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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2024–12–30
eleven papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Stefano Basilico; Alberto Marzucchi; Sandro Montresor; ; |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the combination of green and digital technologies at the regional level. Using patent data, we put forward an original measurement of the regional speed of green-digital (i.e. twin) combination: the temporal distance between the time at which a combination is realised for the first time in the frontier region and the time at which this same combination is accomplished in the focal region. We proceed by investigating the drivers and the technological impact related to this speed. We find that the speed of combination is enhanced by dealing with broad and diverse twin technologies. The speed at which the gap is closed, also crucially depends on the interdependencies between green and digital domains, captured by the overlap in their knowledge bases. Counterintuitively, the longer the combination paths, the faster the region combines green and digital technologies. This finding is then rationalised further looking at the policy and network characteristics. Finally, we find that the earlier the combination happens, the greater is likely to be the impact on subsequent inventions, but only for granted patents. Overall, these results are discussed in terms of policy recommendations, given the high attention placed by policymakers on the twin transition. |
| Keywords: | Twin transition; Digital technologies; Green technologies; Regional knowledge base |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R11 R12 Q55 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2440 |
| By: | Nadine Levratto; Mounir Amdaoud |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how variety affects regional employment growth in France over the period 2004-2015. Starting from the seminal contribution of Frenken et al. (2007), we argue that intra-industry externalities foster employment growth. However, we don’t distinguish yet between the own effect of related variety of the region and that of its neighbourhood. Hence, we suggest that conceptual progress can be made when analysis considers the direct and indirect (neighbourhood) dimension of variety. Our empirical investigations confirm that related variety has a positive effect on employment growth. Moreover, this impact seems to be driven by the endogenous dimension of related variety in growth phase and by exogenous dimension in crisis period. We also find that the negative relationship between unrelated variety and employment growth goes only through the endogenous canal. |
| Keywords: | Related variety, unrelated variety, employment growth, neighbourhood effects, France |
| JEL: | R11 O18 D62 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2024-34 |
| By: | Jaison R. Abel; Richard Deitz |
| Abstract: | We develop a measure of chronic joblessness among prime-age men and women in the United States—termed the detachment rate— that identifies those who have been out of the labor force for more than a year. We show that the detachment rate more than doubled for men since the early 1980s and rose by a quarter for women since 2000, though it is consistently considerably higher for women than men. We then explore the economic geography of labor market detachment to help explain its rise. Results show that the detachment rate increased more in places with weak local economies, particularly those that experienced a loss of routine production and administrative support jobs due to globalization and technological change. The loss of production jobs affected both men and women and was particularly consequential in the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, while the loss of administrative support jobs mostly affected women and was particularly severe in the 1980s and 1990s. Moreover, we find the rise in detachment was concentrated among older prime-age individuals and those without a college degree, and occurred less in places with high human capital. |
| Keywords: | joblessness; labor force participation; local labor markets; job polarization; globalization; technological change; regional divergence |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J24 J61 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:99196 |
| By: | Bernhard Truffer (Environmental Social Science Department, Swiss Federal institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Evolutionary thinking has provided very potent explanations for regional industrial path development in the past decade. Recent commentators argued for extending the originally rather narrow focus on preexisting knowledge stocks to include institutional dimensions, system resource build up, and the agentic shaping of industrial pathways. On an epistemological level, such conceptual enlargements require the bridging of quantitative variance explanations and qualitative process explanations, which few scholars have successfully managed to do. In the present paper, I will argue that developments in the rapidly expanding field of semantic network analysis might improve rigor in qualitative process reconstructions and by this be more easily relatable to established quantitative approaches in evolutionary economic geography. Semantic networks enable the systematic reconstruction of higher order analytical constructs based on the analysis of statements and actions of actors as reported in collections of text documents. More specifically, we will introduce the socio-technical configuration analysis (STCA) method, recently developed in the scholarly field of sustainability transition studies, and show how it can inform regional path development research. An illustrative empirical case will analyze the path development dynamics in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, a global leader in automobile manufacturing, in the wake of the global challenge of electric cars. I conclude with wider ramifications of semantic network approaches for economic geography research and how it can be leveraged in mixed method designs. |
| Keywords: | Regional path development, semantic network analysis, socio-technical configuration analysis, evolutionary economic geography |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoe:wpaper:2405 |
| By: | Rasmus Bøgh Holmen; Timo Kuosmanen; Jaan Masso; Per Botolf Maurseth; Kenneth Løvold Rødseth |
| Abstract: | This paper ties broadband development to regional economic growth and focuses on the optimal timing of investments. A Directional Distance Function framework is proposed for characterising the relationship between broadband investment and economic development, and a two-stage estimation procedure combining Convex Nonparametric Least Squares with Linear Programming is developed for estimating optimal investment paths. The model framework is applied to a novel dataset comprising 21 regions in the Baltic countries. The results indicate that Gross Regional Domestic Product could be increased by up to 10 per cent by adopting optimal regional investment paths. We find intercountry differences, where Latvian regions exhibit more inefficient investment strategies compared to regions subordinate to their neighbouring countries. There are also signs of over-investment in broadband in some regions. |
