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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Chaminade, Cristina (Lund University); Bellandi, Marco (University of Florence); Plechero, Monica (University of Florence); Santini, Erica (Fondazione per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione) |
| Abstract: | The type of regional innovation system (RIS) strongly affects possibilities of paths of industrial transformation. This paper argues that traditional manufacturing districts, corresponding to specialized RISs and characterised by various nuclei of specialization and know-how, may foster different trajectories in combination with extra-regional networks. In particular, the paper analyses the interplay between regional and national innovation systems, providing an overview of the effect that different multilevel dynamics have on local trajectories. The cases of the textile districts in Prato (Italy) and Borås (Sweden) show SRISs can display not only path extension but also path renewal and creation strategies. |
| Keywords: | path development; regional innovation system; textile; knowledge nuclei; innovation policy; industrial district |
| JEL: | O19 O30 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2018–12–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2018_013&r=all |
| By: | Bellandi, Marco (University of Florence); Chaminade, Cristina (Lund University); Plechero, Monica (University of Florence) |
| Abstract: | This chapter proposes a novel conceptual framework for understanding how different knowledge bases (analytic, synthetic and symbolic) can be accessed and combined at different territorial scales, looking at which mechanisms can be used to favor positive transformation paths in local productive systems. We apply such framework to the role of combinatorial knowledge for sustainable transformation under the impact of global challenges, such as those posed by Industry 4.0 (I4.0). Eventually, case studies reported in the MAKERS project illustrate the multi-scalarity of knowledge bases combined in different paths of industrial transformation addressing models of I4.0 including so-called I4.0+ alternatives. |
| Keywords: | Combinatorial knowledge bases; internationalization; I4.0; Makers Project; path transformation |
| JEL: | O19 O30 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2018–12–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2018_014&r=all |
| By: | Elena Rusticelli; David Haugh; Axelle Arquie; Lilas Demmou |
| Abstract: | The increase of emerging market economies in international trade and rapid rise in global trade intensity over the past three decades has been accompanied by growing, regionally concentrated, discontent with trade in advanced OECD countries. One of the main concerns is the negative effects of growing import competition on employment. This paper focuses on manufacturing sector employment because of its high trade exposure and potential for wider spillovers. It finds that while trade appears to have only a minor association with manufacturing employment shares at the national level compared with technology, trade has an important role in regional labour market developments due to the geographical concentration of industrial activities. The "sticky" nature of manufacturing employment and sometimes inefficient inter-regional migration mean that trade shocks to local manufacturing can affect entire regional labour markets, leading to widening regional inequalities. Policies should, in particular, focus on boosting regional resilience to industry related shocks, whether they come from trade or technology by building local capacity, both in terms of people – more educated labour is more mobile across jobs – and innovation. |
| Keywords: | employment, inequality, labour market, manufacturing, regions, technology, trade, wages |
| JEL: | F16 J61 O19 |
| Date: | 2018–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1530-en&r=all |
| By: | Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Ana I. Moreno-Monroy (OECD) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of urban spatial structure on income segregation in Brazilian cities between 2000 and 2010. Our results show that, first, local density conditions increase income segregation: the effect is higher in monocentric cities and smaller in polycentric ones. Second, the degree of monocentricity-polycentricity also affects segregation: while a higher concentration of jobs in and around the CBD decreases segregation in monocentric cities, a higher employment concentration in and around subcenters located far from the CBD decreases segregation in polycentric cities. Third, results are heterogeneous according to city size: local density does not increase segregation in small (monocentric) cities, it increases segregation in medium size cities, and it decreases segregation in large (polycentric) cities. Finally, results also differ between income groups: while local density conditions increase the segregation of the poor, a more polycentric configuration reduces the segregation of the rich. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2018-17&r=all |
| By: | Cermeño, Alexandra; Enflo, Kerstin |
