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on Economic Geography |
| By: | Ceren Ozgen (VU University Amsterdam); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam); Jacques Poot (National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis (NIDEA), University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | The concentration of people with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds in particular geographic areas may boost the creation of new ideas, knowledge spillovers, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. In this paper we measure the impact of the size, skills, and diversity of immigration on the innovativeness of host regions. For this purpose we construct a panel of data on 170 regions in Europe (NUTS 2 level) for the periods 1991-1995 and 2001-2005. Innovation outcomes are measured by means of the number of patent applications per million inhabitants. Given the geographical concentration and subsequent diffusion of innovation activity, and the spatial selectivity of immigrants' location choices, we take account of spatial dependence and of the endogeneity of immigrant settlement in our econometric modelling. We use the location of McDonald's restaurants as a novel instrument for immigration. The results confirm that innovation is clearly a function of regio nal accessibility, industrial structure, human capital, and GDP growth. In addition, patent applications are positively affected by the diversity of the immigrant community beyond a critical minimum level. An increase in the fractionalization index by 0.1 from the regional mean of 0.5 increases patent applications per million inhabitants by about 0.2 percent. Moreover, the average skill level of immigrants (proxied by global regions of origin) also affects patent applications. In contrast, an increasing share of foreigners in the population does not conclusively impact on patent applications. Therefore, a distinct composition of immigrants from different backgrounds is a more important driving force for innovation than the sheer size of the immigrant population in a certain locality. |
| Keywords: | immigration; cultural diversity; economic growth; innovation; spatial autocorrelation |
| JEL: | J61 O31 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110112&r=geo |
| By: | Andrea Caragliu (Politecnico di Milano); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Knowledge triggers regional growth. Evidence suggests that skilled labour force concentrates in islands of innovation, determining an advantage for innovative regions and a challenge for lagging ones. We address the role of knowledge in shaping effective markets for skilled labour. Estimates are based on the Lucas (1988) model, with EVS and EUROSTAT data. The externality driving growth in the model is cognitive capital. Empirical tests show that a higher endowment of cognitive capital generates increasing returns to knowledge, favouring the emergence of islands of innovation; regions with a high endowment of cognitive capital attract knowledge spillovers from neighbours. |
| Keywords: | human capital; cognitive capital; knowledge spillovers; islands of innovation |
| JEL: | C21 E24 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110116&r=geo |
| By: | Heike Schroeder |
| Abstract: | The micro-meso-macro approach is an analytical framework to study processes of economic evolution. In economic geography it has been hardly taken up so far. Using the example of spatial implications of corporate processes of adaption and renewal after structural interruptions, this paper shows at a conceptual level how the framework could be applied to topics in economic geography. Compared to other approaches, the micro-meso-macro framework has several advantages: It allows to analyse the coevolution between different forms of knowledge in an economic system and the context in which companies operate. By integrating mechanism rules, it also considers the ability of firms to adapt to a changing environment. Furthermore, it is possible to explain the interplay between enterprises and higher levels of analysis like industry sectors or regions through the analytical unit of the rule trajectory. In this paper it is argued not to assign any spatial dimension to the different levels of analysis per se, but to examine the mechanism rules along trajectories of operational rules under a spatial perspective. |
| Keywords: | evolutionary economic geography, analytical framework, rules, coevolution, meso level, corporate processes of renewal, structural interruptions |
| JEL: | B52 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1115&r=geo |
| By: | David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | Network structure varies across cities. This variation may yield important knowledge about how the internal structure of the city affects its performance. This paper systematically com- pares a set of surface transportation network structure variables (connectivity, hierarchy, circuity, treeness, entropy, accessibility) across the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. It finds most of these measures vary with city size. A set of scaling parameters are discovered to show how network size and structure vary with city size. These results suggest that larger cities are physically more inter-connected. |
| Keywords: | Connectivity, Network Structure, Transportation Geography, Network Science, City Size, Scaling Rules |
| JEL: | R41 R42 R48 D85 R14 R52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:networkstructureandcitysize&r=geo |
| By: | Michelle Gilmartin (Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde); David Learmonth (Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde); Peter McGregor (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde); Kim Swales (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde); Karen Turner (Stirling Management School, Division of Economics) |
