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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2024‒06‒17
eleven papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Eliasson, Kent (Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis); Hansson, Pär (Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis); Lindvert, Markus (Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | In the paper, we break down business sector R&D at an appropriate regional level (functional analysis regions, FA-regions) in Sweden. We describe the variation and development at the regional level. In an econometric analysis, we examine what affects the location and size of enterprise groups’ R&D activities in different FA-regions. We find that enterprise groups concentrate their R&D to the same regions, which are also regions with significant academic R&D (external agglomeration). Moreover, colocation of R&D and manufacturing within an enterprise group in a region (internal agglomeration) appears to be a significant location factor. Last but not least, the local availability of qualified R&D labor is another important localization factor for business sector R&D. Finally, when we compare the results from the econometric analysis with what enterprise groups themselves states as important motives for location, we find that they match quite well. |
| Keywords: | business sector R&D; regional location; external agglomeration; colocation of R&D and production; abundance of qualified labor |
| JEL: | J24 O32 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–05–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2024_004&r= |
| By: | Batabyal, Amitrajeet; Higano, Yoshiro; Nijkamp, Peter |
| Abstract: | There are no book length treatments of spatial spillovers that provide theoretical and empirical analyses of this topic within different regions in the continent of Asia. As such, the primary objective of this book is to provide expansive studies of spatial spillovers and their salience by focusing on several regions in Asia. Following this introductory chapter, which comprises Part I of the book, there are eleven chapters and each of these chapters discusses a particular research question or questions about spatial spillovers in Asia. For ease of comprehension, we have divided the present volume containing twelve chapters into four parts. Part II of this book focuses on theoretical approaches to studying spatial spillovers and this part consists of three chapters. Part III concentrates on agriculture and the environment and this part of the book consists of two chapters. Finally, part IV provides a variety of regional perspectives on spatial spillovers in Asia. |
| Keywords: | Asia, Economic Development, Economic Growth, Region, Spatial Spillover |
| JEL: | Q10 R11 R50 |
| Date: | 2024–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:120901&r= |
| By: | Xiaoxuan Zhang (University of Waikato); John Gibson (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | China’s high-speed rail (HSR) has quickly expanded to over 40, 000 km of lines operating and another 10, 000 km under construction. This is over 10-times longer than the networks in long-established HSR countries like France, Germany or Japan. While fewer than 100 county-level units had stations on the HSR network in the first years of operation, the eight years from 2012-19 saw almost 400 more county-level units connect to the HSR network. Effects on local economic activity from this substantial increase in connections to the HSR network remain contested. Some prior studies find either insignificant effects on local economic growth or even negative effects in peripheral regions. In light of this debate, we use spatial econometric models for a panel for almost 2500 county-level units to study effects of connecting to the HSR network. We especially concentrate on the 2012-19 period that has high quality night-time lights data to provide an alternative to GDP as an indicator of growth in local economic activity. Our spatial econometric models allow for spatial lags of the outcomes, of the covariates, and of the errors. We also address potential endogeneity of the HSR networks and connections, using an instrumental variables strategy. Across a range of specifications, we generally find that growth in local economic activity is lower following connection to the HSR network, with this effect especially apparent when using high quality night-time lights data for the 2012-19 period. Hence, expansion of the HSR network may not boost China’s economic growth. |
| Keywords: | High-speed rail; infrastructure; luminosity; spatial spillovers; China |
| JEL: | R12 |
| Date: | 2024–06–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:24/03&r= |
| By: | Milad Abbasiharofteh; Tom Broekel; Lars Mewes; |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how geographical proximity affected interregional co-patenting links in various technologies in the USA from 1836 to 2010. We classify technologies by their complexity and test whether that moderates the impact of distance on collaboration. Contrary to the ‘death of distance’ hypothesis, distance still matters for knowledge creation and exchange. Moreover, we show that the role of complexity has changed over time. However, this pattern reversed by the late 20th century, with collaborations in complex technologies becoming more resilient to distance than those in simpler technologies. However, this pattern reversed by the late 20th century, with collaborations in complex technologies becoming more resilient to distance than those in simpler technologies. |
