|
on Economic Geography |
|
Issue of 2025–07–28
nine papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Federico Barbiellini Amidei (Bank of Italy); Matteo Gomellini (Bank of Italy); Lorenzo Incoronato (CSEF, University of Naples Federico II, CESifo, CReAM and Rockwool Foundation Berlin); Paolo Piselli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between demographic change and entrepreneurship and highlights its spatial dimension. We digitize historical censuses to reconstruct entrepreneurship rates and the age structure of Italian provinces since1960. We develop an estimation framework that relates entrepreneurship to granular age cohorts of the local population, leveraging instrumental variables to address endogeneity issues. Our results uncover stark regional heterogeneity. In Northern Italy, we find a hump-shaped age-entrepreneurship profile peaking at cohorts aged 30-40. In the South, entrepreneurship increases with age. Regional differences in the local business environment partly account for different estimated profiles. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, demographic change, regional differences, long run |
| JEL: | J11 L26 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–06–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:752 |
| By: | José Pedro Pontes |
| Abstract: | We model the expansion of (higher) education in an economy composed by regions that only di??er in population density. The schooling process takes place sequentially across regions in descending order of demographic density and it implies a substitution of modern industrial technologies for traditional land-based ones. Under the crucial assumption that young people may travel to school within the region where they live, but not across regions, the model explains why both the literacy rate and per capita income increase, albeit at a decreasing rate. Furthermore, is allows us to understand why the average students’ commuting distance tends to rise despite the geographical decentralization of the educational system. |
| Keywords: | Education Spread, Population Density, Spatial Monopolistic Competition, Wage Premium of Education, Modern versus Traditional Technology. |
| JEL: | O18 R11 I20 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp03832025 |
| By: | Basco, Sergi; Roses, Joan R. |
| Abstract: | The economic impact of pandemics is commonly studied using theoretical models that assume constant returns to scale and no factor movements. This article argues that a new economic geography model with increasing returns to scale and capital mobility better explains the effects of pandemics in modern economies. Our model predicts that pandemics shape where investments are made, leading to long-term impacts on economic development. To test this, we examine the consequences of the Great Influenza Pandemic on credit allocation and structural transformation in Spain from 1915 to 1929. Our research shows that credit growth was lower in regions with high mortality. Quantitatively, a one standard deviation increase in flu-driven mortality decreases credit (per capita) by 13.6%. We also document that this flu-driven reallocation of credit resulted in an increase in relative urban GDP in low mortality rate regions. A one standard deviation increase in flu-driven credit raises relative urban GDP by 9.5%. |
| Keywords: | pandemics; capital mobility; economic geography; structural change |
| JEL: | E32 N10 N30 N90 O11 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128853 |
| By: | Yankova Dima; Abbasiharofteh Milad |
| Abstract: | European innovation policy combines place-based and spatially blind instruments that operate under distinct logics. Building synergies between them requires not only regulatory alignment, but a better understanding of how economic actors interact across policy levels. This study examines how companies’ participation in the European Framework Programmes (FP) influences their propensity to engage in regional R&D partnerships, supported by Cohesion Policy. We analyse longitudinal data on Valencian firms using inferential network analysis (i.e., Temporal Exponential Random Graph Models). Results indicate that FP beneficiaries are more active in regional tie formation than non-FP firms, especially when academic intermediaries are involved. Yet, they also tend to collaborate with each other, limiting opportunities for knowledge diffusion among firms that do not benefit from the international collaboration premium. |
| Keywords: | rR&D network, innovation policy, intermediaries, TERGM |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2520 |
| By: | Michael Christl (University of Loyola); Aron Kiss (European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs); Wolfgang Nagl (Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Faculty of Applied Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines labour market matching in Austria from 2008 to 2024, focusing on the regional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using monthly administrative data, we estimate Beveridge curves and matching efficiency across federal states. Our results show that while COVID-19 temporarily disrupted labour market matching, mismatch unemployment returned to pre-pandemic levels relatively quickly. However, this national recovery masks persistent regional differences. Many industrial regions experienced structural declines in matching efficiency starting in 2014-2015. These findings highlight the need for regionally targeted labour market and training policies to address lasting disparities and support post-pandemic recovery. |
