|
on Economic Geography |
|
Issue of 2026–08–24
nine papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Stephan Heblich; Marlon Seror; Hao Xu; Yanos Zylberberg |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of large, successful manufacturing plants on other local producers in China, focusing on "Million-Rouble Plants" built in the 1950s during a brief alliance with the U.S.S.R. The ephemeral geopolitical situation and the locations of allied and enemy airbases provide exogenous variation in plant siting. We find a boom-and-bust pattern: Counties hosting these plants were 80% more productive than control counties in 1982 but 20% less productive by 2010. This decline reflects the performance of local establishments, which exhibit low productivity, limited innovation, and high markup. Specialization hindered spillovers, preventing the emergence of new clusters and local entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Industrial policy; regional development; manufacturing agglomeration; knowledge spillovers; China; economic history |
| JEL: | R11 R53 J24 N95 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26188 |
| By: | Irakli Barbakadze; Jan Fidrmuc; Martin Hulényi; Ketevani Kapanadze |
| Abstract: | We study Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a natural experiment to determine how sudden disruptions to international market access reshape sub-national economic inequalities. Using remotely-sensed nighttime lights as a proxy for economic activity, we estimate the economic effects of the war at the national and regional levels. We find that Russia experienced an overall economic slowdown after the start of the full-scale invasion. Regions in Western and North-Western Russia experienced significantly larger economic contractions, while Southern and Southeastern regions exhibit relative improvements in performance. These findings suggest that sanctions, a shift toward non-Western markets, and increased military production, have driven significant regional changes in Russia’s economy and urban structure. |
| Keywords: | Russia, regional and local inequalities, resilience, nighttime lights |
| JEL: | F15 P25 R11 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12869 |
| By: | Milad Abbasiharofteh; Hamid Bekamiri |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) represents a methodological turning point in economic geography and regional studies and provides a proof of concept for this transition. Building on successive waves of data collection methods, from surveys and standardized secondary data to web-based data, we show how GenAI can complement existing methods by approximating firms’ product portfolios from unstructured information and linking them to standardized classifications. Moving beyond product mapping, we conclude by discussing a research agenda that addresses broader data and methodological challenges and outlines how GenAI can contribute to a new methodological frontier. |
| Keywords: | economic geography, regional studies; generative artificial intelligence; geography of products; web data |
| JEL: | C55 O33 R12 L26 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2616 |
| By: | Distefano, Mimosa; Donnat, Helene; Overman, Henry G.; Shah, Krishan |
| Abstract: | We study productivity disparities across metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in Great Britain. Spatial disparities in productivity are large and persistent. Using a development accounting framework, we show that differences in area size and in the spatial distribution of human and business capital are key explanatory factors. A combination of area size and human capital explains 30 percent of the productivity variance, increasing to 43 to 57 percent once we add measures of business capital stocks. Applying our framework to a case study of Greater Manchester, we show that large increases in both types of capital are needed to narrow productivity disparities with London, illustrating the scale of the challenge for policies aimed at reducing spatial inequality. |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2026–08–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:138505 |
| By: | Hunt, Jennifer; Cockburn, Iain; Bessen, James |
| Abstract: | Using our own data on Artificial Intelligence publications merged with Burning Glass vacancy data for 2007-2019, we investigate whether online vacancies for jobs requiring AI skills grow more slowly in U.S. locations farther from pre-2007 AI innovation hotspots. We find that a commuting zone which is an additional 200km (125 miles) from the closest AI hotspot has 17% lower growth in AI jobs' share of vacancies. This is driven by distance from AI papers rather than AI patents. Distance reduces growth in AI research jobs as well as in jobs adapting AI to new industries, as evidenced by strong effects for computer and mathematical researchers, developers of software applications, and the finance and insurance industry. 20% of the effect is explained by the presence of state borders between some commuting zones and their closest hotspot. This could reflect state borders impeding migration and thus flows of tacit knowledge. Distance does not capture difficulty of in-person or remote collaboration nor knowledge and personnel flows within multi-establishment firms hiring in computer occupations. |
| Keywords: | Artificial intelligence; Innovation and invention; Technology diffusion; Technology adoption |
| JEL: | O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19537 |
| By: | Marcel Schlepper; Timo Wochner |