| Abstract: | Town foundations have been at the core of urban planning since the onset of civilization. This paper describes the long-run impact of an urbanization place-based policy that was considered a failure by contemporary policymakers. We test the impact of founded towns using a series of town foundations that took place between 1570 and 1810, when the Swedish Crown conferred monopoly market rights to trade upon 31 previously rural ordinary parishes. We show that towns were founded in locations with little natural potential, evident in their limited impact on agricultural surplus in the surrounding hinterlands. However, the new foundations drove extensive growth in terms of population and created positive spillover effects up to 40-50 km around the settlements. Still, the founded towns remained extraordinarily small by the end of the policy period. It was not until the Industrial Revolution that these towns began to thrive. We suggest that trading rights and sunk investments initially served to coordinate expectations about future growth. Once the towns started to grow, agglomeration effects generated persistence in the long term. |
| Keywords: | agricultural surplus; Economic Geography; economic history; path dependency; Urbanization |
| JEL: | N74 N93 O18 R12 R5 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13392&r=all |
| By: | Zou, Wei (Asian Development Bank Institute); Chen, Liangheng (Asian Development Bank Institute); Xiong, Junke (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | We establish a general equilibrium trade model and adopt the “market access” approach to measure the impact of the high-speed railway (HSR) network on the economic growth of 110 of the main prefecture-level cities of the People’s Republic of China, for which we manually collect the pairwise travel distances and railway speeds to calculate market access. The empirical results show that the launch of the HSR exerts significant positive effects on growth. Specifically, a 1% increase in market access leads to an increase in real income of 0.123% (controlling the region fixed effect) or 0.121% (controlling the province fixed effect). Counterfactual econometric analysis indicates that, if all the HSR were removed in 2015, the market access would fall by an average of 76.2% and the aggregate real income would decline by up to 9.4%. The growth effect of the HSR varies across cities, and the HSR has a more prominent impact on services than on manufacturing. The conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. |
| Keywords: | high-speed railway; transport infrastructure; market access; economic growth; PRC |
| JEL: | F14 R11 R42 |
| Date: | 2018–07–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0852&r=all |
| By: | Dominik Boddin; Frank Stähler |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses how international trade is organized from export to trans-boundary transport to import. All evidence suggests that the transport sector is independent, may exercise market power and features strong economies of scale. We develop a model of a transport industry that operates under imperfect competition and economies of scale and two generic trade models in which export and import activities are either organized at arm’s length or in a vertical partnership. Using a large dataset of maritime transport costs, tariffs and export prices, we test the model predictions and find that economies of scale beat market power: a decline in the tariff implies a decline in freight rates. Furthermore, our results are consistent only with international trade being organized in vertical partnerships because a tariff increase does not lead to a decrease in export prices. |
| Keywords: | trade costs, transport costs, export prices, vertical integration |
| JEL: | F12 F14 R40 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7378&r=all |
| By: | Juan Soto; Milena Vargas; Julio A. Berdegué |
| Abstract: | This article estimates the impact of cities on the economic development of rural communities in Chile, following a market access approach. The effect of the proximity to cities on the development of rural communities is analyzed by estimating the impact of market access on the population, and farm and non-farm employment of rural communities. Using population censuses and remote sensing data, we find, in our preferred estimations, that a 10% higher market access induced a 10%–14% increase in the population of rural communities. Additionally, higher positive elasticities are found in the non-farm sector rather than in the agricultural one. These results widely support the hypothesis of structural change and the diversification of the rural economy for rural communities with better access to markets. Notwithstanding, the evidence also suggests that the farm sector took important advantages from market access in places with better agro-ecological conditions. |
| Keywords: | Rural economic development, market access, farm and non-farm employment, cities. |
| JEL: | Q13 Q15 Q56 R14 |
| Date: | 2018–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000518:017060&r=all |
| By: | Dario Diodato |
| Abstract: | A frequent problem in research is the harmonization of data to a common classification, whether that is in terms of ? to name a few examples ? industries, commodities, occupations, or geograph- ical areas. Statistical offices often provide concordance tables, to match data through time or with different classifications, but these concordance tables alone are often not sufficient to define a clear methodology on how the matching should be performed. In fact, the concordance tables have, in numerous occasions, a many-to-many mapping of classifications. The issue is exacerbated when two or more concordance tables are concatenated. In this Jupyter notebook, I discuss a network- based abstraction of this problem and propose, as a general solution, a method that identifies the network components (or the network communities) to make data converge to a new classification. The method simplifies the issue and reduces greatly conversion errors. |
| Keywords: | classification, concordance, harmonization, network, Python, Jupyter |
| JEL: | C65 C82 C88 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1843&r=all |