| Keywords: | network evolution, interregional collaboration, geographical proximity, technological complexity |
| JEL: | O33 R12 N70 L14 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2414&r= |
| By: | Nilsson, Pia (Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.); Johansson, Eleanor (Department of Economics, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.); Larsson, Johan P (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK.); Naldi, Lucia (Centre for Family Business and Entrepreneurship CeFEO, Jönköping University, Jönköping Sweden.); Westlund, Hans (Department of Urban and Regional Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how the lockdown-induced exposure to remote work affected the likelihood of switching to longer commutes using a longitudinal full-population register of Swedish employees. Employees with little experience of long distance commuting were more likely to start commuting longer if they had occupations with high potential for remote work. Examining heterogeneity across sectors, this is especially evident among high-skilled workers in sectors with both high and low pre-existing shares of remote work and longer commutes. Our findings are important for understanding regional expansion and spatial extensions of labour markets in a world where more work can be done remotely. |
| Keywords: | Labour mobility; Commuting distance; Remote work: Knowledge-intensive sectors; Covid-19 |
| JEL: | J24 J61 R10 R30 |
| Date: | 2024–05–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0498&r= |
| By: | S\'andor Juh\'asz; Zolt\'an Elekes; Vir\'ag Ily\'es; Frank Neffke |
| Abstract: | Strong local clusters help firms compete on global markets. One explanation for this is that firms benefit from locating close to their suppliers and customers. However, the emergence of global supply chains shows that physical proximity is not necessarily a prerequisite to successfully manage customer-supplier relations anymore. This raises the question when firms need to colocate in value chains and when they can coordinate over longer distances. We hypothesize that one important aspect is the extent to which supply chain partners exchange not just goods but also know-how. To test this, we build on an expanding literature that studies the drivers of industrial coagglomeration to analyze when supply chain connections lead firms to colocation. We exploit detailed micro-data for the Hungarian economy between 2015 and 2017, linking firm registries, employer-employee matched data and firm-to-firm transaction data from value-added tax records. This allows us to observe colocation, labor flows and value chain connections at the level of firms, as well as construct aggregated coagglomeration patterns, skill relatedness and input-output connections between pairs of industries. We show that supply chains are more likely to support coagglomeration when the industries involved are also skill related. That is, input-output and labor market channels reinforce each other, but supplier connections only matter for colocation when industries have similar labor requirements, suggesting that they employ similar types of know-how. We corroborate this finding by analyzing the interactions between firms, showing that supplier relations are more geographically constrained between companies that operate in skill related industries. |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2405.07071&r= |
| By: | Ales Franc (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic); Sona Kukuckova (Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic); Marek Litzman (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Time spent commuting plays a significant role in decision-making within the labour market, particularly for job seekers. Investments in road infrastructure have a direct effect on commuting times and thus may also have an effect on the local labour markets. The aim of the article is to evaluate the effect of improvements in infrastructure on regional unemployment. In this paper, we use a unique database that includes data on the time taken to commute from all municipalities in the Czech Republic (n=6237) to their regional centres for every month between March 2014 and December 2022 (106 periods). Overall 1534 changes that met the criteria for a significant change in travelling time were identified. Our results suggest that a one-minute drop in commuting time from the respective municipality to the regional centre is linked to a 0.07 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate one year later, in comparison to the control group. The ratio rises over time, after five years, the same one-minute reduction in commuting time, is then related to a 0.19 percentage point drop in unemployment. Therefore, better infrastructure can help to reduce differences in regional rates of unemployment and can justify infrastructure investments. |
| Keywords: | commuting, unemployment, road infrastructure, OSRM, New Economic Geography, inter-regional disparities, regional development |
| JEL: | H54 R41 J61 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:men:wpaper:94_2024&r= |
| By: | Mark Bryan (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK); Andrew Bryce (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK); Jennifer Roberts (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK); Cristina Sechel (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK) |
