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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Julio A. Berdegué (Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, RIMISP); Tatiana Hiller (Universidad Iberoamericana); Juan Mauricio Ramírez (Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, RIMISP); Santiago Satizábal (Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, RIMISP); Isidro Soloaga (Universidad Iberoamericana, Ciudad de México); Juan Soto (Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, RIMISP); Miguel Uribe (Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO-United Nations); Milena Vargas (Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, RIMISP) |
| Abstract: | The delimitation of functional spatial units or functional territories is an important topic in regional science and economic geography since the empirical verification of many causal relationships is affected by the size and shape of these areas. Most of the literature on the delimitation of these functional territories is based on developed countries, usually using contemporary and updated information of commuting flows. Conversely, in developing countries the technical contributions have been incipient. This paper proposes a complementary step in the delimitation of functional territories, combining stable satellite night lights and commuting flows, with applications for Mexico, Colombia and Chile. This method leads to a more accurate definition of functional territories, especially in cases where official data for commuting flows are unreliable and/or outdated, as is the case of several developing and underdeveloped countries. We exploit important advances associated with the use of satellite images, and specifically, the use of night lights as a source of information for the delimitation of metropolitan areas and urban settlements. |
| JEL: | R10 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smx:wpaper:2017004&r=geo |
| By: | Boucekkine, R.; Fabbri, G.; Federico, S.; Gozzi, F. |
| Abstract: | We provide an optimal growth spatio-temporal setting with capital accumulation and diffusion across space in order to study the link between economic growth triggered by capital spatio-temporal dynamics and agglomeration across space. The technology is AK, K being broad capital. The social welfare function is Benthamite. In sharp contrast to the related literature, which considers homogeneous space, we derive optimal location outcomes for any given space distributions for technology and population. Both the transitional spatio-temporal dynamics and the asymptotic spatial distributions are computed in closed form. Concerning the latter, we find, among other results, that: (i) due to inequality aversion, the consumption per capital distribution is much atter than the distribution of capital per capita; (ii) endogeneous spillovers inherent in capital spatio-temporal dynamics occur as capital distribution is much less concentrated than the (pre-specified) technological distribution; (iii) the distance to the center (or to the core) is an essential determinant of the shapes of the asymptotic distributions, that is relative location matters. |
| Keywords: | GROWTH;AGGLOMERATION;HETEROGENEOUS AND CONTINUOUS SPACE;CAPITAL MOBILITY;INFINITE DIMENSIONAL OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEMS |
| JEL: | R1 O4 C61 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gbl:wpaper:2018-02&r=geo |
| By: | Jing Chen (Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: | Conventional wisdom indicates that economic specialization can promote economic growth, whereas economic stability is theoretically associated with diversi?ed economies. This con?icting relationship between specialization and diversity has been questioned, as regional scientists have suggested that specialization and diversity can coexist in a regional economy and proposed the concept of diversi?ed specializations. To test this proposition empirically, three Her?ndahl Hirschman Indices measuring regional economic diversity were used to examine the relationship between economic structure and regional economic performance among 359 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the contiguous U.S. The ?rst index measures economic diversity across 87 three-digit North American Industry Classi?cation Systems (NAICS) sectors for each MSA; the second index quanti?es economic diversity among 51 clusters identi?ed by Delgado et al. in J. Econ. Geogr. 16(1), 1-38 (2016); and the third index considers the effects of both industry and cluster diversity. This analysis con?rms that industry diversity promotes economic stability, and also demonstrates that cluster diversity contributes to both economic stability and growth. I thus conclude that regions can simultaneously pursue both high and stable economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Specialization, Diversity, Economic Structure, Regional Economic Development |
| JEL: | R11 R12 O47 |
| Date: | 2018–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rri:wpaper:2018wp02&r=geo |
| By: | Grillitsch, Markus (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a conceptual and analytical framework for the development of place-based entrepreneurship and innovation policies aiming at industrial diversification. The starting point for this paper is the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept, which is frequently used to inform such policies. However, this concept does not specify the causal mechanisms driving industrial diversification. Furthermore, it remains questionable to what extent the concept can be applied to different regional contexts. In order to address these shortfalls, this paper i) discusses the barriers and opportunities for industrial diversification in different regional contexts, and ii) introduces a place-based policy framework for new industrial path development through entrepreneurship and innovation policies. |
| Keywords: | economic diversification; new industrial path development; innovation; entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial ecosystems; place-based policy |
| JEL: | L50 O10 O30 O38 R10 R58 |
| Date: | 2018–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2018_003&r=geo |
