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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2021‒12‒13
seven papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Carolina Castaldi; Sandro Mendonca; |
| Abstract: | At the intersection of regional and innovation studies, trademark research is producing stylized facts, methodological lessons and policy insights underlining the importance of softer intangible assets for regional resilience and growth. Despite all the recent attention, there are still several opportunities that the present agenda-framing piece tries to canvas, identifying at least two directions for further research: the geography of innovation/entrepreneurship and regional specialization/diversification. Not only do these emerge from a dedicated special issue in Regional Studies (to which this paper also serves as an Editorial), they also unfold in emerging research and policy trajectories. |
| Keywords: | trademarks, regions, geography, intangibles, innovation, specialization, diversification |
| JEL: | O3 L5 R1 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2138&r= |
| By: | E. Marrocu; R. Paci; S. Usai |
| Abstract: | For the first time we investigate the effects that Universities exert on Total Factor Productivity dynamics for a very ample sample of 270 European regions over the period 2000-2016. This novel contribution goes beyond the traditional human capital and technological capital indirect effects and proposes a sound empirical assessment of the highly differentiated "third mission" activities. These are unique to engaged academic institutions and shape the key role they play as societal development-promoting agencies. Our analysis provides evidence of sizeable and robust universities direct supply-side effects, which complement the traditional ones in driving European regional productivity growth. |
| Keywords: | university;Regional Total Factor Productivity;human capital;technological capital;Universities' third mission |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202107&r= |
| By: | Helen Lawton Smith (emlyon business school); Dimitris Assimakopoulos |
| Abstract: | This paper explores diverging patterns of innovation and regional development in two ‘islands of innovation'. In the early 2000s the growth trajectories of Grenoble and Oxfordshire were compared (Lawton Smith 2003). The focus was on national laboratories as territorial actors in the clustering of high-tech firms. Building on longitudinal data collected since 2003 the theme shifts in this study to the forms that government intervention takes through investments in knowledge organisations in high tech economies and how that leads to particular specialisations of technological advance. While there are many similarities, there are differences in starting points and structures, leading to diversities in innovation. The analysis shows how both are embedded in their national situations and opportunities for development. We focus on two key elements in sustaining clusters of innovation, those of highly skilled labour and networks. We show that in Grenoble, the clusters are orchestrated information and project-based while in Oxfordshire they are labour market dominated and organic. We demonstrate complementary relationships between the national and regional level policy formation and implementation. In both cases importance of place is sustained over time but for different reasons.Este documento explora patrones divergentes de innovación y desarrollo regional en dos "islas de innovación". A principios de la década de 2000 se compararon las trayectorias de crecimiento de Grenoble y Oxfordshire (Lawton Smith 2003). La atención se centró en los laboratorios nacionales como actores territoriales en la agrupación de empresas de alta tecnología. Basándose en los datos longitudinales recopilados desde 2003, el objeto de análisis cambia en este estudio a las formas que la intervención gubernamental adopta a través de inversiones en organizaciones de conocimiento en sectores de alta tecnología y cómo eso conduce a especializaciones particulares del avance tecnológico. Si bien hay muchas similitudes, hay diferencias en los puntos de partida y las estructuras, lo que conduce a las diversidades en la innovación. El análisis muestra cómo ambos están integrados en sus situaciones nacionales y oportunidades de desarrollo.Nos centramos en dos elementos clave para sostener grupos de innovación, los de trabajadores altamente cualificados y redes. Demostramos que en Grenoble, los clusters se organizan entorno a la información y proyectos, mientras que en Oxfordshire están dominados por el mercado de trabajo y son de carácter orgánico. Demostramos relaciones complementarias entre la formación y aplicación de políticas a nivel nacional y regional. En ambos casos, la importancia del lugar se mantiene en el tiempo, pero por diferentes razones. |
| Date: | 2020–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03299193&r= |
| By: | Alessandro Taberna; Tatiana Filatova; Andrea Roventini; Francesco Lamperti |