| Keywords: | Beveridge curve, Unemployment, Matching efficiency, COVID-19 |
| Date: | 2025–07–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2025:i:708 |
| By: | Niccolò Murtas (University of Ferrara) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates an aggregate green knowledge production function (GKPF) for 19 OECD countries from 1981 to 2012, using panel-data econometric methods to address spatial spillovers and unobserved heterogeneity. Both Cobb-Douglas and translog functional forms are evaluated with multiple estimators, including standard fixed and random effects models, pooled and mean group common correlated effects (CCE) estimators, and random-trend models to account for shared upward trends among variables. The regression analysis examines the relationship between green patenting and key determinants such as R&D expenditure, human capital, and environmental policy indicators. The results consistently show a robust positive effect of domestic R&D, whereas the impacts of other factors exhibit greater variability. Methodologically, the findings highlight the sensitivity of coefficient estimates to unobserved heterogeneity and the choice of functional form. |
| Keywords: | Green innovation, knowledge production function, panel data, spatial spillovers |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0725 |
| By: | Davide Consoli; Francesco Lelli; FSandro Montresor; Francois Perruchas; Francesco Rentocchini |
| Abstract: | Given the crucial role of Venture Capital (VC) in financing the green transition, and its uneven geographical distribution, we examine how the proximity of VC investors to green start-ups influences the success of their deals. Considering the intrinsically higher risk profile of start-ups in the greensector, we maintain that their spatial proximity to VC investors will have a larger effect here than in other sectors. Furthermore, considering recent advancements in the digitalization of VC, we also argue that a digital kind of proximity between investors and green investees in accessing digital technologies (platforms) could matter for that, by also reducing the binding effect of spatial proximity on the success of VC green deals. Using data from Dealroom, and combining them with the SpeedTest open dataset by Ookla, we test for these arguments with respect to a large sample of about 12, 000 green start-ups, originally identified by combining multiple methods (text scraping, topic modelling, and machine learning), located in 27 EU (+3) countries from 2000 to 2020. Econometric estimates at the level of realised vs. potential VC green deals confirm that spatial proximity is more relevant for green than for non-green start-ups. The new quasi- dyadic indicator of digital proximity that we propose does also significantly and positively correlates with the actual occurrence of green deals, and negatively moderate the effect of spatial proximity, supporting our argument of a substitution relationship between the two. Policy implications are drawn accordingly. |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2521 |
| By: | Kitamura, Shuhei; Lagerlöf, Nils-Petter |
| Abstract: | The location of cities is linked to access to trade, but security also matters, in particular for capitals. Here we document this phenomenon, and explore its implications, in the context of Europe’s Great Power era. First we show that Great Power battles tend to occur in shortest-distance corridors between belligerent powers’ capitals, except where those corridors are intercepted by seas, mountains, and marshes. Then we show that capitals locate closer to each other when they have more of these types of geography between them. Finally, we show that city pairs are less likely to belong to the same state if they have more of this geography between them, allowing us to use geography to predict the territorial size and shape of Europe’s Great Powers. In sum, our results suggest that terrain which slows down military incursions makes capitals safer, allowing them to locate closer to each other; given all capitals’ locations, the surrounding geography then shapes the associated state territories. |
| Date: | 2025–06–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:zj5gw_v1 |
| By: | Heriaud Bastien; Joossens Elisabeth (European Commission - JRC); Le Blanc Julia (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | "A regional resilience dashboard is a powerful tool to visualise and assess each European regionâs capabilities and vulnerabilities and guide policymakers. Modelled after the Commissionâs Resilience Dashboards, the Regional Resilience Dashboard indicates significant disparities of capacities and vulnerabilities among regions within each country.There is a strong negative correlation between capacities and vulnerabilities among regions within each country confirming that regions with heightened vulnerabilities frequently possess diminished capacities, and vice versa. Regions situated at the EU's periphery, particularly in South-Eastern Europe, exhibit lower capacity and heightened vulnerability indices while urban regions and those encompassing national capitals show higher capacities and reduced vulnerabilities. Between 2017 and 2023 vulnerabilities diminished and capacities improved slightly across all EU regions. At the same time, inequalities in resilience across regions increased." |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc141990 |