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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2025–09–08
seven papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Fulvio Castellacci; Emil Evenhuis; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | The geography of innovation has focused on the roles of innovation for regional development understood in terms of income growth, productivity, and job creation. We propose a broader view on regional development using the framework of wellbeing developed in other disciplines. Following this perspective, we outline the possible roles and pathways through which innovation can contribute to well-being at various spatial scales and how, in turn, normative-political considerations regarding well-being provides directionality in innovation (policy) processes at spatial scales. |
| Keywords: | innovation, well-being, inequality, region, directionality |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2529 |
| By: | Torben Klarl (University of Bremen, Indiana University Bloomington); Alexander S. Kritikos (DIW Berlin, University of Potsdam, GLO Essen, CEPA); Knarik Poghosyan (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | While Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) platforms are a virtual space for raising funds, geography remains relevant. To determine how location matters for entrepreneurs using equity crowdfunding (ECF), we analyze the spatial distribution of successful ECF campaigns and the spatial relationship between ECF campaigns and traditional investors, such as banks and venture capitalists (VCs). Using data from the two leading German platforms – Companisto and Seedmacht – we employ spatial eigenvalue filtering and negative binomial estimations. In addition, we introduce an event study based on the implementation of the Small Investor Protection Act in Germany allowing us to obtain causal evidence. Our combined analysis reveals a significant geographic concentration of successful ECF campaigns in some, but not all, dense areas. ECF campaigns tend to cluster in dense areas with VC activity, while they are less prevalent in dense areas with high banking activity, and are rarely found in rural areas. Thus, rather than closing the so-called regional funding gap, our results suggest that, from a spatial perspective, ECF fills the gap when firms in dense areas seek external financing below the minimum equity threshold offered by VCs and when there are few banks offering loans. |
| Keywords: | Crowdfunding, Finance Geography, Entrepreneurial Finance, Venture Capital (VC) Proximity |
| JEL: | G30 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:91 |
| By: | Zehra Usta; Martin Andersson; Katarzyna Kopczewska; Maria Kubara |
| Abstract: | A common proposition is that certain technologies play a catalytic role in regions by paving the way for the emergence of new related technologies, contributing to the development and diversification of technology clusters. This paper employs unsupervised machine learning algorithms with temporally informed association rule mining to identify catalytic patents in clusters in the UK. Using data spanning over 30 years (1980-2015) we show clear asymmetric relationships between patents. Some act as evident catalysts that drive future patent activity in clusters. The results point to a strong empirical relevance of asymmetric relatedness between patents in the development of clusters of technology. They also highlight the usefulness of machine learning algorithms to better understand the long-term evolution of clusters and show how temporally informed association rule mining can be used to analyses asymmetries in relatedness and to identify catalyst technologies. |
| Keywords: | clusters, innovation, cluster dynamics, technological relatedness, asymmetric relatedness, innovation catalysts, patents |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2528 |
| By: | Andres Rodriguez-Pose; Lewis Dijkstra; Chiara Dorat |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, support for Eurosceptic parties has climbed from fringe to nearly one-third of voters. Promising renewed prosperity through less European integration, these partiesimplyEuroscepticismisa‘freelunch.’Drawingonanoriginalpanelof1, 166European NUTS-3 regions (2004-2023) and using fixed-, random-eNects, and diNerence-in-diNerences designs, we test how rising Euroscepticism connects with regional economic and demographic outcomes. We track GDP per capita, productivity, employment, and population growth. We find that a region 10 points more Eurosceptic than another could have ended up with GDP per capita roughly 5% lower than the less Eurosceptic region, as the negative economic influence of Euroscepticism compounds across cycles and intensified after the financial and austerity crises. The same applies for productivity and employment. Demographic impacts are smaller but point in the same direction. Even without governing, Eurosceptic support appears to deter investment and raise uncertainty, deepening the very stagnation that fuels discontent. There is no free lunch: political backlash against European integration carries a measurable costs for the regions that embrace it. |
| Keywords: | Euroscepticism; Economic development; Population growth; European integration; Political discontent; Regions; EU |
| JEL: | F15 D72 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2527 |
| By: | Jessica Birkholz; Susanna Bolz; Björn Jindra; Philip Kerner |
| Abstract: | Green hydrogen can play a major role in future net-zero energy systems. This paper investigates how existing technological and production capabilities can support the emergence and growth of green hydrogen value chains in Northern and Western Germany. Drawing on evolutionary economic geography, we argue that the development of the hydrogen value chain depends on the relatedness between existing knowledge bases and hydrogen technologies, and further recombinant capabilities, as well as the processes involved in acquiring capabilities. Our analysis focuses on seven NUTS 2 regions with favorable conditions for the development of hydrogen hubs, which are low cost of renewable energy production, access to hydrogen infrastructure, and political support for the hydrogen economy. We comparatively examine the regional capabilities using patent data to map technological innovation, firm-level data to identify key corporate actors, and regionalized export statistics to assess production capabilities. Based on our findings, we argue that the development of green hydrogen hubs might be facilitated by alignment between a region’s existing innovation capabilities, production capabilities, and hub specialization, with place-based policy approaches tailored towards each region’s unique profile. |
| Keywords: | Green hydrogen, Value chains, Regional capabilities |
| JEL: | O13 Q42 Q55 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:atv:wpaper:2505 |
| By: | Toger, Marina; Türk, Umut; Östh, John; Fischer, Manfred M. |
| Abstract: | This study applies a heteroscedastic spatial Durbin panel data model to investigate how sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors influence regional commuter mobility in the Greater Stockholm Area. Commuter mobility, defined as the flow of people to and from workplaces across regions and over time, is measured using high-frequency, high-resolution origin-destination data derived from mobile phone records, providing high-frequency, high-resolution insights into commuting patterns. The analysis uses a balanced panel of 681 regions from 2018–2024, incorporating an 18-nearest-neighbor spatial weight matrix to capture the topological relationships. Direct (withinregion) and indirect (spillover) effects are estimated using Bayesian inference, enabling robust interpretation of marginal effects in the presence of spatial lags in dependent and independent variables. Results show that spatial spillovers exert a more decisive influence than direct effects, with educational attainment and car ownership emerging as the most influential determinants of commuter mobility. According to total impact estimates, the demographic structure plays a comparatively minor, yet still significant, role. |
| Keywords: | Spatial econometrics; Bayesian estimation; heteroscedastic spatial Durbin panel data model; GSM- based mobility flow data, ; spatial spillover effects; Greater Stockholm Area |
| Date: | 2025–08–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus046:76951486 |
| By: | Atika Aouri; Philipp Otto |
| Abstract: | We introduce a heterogeneous spatiotemporal GARCH model for geostatistical data or processes on networks, e.g., for modelling and predicting financial return volatility across firms in a latent spatial framework. The model combines classical GARCH(p, q) dynamics with spatially correlated innovations and spatially varying parameters, estimated using local likelihood methods. Spatial dependence is introduced through a geostatistical covariance structure on the innovation process, capturing contemporaneous cross-sectional correlation. This dependence propagates into the volatility dynamics via the recursive GARCH structure, allowing the model to reflect spatial spillovers and contagion effects in a parsimonious and interpretable way. In addition, this modelling framework allows for spatial volatility predictions at unobserved locations. In an empirical application, we demonstrate how the model can be applied to financial stock networks. Unlike other spatial GARCH models, our framework does not rely on a fixed adjacency matrix; instead, spatial proximity is defined in a proxy space constructed from balance sheet characteristics. Using daily log returns of 50 publicly listed firms over a one-year period, we evaluate the model's predictive performance in a cross-validation study. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2508.20101 |