| By: | John Gibson (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | This study examines micro-geographic clustering of academic research, focusing on economics. Three U.S. ZIP codes are associated with articles in the top five economics journals that garnered one-half of all citations to the articles published in these journals over 2000 to 2015. This remarkable degree of micro-geographic concentration is not apparent in any other discipline. Outside of economics the top three ZIP codes are associated with just 12% of citations to their top five journals, on average. Concentration of citations to economics articles whose authors are associated with a few key ZIP codes has strengthened over time, even as it has weakened for other disciplines. This distinctively high level of spatial concentration in economics research is not consistent with hypotheses about disciplinary differences stemming from market forces or from reliance on research infrastructure located in specific locations. |
| Keywords: | citations; economics; micro-geography; scientometrics; spatial concentration |
| JEL: | A12 R12 |
| Date: | 2018–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:18/03&r=geo |
| By: | Julio Berdegué (Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, RIMISP); Isidro Soloaga (Universidad Iberoamericana, Ciudad de México) |
| Abstract: | Like the rest of Latin America, Mexico is a highly-urbanized country. Yet rural populations, geographies and economic activities continue to play a significant role in national development, while there are persistent and large rural-urban inequalities in well-being and opportunities. Promoting rural-urban linkages has been proposed as a strategy to reduce spatial inequalities, but there is much academic and policy debate about whether urban development has positive (spread) or negative (backwash) effects on rural development. This could translate into synergistic or predatory urban-rural linkages. This studyexamines how proximity to cities, and population and per capita income in cities, affectpopulation growth and welfare in ruralplaces in Mexico. Using data for 2000 and 2010, our findings include: (a) 75% of rural people live within 90 minutes of an urban area, and 60% within 60 minutes; (b) proximity to a city increases rural population growth and welfare; (c) adverse (backwash) effects on rural areasdue to increases in urban per capita income are very small and of no economic significance; (d) cities with populations in the 350,000 to 500,000 range appear to have more positive effects on rural areas than smaller or larger cities; (e) rural localitiesinteract with multiple urban places simultaneously. |
| JEL: | J10 O10 O18 O54 R10 |
| Date: | 2017–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smx:wpaper:2017005&r=geo |
| By: | Alfonso Díez-Minguela (Universitat de València); Rafael González-Val (Universidad de Zaragoza, IEB); Julio Martinez-Galarraga (Universitat de València); M. Teresa Sanchis (Universitat de València); Daniel A. Tirado (Universitat de València) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the long-term relationship between regional inequality and economic development. Our data set includes information on national and regional per-capita GDP for four countries: France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Data are compiled on a decadal basis for the period 1860-2010, thus enabling the evolution of regional inequalities throughout the whole process of economic development to be examined. Using parametric and semiparametric regressions, our results confirm the rise and fall of regional inequalities over time, i.e. the existence of an inverted-U curve since the early stages of modern economic growth, as the Williamson hypothesis suggests. We also find evidence that, in recent decades, regional inequalities have been on the rise again. As a result, the long-term relationship between national economic development and spatial inequalities describes an elephant-shaped curve. |
| Keywords: | Economic development, regional inequalities, Kuznets curve, Europe, economic history |
| JEL: | N9 O18 R1 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0119&r=geo |
| By: | Eilers, Lea |
| Abstract: | Real estate prices are central to a range of themes that are, e.g., relevant for monetary policy, community development, environmental valuation, and economic planning more generally. This paper developes a real estate index based on apartment offer prices on the post code level for Germany, taking into accout apartment heterogeneity and small sample sizes within regional areas as well as spatial and temporal dependencies. In a first step, a hedonic price function is estimated. In a second step, the residuals calculated from the hedonic function are used as direct estimates in a small area estimation (SAE). This technique is designed to yield estimates with a smaller variance in the context of small samples. The results show similarities between the estimates obtained from the residuals and SAE estimates. But the SAE models show non-negligible gains in accuracy for the coefficient of variance, i.e. the estimates are stabilized. |
| Keywords: | housing market,hedonic,small area estimation |
| JEL: | R23 C01 R30 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:734&r=geo |
| By: | Hayato Kato (Faculty of Economics, Keio University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies tax competition between two asymmetric countries for an oligopolistic industry with many firms. Each government sets its tax rate strategically to maximize the weighted sum of residents' welfare and political contributions by owners of firms. It is shown that, if the governments care deeply about contributions and trade costs are low, the small country attracts a more than proportionate share of firms by setting a lower tax rate. The well-known home market effect, which states that countries with a larger market attract a more than proportionate share of firms, may be reversed as a result of tax competition by politically-interested governments. |
| Keywords: | Tax competition, Economic geography, Reverse home market effect, Lobbying |
| JEL: | F15 F22 H20 |
| Date: | 2017–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:2017-028&r=geo |
| By: | Belke, Ansgar; Keil, Jonas |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at establishing empirical facts on the fundamental determinants of real estate prices. It contributes to the literature by analysing a unique panel dataset covering a wide range of real estate market data and other economic variables for nearly 100 German cities. Several robust fundamental determinants are identified, among them the supply-side factors construction activity and housing stock as well as the demandside factors apartment rents, market size, age structure, local infrastructure and rental prices. Results suggest that these factors are robustly linked to fundamental real estate prices and thus can be used to detect misalignments of market prices. |
| Keywords: | real estate market,fundamental prices,regional data,panel study |
| JEL: | R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:731&r=geo |