| Keywords: | Regional economic growth; Broadband; Directional Distance Function; Convex Nonparametric Least Squares; Baltic countries; productivity |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:149 |
| By: | Juergen Bitzer (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics); C. Dannemann (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics); Erkan Goeren (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics) |
| Keywords: | Aid Effectiveness, Geo-Referenced Aid Projects, Economic Development, Economic Growth, Grid-Cell Analysis, GIS Data, Satellite Night-Time Light Data |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:dpaper:448 |
| By: | RENDA Andrea |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on ways to ensure coherence between place-based innovation and EU industrial policy, and proposes a new approach to sustainable, resilient and secure development in the EU. Underlying the proposed approach is the recognition that past attempts at goal-based policymaking, including the European Green Deal, have overlooked key trade-offs such as those involving socio economic impacts and territorial impacts. This in turn created discontent and a significant polarisation of public opinion, with non-metropolitan areas witnessing a rise in the anti-European sentiment. The paper argues that mono-dimensional approaches to industrial development (e.g. decarbonisation pathways) are unlikely to deliver prosperity and well-being, which stand as the ultimate goals of the European Union; and that a multi-dimensional approach aimed at addressing key trade-offs are much more suitable to such enterprise. In outlining a backcasting, mission-oriented and foresight-inspired approach, this paper suggests that the EU fully embraces economic complexity when looking at its geography, and that of the rest of the world. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc139506 |
| By: | Daza, Brian (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the regional redistribution of PeruÕs government revenueÑincreased due to the mineral commodity price boom in the 2000s -- to estimate the effects of government spending. I begin by calculating local effects on households, workers, and firms, and a local open economy relative multiplier. Motivated by a general equilibrium framework, I then incorporate a Spatial Auto-Regressive (SAR) model to measure trade-related spatial spillovers. I find that increases in government spending stimulate larger relative output growth and positively impact relative wages, expenditures, and income. However, there is no corresponding relative rise in labor or value added. The spatial analysis helps interpret these results and measures the trade-related indirect effects of local spending on output. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal Multiplier, Interregional Trade, Commodity Boom, Spatial Econometrics |
| JEL: | C31 E62 O13 Q33 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mie:wpaper:690 |
| By: | Yibo Qiao (Nanjing University); Andrea Ascani (Gran Sasso Science Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of High-speed Railway (HSR) on city industrial upgrading. Using the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms (1998-2015) and HSR opening information in China, we conduct a difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) analysis on 300 prefecture- and higher-level cities and 389 4-digit manufacturing industries. We find that HSR enables cities to enter more complex industries, and this result is robust under parallel trend test, placebo test, instrumental variable estimation, and other specifications. We contribute to Evolutionary Economic Geography by considering HSR as a regional external linkage and by integrating the causal analysis in the study of regional diversification. |
| Keywords: | High-speed railway, industrial upgrading, complexity, regional diversification, China |
| JEL: | H54 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahy:wpaper:wp58 |
| By: | Andree Ehlert; Andreas Lagemann; Jan Wedemeier |
| Abstract: | This study examines the real estate market in Germany at the district level, focusing on 401 NUTS 3 regions from 2012 to 2022. Using spatial econometric models, the analysis explores how socio-economic variables and COVID-19-related factors—including infection rates and mobility restrictions—affected regional property prices. Our results indicate that high infection rates and containment measures served as significant housing price drivers, with both direct effects within regions and indirect spillover effects to neighbouring regions. We find that these factors, along with socio-economic variables such as average age and childcare provision, contribute to spatial dynamics in property markets. Robustness checks across regional subgroups and different model specifications support these fin dings. The research contributes to the literature by quantifying the influence of socio-economic and pandemic-related factors on regional real estate price variations and providing evidence of spatial spillover effects. The findings highlight the need for regionally tailored real estate policies to address the diverse impacts of these factors on property markets in Germany, while also offering a framework for analysing similar dynamics in other countries. |
| Keywords: | Regional real estate prices, COVID-19 impact, socio-economic factors, spatial econometrics, NUTS 3 regions, Germany |
| JEL: | R1 R31 C23 C21 R11 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:atv:wpaper:2402 |
| By: | Bijedić-Krumm, Teita; Schneck, Stefan; Suprinovič, Olga; Kranzusch, Peter; Becker, Felix |
| Abstract: | Die Stärkung des Gründungsgeschehens ist ein zentrales Ziel der regionalen Wirtschaftspolitik. Damit gerät das jeweilige Gründungsökosystem in den Fokus. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersuchen wir erstmals deutschlandweit auf Basis von Kreisdaten die komplexen, wechselseitigen Wirkungszusammenhänge zwischen dem Gründungsökosystem und dem Gründungsgeschehen. Ziel ist es, die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen der regionalen Gründungsaktivität sowie ökonomischen und gesellschaftlichen regionalen Strukturen besser zu verstehen. Es zeigen sich zahlreiche Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Elementen des Gründungsökosystems und den Gründungsaktivitäten. Allerdings sind diese Effekte im Zeitverlauf nicht immer gleichförmig, sondern können kurz-, mittel- und langfristig unterschiedlich ausfallen. |
| Abstract: | Supporting start-up activity is a central goal of regional economic policy. The focus here is on regional start-up ecosystems, which combine many potential influencing factors. This empirical study aims to provide the first large-scale, Germany-wide analysis of the complex interdependencies of start-up activity and the elements of entrepreneurial ecosystems on a district level. We examine the influence of elements on start-up activity and the influence of start-up activity on the elements. The results show that the analyzed interactions within an entrepreneurial ecosystem are different at different points in time (short-, medium- and long-term). Regional economic policy can actively influence start-up activity through region-specific intervention measures. |
| Keywords: | Gründungen, Gründungsökosysteme, Regionales Gründungsgeschehen, Start-ups, Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Entrepreneurial Regions |
| JEL: | L26 M13 R11 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifmmat:306344 |