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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2025–02–03
four papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Balboni, Clare |
| Abstract: | Coasts contain a disproportionate share of the world's population, reflecting historical advantages, but environmental change threatens a reversal of coastal fortune in the coming decades as natural disasters intensify and sea levels rise. This paper considers whether large infrastructure investments should continue to favor coastal areas. I estimate a dynamic spatial equilibrium framework using detailed geo-referenced data on road investments in Vietnam from 2000 to 2010 and find evidence that coastal favoritism has significant costs. The results highlight the importance of accounting for the dynamic effects of environmental change in deciding where to allocate infrastructure today. |
| Keywords: | transport infrastructure; regional development; natural disaster risk; climate change; path dependence; spatial misallocation; sea level; floods; Vietnam |
| JEL: | J61 O18 O53 Q54 R11 R12 R13 R42 |
| Date: | 2025–01–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:126336 |
| By: | Luke Heath Milsom |
| Abstract: | Using data from the Doomsday Book, I find that areas of England that were 10% richer in 1086 are on average almost 2% richer today. Using a natural experiment and a dynamic quantitative spatial economics model I show that this persistence is not due to path dependency. Instead, the 1086 economy was moving towards a different, but correlated, long-run spatial equilibrium than that observed in 2020. This correlation in spatial equilibria can in part be explained by local market access. Modern place-based policies aiming to shift the spatial distribution of economic activity should focus on changing location fundamentals if they are to have long-run impacts. |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:746864 |
| By: | Rosa Sanchis-Guarner (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB); Nikodem Szumilo (University College London); Antoine Vernet (University College London) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of improved rail access on entrepreneurship rates in England and Wales. We use data from the Census spanning 2001, 2011, and 2021 to analyse self-employment rates in granular geographic areas of around 200 residents. Specifically, we study how they respond to changes in the distance to the nearest train station occurring due to 56 new station openings. We find that all else equal, moving 1 km further away from a station reduces self-employment rates by 0.12 percentage points, with the effect dissipating beyond 7 km. Secondary results suggest that access to rail makes it easier to become self-employed while not making it more attractive compared to employment. Our findings suggest that rail infrastructure improvements can support local entrepreneurship and economic activity, contributing to regional development and reducing economic inequality. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Rail, Self-employment |
| JEL: | L26 R11 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2024-11 |
| By: | Ghizlen Ouasbaa (TecnoCampus University Center & IEB) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the lasting impact of tourism specialization on per capita income in Spanish municipalities, aiming to understand the factors driving these effects. We employ two distinct approaches. The first one focuses on tourism development since the initial boom in the 1960s and relies on cross-sectional variation in tourism exposure related to amenities like beaches and weather for identification. The second method looks at a later wave of tourism development in the 1990s, using a shiftshare analysis that combines the share of residents from tourist-source countries in each municipality with the growth rate of tourists from these countries throughout Spain. The findings indicate that municipalities with the highest growth in tourism specialization now exhibit lower per capita income. A municipality experiencing an increase in tourism per capita over time equal to the sample median has a per capita income between 21% and 22% lower as of 2019, depending on the approach used. This decline in income is associated with an increase in temporary job contracts, with a decrease in industrial employment, and with lower levels of educational attainment. |
| Keywords: | Tourism specialization, local economic growth, long-term effects, local labor markets. |
| JEL: | R11 R23 Z32 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2024-14 |