| Abstract: | This paper provides causal evidence that the mere risk of war — absent actual conflict — imposes substantial economic costs. Our setting exploits NATO's Cold War defense line against a potential Soviet invasion, which created a geographic discontinuity in war risk within West Germany. A leak of classified defense plans in 1977 made this discontinuity salient to the public. We show that war risk distorted firm behavior on the exposed side of the defense line: firm entry declined, and incumbent firms reduced investment. These responses caused persistent regional divergence. Decades after the Cold War ended, incomes remain significantly lower in areas once exposed to higher war risk. |
| Keywords: | war risk, conflict, economic growth, firm decisions |
| JEL: | D74 R11 O12 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12915 |
| By: | Eva Davoine (UC Berkeley - University of California [Berkeley] - UC - University of California); Joseph Enguehard (CERGIC - Center for Economic Research on Governance, Inequality and Conflict - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon, UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna [Bologne], Departement des sciences statistiques "Paolo Fortunati" - UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna [Bologne], ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon); Victor Gay (IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Igor Kolesnikov (UC Berkeley - University of California [Berkeley] - UC - University of California) |
| Abstract: | The gabelle salt tax system was a cornerstone of the fiscal apparatus of the early modern French state. This article introduces a novel historical geographic information system (GIS) of this institution's spatial organization as of the seventeenth century, drawing on an original 1665 manuscript map collection: Sanson's Atlas des gabelles. Beyond presenting the dataset and documenting its construction methodology, we provide a detailed account of the functioning of the gabelle, situate the French case in comparative perspective, and illustrate how the availability of this fine-grained dataset expands the possibilities of empirical research in economic history, historical demography, and historical political economy of early modern France. |
| Keywords: | Taxation, Gabelle, Administrative boundary, France, Historical geographic information systems, Ancien régime |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05501504 |
| By: | Colin Davis (Doshisha University); Ken-ichi Hashimoto (Kobe University); Ken Tabata (Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how environmental policy designed to reduce transboundary pollution affects long-run productivity growth through shifts in the geographic location of industry. We construct a two-country endogenous growth and endogenous market structure framework in which there is a positive link between the geographic concentration of industry and the strength of knowledge spillovers from production to innovation. Emissions are generated as a byproduct of production. We show that an increase in the emissions tax of the country with a larger (smaller) share of industry lowers the concentration of industry leading to weaker (stronger) knowledge spillovers and a slower (faster) rate of productivity growth. In addition, we identify cases where a rise in the emissions tax of the country with a smaller share of industry lowers emissions while increasing productivity growth. With endogenous emissions taxes, a numerical analysis shows that stronger knowledge diffusion leads to higher tax rates, faster productivity growth, and lower global emissions. In contrast, trade liberalization leads to lower tax rates and eventually raises global emissions despite faster productivity growth. Our results highlight that the relationship between productivity growth and global emissions depends critically on the form of economic integration. |
| Keywords: | Asset bubbles; Emissions Taxes, Industry Location, Knowledge Diffusion, Trade Liberalization, Productivity Growth, Global Emissions, Endogenous Market Structure, Endogenous Policy |
| JEL: | F12 O40 Q56 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:1129 |
| By: | Bastos, Paulo; Stapleton, Katherine; Taglioni, Daria; Wei, Hannah Yi |
| Abstract: | This study examines the role of multinational firms and global value chain linkages in the cross-country diffusion of emerging technologies. The analysis combines detailed information on the near-universe of online job postings in 17 countries with data on multinational networks and firm-to-firm linkages from 2014 to 2022. Online job postings are utilized to investigate how jobs related to emerging technologies spread through firm networks. The findings show that emerging technology jobs are highly concentrated within multinational firms and their supply chains. Approximately one-third of all emerging technology job postings during this period come from Fortune 500 firms, their affiliates, buyers, suppliers, or innovation partners. Although the locations where these technologies originate exhibit a higher prevalence of technology job openings, this advantage diminishes over time as diffusion accelerates in wealthier and geographically closer countries and regions. The study highlights the significant role of firm-to-firm linkages in technology diffusion, with some linkages proving more influential than others. Firms that were previously buyers or innovation partners of establishments in technology-originating locations experienced faster growth in jobs related to these technologies. Moreover, relationships outside corporate boundaries play a particularly critical role, and these connections are influential beyond the factor of geographical distance. |
| JEL: | O33 F23 L14 O14 F14 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19534 |