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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Tom Broekel; Lars Mewes |
| Abstract: | Existing studies on regional diversification highlight the importance of local path dependencies and related competences. However, little attention has been paid to other factors potentially contributing to diversification processes. Foremost, this concerns the role of R&D policy. This study investigates the relation between R&D policy and regional technological diversification in German labor market regions from 1996 to 2010. We find no evidence for proactive R&D policies, as subsidized R&D projects do not promote regional technological diversification. In contrast, R&D subsidies? allocation is rather risk-averse with subsidies being more likely allocated to already established technologies and those related to region?s technology portfolio. |
| Keywords: | regional diversification, innovation, policy, R&D subsidies, relatedness |
| JEL: | R11 O31 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1726&r=geo |
| By: | Andrea Ascani Author-X-Name-First: Andrea; Simona Iammarino |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a joint analysis of two phenomena characterizing most advanced economies in recent decades: the rise of foreign ownership in manufacturing activities and the pervasiveness of the service economy. The aim of the study is to examine the structural transformation of regional economic systems within the UK by focusing on the role played by foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) in manufacturing in facilitating the development of services. From a conceptual perspective, this research relies on different strands of literature on the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on recipient economies, on outsourcing and regional structural transformation, and on the identification of local multipliers. The empirical analysis focuses on a specific demand-side channel for structural change: the forward linkage established by foreign manufacturing MNEs with local service providers through outsourcing. Descriptive evidence shows that service outsourcing by foreign plants operating in manufacturing is pervasive compared to outsourcing by their domestic counterparts. On this basic premise, we estimate the multiplicative effects that foreign manufacturing activity has on the creation of service jobs in local labour markets. In order to produce reliable estimates of a local multiplier, the methodology adopts an instrumental variable approach. Our findings suggest that foreign presence in manufacturing can be a catalyst of regional structural change by stimulating the generation of new jobs in the tertiary sector via demand linkages. Length: |
| Keywords: | multinational enterprises, service outsourcing, regional structural change, local labour markets, multiplier |
| JEL: | R1 O3 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1724&r=geo |
| By: | Nathan Bounie (LVMT - Laboratoire Ville, Mobilité, Transport - IFSTTAR - Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech); Corinne Blanquart (IFSTTAR/AME - Département Aménagement, Mobilités et Environnement - IFSTTAR - Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux - Université de Lyon - PRES Université Nantes Angers Le Mans [UNAM] - Communauté Université Paris-Est) |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the topic of clusters, which are concentrations of activities which provide their members with beneficial market and technological effects. In order to enrich debate on this issue, we shall focus here on a particular type of concentration (logistics) which differs from others in that it is both specific in nature and managed. In order to analyze the concentrations in question, which we shall refer to as logistics centers, statistical analysis of 733 logistics establishments is performed, some of which are located in such centers, others outside. The results of the analysis show that this form of concentration has impacts which contradict those reported in the literature on clusters, as our statistical results show that these logistics centers do not have beneficial effects for the firms located in them. |
| Abstract: | Cet article s'inscrit dans le champ scientifique des clusters : ces concentrations d'activités qui fourniraient à leurs membres des effets marchands et technologiques bénéfiques. Pour enrichir le débat autour de cette question, nous traitons ici d'une concentration particulière car spécifique (l'activité logistique) et pilotée. Cette concentration, que nous appelons zone d'activité logistique, est analysée à partir d'un traitement statistique réalisé sur 733 établissements logistiques, dont certains sont situés sur ces zones, et d'autres à l'extérieur. Les résultats de l'analyse montrent que cette forme de concentration particulière est associée à des effets qui contredisent ceux de la littérature ayant trait aux clusters. En effet, nos résultats statistiques montrent que ces objets d'aménagement sont insuffisants pour favoriser des effets bénéfiques aux firmes logistiques qui y sont implantées. |
| Keywords: | logistics activities,clusters,economies of agglomeration,productivity,proximities,ECONOMIE D'AGGLOMERATION,PROXIMITE,LOGISTIQUE,CLUSTER |
| Date: | 2016–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01590275&r=geo |
| By: | John V. Winters (Oklahoma State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of college graduates educated in STEM fields on patenting intensity in U.S. metropolitan areas. Some prior research suggests a positive effect on urban innovation from foreign-born STEM workers, but little is known about the effects of native STEM graduates on innovation. My preferred results use time-differenced 2SLS regressions, and I introduce a novel approach to instrumenting for the growth in native STEM graduates. I find positive effects of foreign STEM on innovation, roughly consistent with previous literature. However, my preferred approach yields a negative coefficient estimate for native STEM graduates on innovation that is not statistically significant but suggests that a meaningfully large positive effect is unlikely during the 2009-2015 time-period. I discuss possible explanations and implications. |
| Keywords: | STEM; innovation; patents; human capital; higher education |
| JEL: | I25 J24 J61 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:okl:wpaper:1714&r=geo |
| By: | Sandra Bernick; Richard Davies; Anna Valero |
