |
| JEL: | F15 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2017–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:76510&r=geo |
| By: | Möller, Joachim; Eppelsheimer, Johann |
| Abstract: | Since the study by Moretti (2004) for the US, it is widely accepted that the spatial distribution of human capital plays an increasing role for regional labor market outcomes. Like in the pioneer approach we assume that workers' productivity at the firm level depend on the regional share of the high skilled. We extent the theoretical framework, however, by decomposing the change in the regional share of high-skilled workers into brain drain, brain gain as well as into labor market entry and exit effects. This allows us to investigate hypotheses about the extent and nature of knowledge spillovers in more detail. For the empirical part we analyze a large administrative panel data set. Including a series of controls as well as fixed effects for the worker, occupation, industry, region and year we find a significant negative relationship between brain drain and the regional wage level of low- and high skilled workers and a positive one for brain gain. These results are robust across different specifications and hold for Germany as a whole and West Germany alone. If estimated separately, we find much weaker and partly statistically not significant knowledge spillovers for East German regions. In general, brain drain and brain gain effects are of similar order of magnitude, whereas the effect of labor market exits of high-skilled workers exceeds that of labor market entries in absolute value. Using instrumental variable methods we show that the basic results are not driven by endogeneity bias. |
| JEL: | J24 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145506&r=geo |
| By: | Francesco Andreoli; Eugenio Peluso (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | Spatial income inequality in cities is assessed by looking at the distribution of income across individuals and their neighbors. Two new Gini-type spatial inequality indices are introduced: the first index measures the average degree of income inequality within individual neighborhoods; the second index measures the inequality of average incomes among individual neighborhoods. Connections with geostatistics are investigated and the asymptotic distributions of these indices are derived. A rich income database from the U.S. census is used to establish new stylized facts about the patterns of spatial inequality in the 50 largest American cities during the last 35 years. Four different types of city are identified, according to the level of inequality between and within individual neighborhoods. Inequality within the neighborhood is shown to be associated with lifelong economic and health expectations of urban residents. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood inequality, Gini, individual neighborhood, variogram, geostatistics, census, ACS, causal neighborhood e ects, life expectancy, divided city, mixed city. |
| JEL: | C34 D31 H24 P25 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie1:def055&r=geo |
| By: | Gianni Guastella (Università Cattolica and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Stefano Pareglio (Università Cattolica and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Paolo Sckokai (Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the relationship between urban spatial expansion and its socio-economic determinants in Lombardy, the most urbanised region of Italy (and one of the most urbanized of the European Union), at the municipality level. Test results suggest that this relationship varies significantly among municipalities of different size and findings support the hypothesis that larger ones are more efficient in managing land take. In particular, we find that the marginal land consumption per new household is inversely related to the size of the municipality and we link this evidence to the fact that, since more space is often available, small municipalities pay less institutional attention to the issue of land take and consequently internalise less the environmental externalities. This evidence calls for a reflection on the role of planning policies and the effectiveness of undifferentiated measures to contain land take, especially in the case of Italy, where the municipalities, more than 99% of which have less than 50,000 inhabitants, decide on land use transformations. |
| Keywords: | Land Take, City Size, Threshold Regression, Spatial Econometrics |
| JEL: | O18 Q15 R14 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2017.03&r=geo |
| By: | Isabelle Chort (LEDa, UMR DIAL-Paris-Dauphine); Philippe De Vreyer (Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL Research University,IRD, LEDa, DIAL); Thomas Zuber (Columbia University. Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies/History, New York) |
| Abstract: | Using individual panel data from Senegal collected in 2006-07 and 2010-12, this study explores internal migration patterns of men and women. The data used contain the GPS coordinates of individuals' location, allowing us to calculate precise migration distances and map individual mobilities.Women are found to be more likely to migrate than men. However, they move less far and are more likely to migrate to rural areas, especially when originating from rural areas. Education is found to increase the likelihood of migration to urban destinations, especially for women. An analysis of the motives for migrating con rms the existence of gendered migration patterns, as female mobility is mostly linked to marriage while labor mobility is frequently observed for men. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration ; gender; rural-urban migration; Senegal. |
| JEL: | R23 O15 O18 J16 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201702&r=geo |
| By: | Tony Addison; Amadou Boly; Anthony Mveyange |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between mining and spatial inequality in Africa during 2001–12. The identification strategy is based on a unilateral causation between mining and district inequality. The findings show that when minerals are aggregated, mining increases district inequality. But an analysis of individual minerals shows that mining affects district inequality both positively and negatively, suggesting that mineral wealth can be both a curse and a blessing. Further analysis suggests that these results largely depend on whether mining is active or closed, the scale of mining operations, the value of minerals extracted, and the nature of mining activities—important dimensions for shaping mining policies aimed at bolstering socio-economic development in Africa. |
| Keywords: | mineral resources, mining, spatial inequality, Africa |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-13&r=geo |
| By: | JONES, Jonathan (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium); PEETERS, Dominique (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium); THOMAS, Isabelle (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to assess the reliability of policy evaluation based on Land Use and Transport Interactions models, relative to the choice of the Basic Spatial Units. An UrbanSim (+ MATsim) model applied to Brussels (Belgium) is used as the case study. The evolution of the study area over ten years is forecasted for four levels of Basic Spatial Units and five scenarios (business-as-usual and four alternatives). Results show larger variations between Basic Spatial Units levels than across scenarios. These findings are valid for various sustainability indicators and for a simple cost-benefit analysis aiming at ranking the scenarios. The direction of the variations resulting from the implementation of the scenarios remains, however, the same for all Basic Spatial Units levels. Hence, the influence of the scale on policy evaluation based on Land Use and Transport Interactions models appears limited when it is only intended to compare scenarios, but it will have a crucial role when evaluations are based on absolute variations or threshold values. |
| Keywords: | Brussels, LUTI models, MAUP, Policy evaluation |
| Date: | 2016–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2016034&r=geo |