| Abstract: | The UK is one of the most spatially unequal countries in the developed world, and there is a long recognised need to ‘level up’ the economy. A strong case can be made to suggest that disabled people are particularly disadvantaged when living in a ‘left behind’ area and hence have the most to gain from levelling up. The disability employment gap, that is the difference between the employment rates of non-disabled people and disabled people, was 31 percentage points (pp) in Great Britain as a whole between 2014 and 2019 but ranged from 17pp to 43pp at local (ITL3) level. Using novel decomposition techniques we find that the key drivers of this spatial variation, each explaining similar shares, are local population characteristics and economic structure, including the level and nature of labour demand in geographical areas and the industry composition of the area. However, spatial variation in healthcare capacity, social capital, employer policies towards disability and the stringency of statutory welfare provision do not appear to have an effect on the gap. Our results suggest that locally adapted policies to narrow the gap may be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach. |
| Keywords: | disability employment gap, spatial inequalities |
| JEL: | I14 J14 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2024002&r= |
| By: | Almeida, Vanda (OECD); Hoffmann, Claire (OECD); Königs, Sebastian (OECD); Moreno-Monroy, Ana Isabel (OECD); Salazar-Lozada, Mauricio (OECD); Terrero-Dávila, Javier (OECD) |
| Abstract: | People's ability to access essential services is key to their labour market and social inclusion. An important dimension of accessibility is physical accessibility, but little cross-country evidence exists on how close people live to the services facilities they need. This paper helps to address this gap, focusing on three types of essential services: Public Employment Services, primary schools and Early Childhood Education and Care. It collects and maps data on the location of these services for a selection of OECD countries and links them with data on population and transport infrastructure. This allows to compute travel times to the nearest service facility and to quantify disparities in accessibility at the regional level. The results highlight substantial inequalities in accessibility of essential services across and within countries. Although large parts of the population can easily reach these services in most countries, some people are relatively underserved. This is particularly the case in non-metropolitan and low-income regions. At the same time, accessibility seems to be associated with the potential demand for these services once accounting for other regional economic and demographic characteristics. |
| Keywords: | geographic inequalities, geospatial disparities, service accessibility, social services, employment services |
| JEL: | H00 I24 J01 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16958&r= |
| By: | Charly Porcher; Eduardo Morales; Thomas Fujiwara |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of information frictions in migration. We develop novel moment inequalities to estimate worker preferences while allowing for unobserved worker-specific information sets, migration costs, and location-specific amenities and prices. Using data on internal migration in Brazil, we find that common estimation procedures underestimate the importance of expected wages in migration choices, and that workers face substantial and heterogeneous information frictions. Model specification tests indicate that workers living in regions with higher internet access and larger populations have more precise wage information, and that information precision decreases with distance. Our estimated model predicts that information frictions play a quantitatively important role in reducing migration flows and worker welfare, and limit the welfare gains from reductions in migration costs. |
| JEL: | F10 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32413&r= |
| By: | Kulshreshtha, Shobhit |
| Abstract: | In this study, I delve into the factors shaping the adoption of new farming practices among Indian farmers, with a particular focus on the role of information access and its diverse sources. Leveraging nationally representative data on rural households from the National Sample Survey Office, Government of India for the year 2019, I employ logistic regression to gauge the likelihood of farmers adopting new agricultural techniques based on the information they receive from various channels. Additionally, I undertake spatial linear regression analysis to unravel the dynamics of information spillovers pertaining to new farming practices across districts. The results highlight the significance of the information source in driving adoption decisions, with progressive farmers and input dealers emerging as influential sources. Moreover, the spatial analysis provides compelling evidence of information diffusion across district boundaries, highlighting the varying efficacy of different information channels. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers aiming to craft targeted interventions aimed at shaping farmers' decision-making processes regarding the adoption of innovative farming practices. |
| Keywords: | Farming Practices, Information Access, Technology Adoption, Spatial Spillovers |
| JEL: | Q15 Q16 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1435&r= |