| Abstract: | Living near a productive company can have considerable economic benefits. It means the chance of well-paid jobs, creates opportunities for suppliers of goods and services, and can be a boost to local retailers. This common-sense economic logic explains why policymakers consistently worry about the uneven spread of industry in Britain and, from time to time, conclude that it inefficient and unfair and that something new must be done. Now is one of those moments, with the government shortly set to launch a new "Industrial Strategy" which looks likely to include a new approach to regional policy. But while there is agreement across Britain's political parties that the distribution of industry is a problem, little new analysis on the location and performance of British firms with an explicitly regional focus has been published recently. This paper, part of ongoing work on the economics of British industry at the LSE's Centre for Economic Performance, starts to fill that gap. We present maps and charts setting out the latest data on firm location, together with geographic measures of employment, productivity, and innovation. Ten stylised facts emerge from our analysis, many of which challenge the prevailing wisdom: Finance is far less London-centric than the creative industries; the South-East is not the country's productivity engine, rather a band stretching west from the capital towards Bristol is; the East of England stands out in terms of R&D intensity; and in addition to the North-South divide, disparities between coastal and inland areas are concerning. This clarification of the starting point is just the first step in a data-driven approach to industrial policy. Bigger questions—in particular analysis of the ideal spread of industry that policy should target, and the best tools to get there—loom large and also require new analysis. |
| Keywords: | productivity, business performance, regional disparities, UK economy, industrial strategy |
| JEL: | R12 O25 O52 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepsps:34&r=geo |
| By: | Frick, Susanne A.; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | Policy-makers and academics frequently emphasize a positive link between city size and economic growth. The empirical literature on the relationship, however, is scarce and uses rough indicators for the size for a country's cities, while ignoring factors that are increasingly considered to shape the relationship. In this paper, we employ a panel of 113 countries between 1980 and 2010 to explore whether (1) there are certain city sizes that are growth enhancing and (2) how additional factors highlighted in the literature impact the city size/growth relationship. The results suggest a non-linear relationship which is dependent on the country's size. In contrast to the prevailing view that large cities are growth-inducing, for the majority of countries relatively small cities of up to 3 million inhabitants are more conducive to economic growth. A large share of the urban population in cities with more than 10 million inhabitants is only growth promoting in countries with an urban population of 28.5 million and more. In addition, the relationship is highly context dependent: a high share of industries that benefit from agglomeration economies, a well-developed urban infrastructure, and an adequate level of governance effectiveness allow countries to take advantage of agglomeration benefits from larger cities. |
| Keywords: | City size; Economic Growth; enabling factors |
| JEL: | R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12324&r=geo |
| By: | Delio Lucena Piquero; Jerome Vicente |
| Abstract: | The paper focuses on cluster policies with particular attention to the role of R&D collaborative incentives in the structuring of knowledge networks in clusters. We disentangle the main network failures in regional innovation systems, and discuss the selection procedures designed by policy makers to enhance the production of innovation outputs. We draw evidence from the French Aerospace Valley cluster from 2006 to 2015. The empirical analysis relies on a dataset of 248 granted research consortia, from which we build 4-cohorts knowledge networks enable us evidencing the evolving structural properties of the cluster over time. We suggest avoiding the bias and limitations of 1 and 2-mode network analysis by developing an original place- based network methodology that emphasizes on structural equivalence and groups behaviors. We discuss the results focusing on the convergence degree between the network statistical findings and the policy makersÕ objectives. Finally, the methodology allows us identifying who are the agents of the structural and technological changes observed during the period. |
| Keywords: | Cluster policy; Networks; Collaborative incentives; Groups behaviors; Aerospace Valley |
| JEL: | D85 O25 O30 R10 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1723&r=geo |
| By: | Celia Melguizo (Department of Econometrics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 696; 08034 Barcelona,Spain.); Vicente Royuela (Department of Econometrics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 696; 08034 Barcelona,Spain.) |
| Abstract: | In Spain, economic disparities between regions have traditionally played a relevant role in migration. Nevertheless, during the previous high-instability period, analyses provided conflicting results about the effect of these variables. In this work, we aim to determine the role that labour market factors play in internal migration during the Great Recession, paying special attention to the migration response of the heterogeneous population groups. To do so, we resort to an extended gravity model and we consider as a territorial unit the 45 Spanish Functional Urban Areas. Our results point to real wages as having a significant influence on migration motivations. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Spanish urban areas, Labour market factors. JEL classification: C23, J61, R23. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201717&r=geo |
| By: | Jaramillo, Daiana; Calá, Carla Daniela; Belmartino, Andrea |
| Abstract: | El objetivo del artículo es describir el patrón de especialización productiva a nivel regional en Argentina en el período 1996-2014. En este análisis se identifican los principales factores asociados al tipo de especialización a partir de elementos que surgen de las teorías de comercio internacional. En base a datos oficiales del total de empleo industrial privado registrado en cada provincia, se calculan los índices de especialización relativa. Los resultados muestran que las especializaciones regionales están asociadas, principalmente, a las ventajas naturales de cada provincia, el estímulo por parte del Estado y, en menor medida, al aprovechamiento de economías de escala interna y externas. Asimismo, se observa que el patrón de especialización se ha mantenido constante en las provincias centrales, mientras que los mayores cambios tuvieron lugar en Tierra del Fuego, Santa Cruz y Corrientes. |
| Keywords: | Especialización de la Producción; Economía Regional; Análisis Provincial; Argentina; |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:2743&r=geo |