| Abstract: | By 2050 about 70% of the worldùs population is expected to live in cities. Cities offer spatial economic advantages that boost agglomeration forces and innovation, fostering further concentration of economic activities. For historic reasons urban clustering occurs along coasts and rivers, which are prone to climate-induced flooding. To explore trade-offs between agglomeration economies and increasing climate-induced hazards, we develop an evolutionary agent-based model with heterogeneous boundedly-rational agents who learn and adapt to a changing environment. The model combines migration decision of both households and firms between safe Inland and hazard-prone Coastal regions with endogenous technological learning and economic growth. Flood damages affect Coastal firms hitting their labour productivity, capital stock and inventories. We find that the model is able to replicate a rich set of micro- and macro-empirical regularities concerning economic and spatial dynamics. Without climate-induced shocks, the model shows how lower transport costs favour the waterfront region leading to self-reinforcing and path-dependent agglomeration processes. We then introduce five scenarios considering flood hazards characterized by different frequency and severity and we study their complex interplay with agglomeration patterns and the performance of the overall economy. We find that when shocks are mild or infrequent, they negatively affect the economic performance of the two regions. If strong flood hazards hit frequently the Coastal region before agglomeration forces trigger high levels of waterfront urbanization, firms and households can timely adapt and migrate landwards, thus absorbing the adverse impacts of climate shocks on the whole economy. Conversely, in presence of climate tipping points which suddenly increase the frequency and magnitude of flood hazards, we find that the consolidated coastal gentrification of economic activities locks-in firms on the waterfront, leading to a harsh downturn for the whole economy. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration; path-dependency; climate; flood; shock; relocation; migration; agent-based model; tipping point; resilience; lock in. |
| Date: | 2021–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2021/44&r= |
| By: | Deryugina, Tatyana (University of Illinois); Molitor, David (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) |
| Abstract: | Life expectancy varies substantially across local regions within a country, raising conjectures that place of residence affects health. However, population sorting and other confounders make it difficult to disentangle the effects of place on health from other geographic differences in life expectancy. Recent studies have overcome such challenges to demonstrate that place of residence substantially influences health and mortality. Whether policies that encourage people to move to places that are better for their health or that improve areas that are detrimental to health are desirable depends on the mechanisms behind place effects, yet these mechanisms remain poorly understood. |
| Keywords: | life expectancy, regional variation, place effects |
| JEL: | I10 R10 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14748&r= |
| By: | Kenny, Michael; Luca, Davide |
| Abstract: | Relatively little research has explored whether there is a systemic urban-rural divide in the political and socioeconomic attitudes of citizens across Europe. Drawing on individual-level data from the European Social Survey, we argue that there are strong and significant differences between the populations in these different settings, especially across western European countries. We suggest that this divide is a continuum, running on a gradient from inner cities to suburbs, towns and the countryside. The differences are explained by both composition and contextual effects, and underscore how a firmer appreciation of the urban-rural divide is integral to future place-based policy responses. |
| Keywords: | Europe; geography of discontent; political disenchantment; regional inequality; urban-rural divide |
| JEL: | D72 R20 R58 Z13 |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112683&r= |
| By: | César Ducruet (EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, GC (UMR_8504) - Géographie-cités - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UP - Université de Paris); Hidekazu Itoh (Kwansei Gakuin University); Justin Berli (GC (UMR_8504) - Géographie-cités - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UP - Université de Paris) |
| Abstract: | While the spatial and functional relationships between ports and cities have been put in question in the last decades, the continued importance of urbanization and maritime transport in global socio-economic development motivates deeper research on their interaction. The global trade network is often studied at the country level and all transport modes included, concluding that distance remains a strong counterforce to exchange. This article wishes to detect whether the global container shipping network obeys similar properties at the city level. More than 2 million inter-port vessel movements between 1977 and 2016 are assigned to about 9000 ports and 4600 cities to run a gravity model on two different network topologies. Gravitational properties are found, as larger cities connect more with each other but less at distance. The degree of distance effects negatively expanded in 40 years, confirming the "puzzling" or reinforcing effect of distance, yet it varies greatly depending on node aggregation and network topology. We conclude that ports and cities continue to share important interdependencies, but these often rest on a detrimental physical transformation. A discussion is proposed about the underlying operational and theoretical mechanisms at stake. Keywords container shipping; gravity model; maritime trade; port cities; spatial interaction; world city networks. |
| Keywords: | globalization,container shipping,complex networks,ACL,PARIS team,world city networks,urban systems,spatial interaction,port cities,maritime trade,gravity model,graph theory |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02588449&r= |