| Abstract: | UK regional policy has been advocated as a means of reducing regional disparities and stimulating national growth. However, there is limited understanding of the interregional and national effects of such a policy. This paper uses an interregional computable general equilibrium model to identify the national impact of a policy-induced regional demand shock under alternative labour market closures. Our simulation results suggest that regional policy operating solely on the demand side has significant national impacts. Furthermore, the effects on the non-target region are particularly sensitive to the treatment of the regional labour market. |
| Keywords: | regional CGE modelling, migration, regional development policy |
| JEL: | C68 D58 R58 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1128&r=geo |
| By: | Hasan Engin Duran (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari) |
| Abstract: | Since the 1990s, the issue of regional income convergence and its long term tendencies has been thoroughly and heatedly discussed. Far less attention, however, has been devoted to the short-run dynamics of regional convergence. In particular, three important aspects have not yet been adequately addressed. Firstly, it is indeed essential to understand whether regional disparities manifest a tendency to move systematically along the national cycle. Then, if this happens to be the case, it becomes crucial to know whether: i. these movements are pro- or counter-cyclical, ii. the cyclical evolution of the disparities is a consequence of differences in the timing with which the business cycle is felt across regions or it is motivated by the amplitude differences across local cyclical swings. In this paper, we shed light on these issues using data on personal income for the 48 coterminous US states between 1969 and 2008. |
| Keywords: | cyclical income disparities, regional business cycles, synchronization |
| JEL: | R11 E32 O18 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2011_09&r=geo |
| By: | Marina van Geenhuizen (Delft University of Technology, Delft); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Smart high-tech companies are characterized by knowledge intensity and open innovation. Even when these companies emerge in spatial clusters or dense urban places, they may utilize knowledge networks on a global scale. However, there is not much insight into the factors that shape knowledge networks, the role of virtualization herein and the impact of on global knowledge sourcing on local connectedness. This paper seeks to fill these gaps in understanding, by drawing on a selected sample of young high-technology companies in the Netherlands and application of rough set analysis to identify homogeneous categories of companies in the highly differentiated segment of young high-tech companies. The outcomes suggest that employing mainly local and employing mainly global knowledge networks coexist in city-regions, and that only part of the globalized companies are losing local connectedness, particularly those involved in co-creation with global customers and those acting as learning partners of multinational corporations ('reverse' knowledge transfer). Factors counteracting a weakening of local connectedness are specific local knowledge relationships and the strategy of developing local/regional customer markets. |
| Keywords: | high-technology companies; open innovation; knowledge networks; strategic focus; dynamic capabilities; virtualization; local connectedness; rough set analysis |
| JEL: | D21 |
| Date: | 2011–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110119&r=geo |
| By: | Johan H.L. Oud (Radboud University Nijmegen); Henk Folmer (University of Groningen); Roberto Patuelli (University of Lugano); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | (Spatial) panel data are routinely modelled in discrete time (DT). However, there are compelling arguments for continuous time (CT) modelling of (spatial) panel data. Particularly, most social processes evolve in CT, so that statistical analysis in DT is an oversimplification, gives an incomplete representation of reality and may lead to misinterpretation of estimation results. The most compelling reason for a CT approach is that, in contrast to DT modelling, it allows adequate modelling of dynamic adjustment processes. The paper introduces spatial dependence in a CT modelling framework. We propose a nonlinear Structural Equation Model (SEM) with latent variables for estimation of the Exact Discrete Model (EDM), which links the CT model parameters to the DT observations. The use of a SEM with latent variables makes it possible to take measurement errors in the variables into account, leading to a reduction of attenuation bias (i.e., disattenuation). The SE M-CT model with spatial dependence developed here is the first dynamic structural equation model with spatial dependence. The spatial econometric SEM-CT framework is illustrated on the basis of a simple regional labour market model for Germany made up of the endogenous state variables unemployment change and population change and of the exogenous input variables change in regional average wage and change in the structure of the manufacturing sector. |
| Keywords: | continuous-time modelling; structural equation modelling; latent variables; spatial dependence; panel data; disattenuation; measurement errors; unemployment change; population change; Germany |
| JEL: | C33 E24 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110117&r=geo |
| By: | Michael Iacono; David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | The structure of transportation networks and the patterns of accessibility they give rise to are an important determinant of land prices, and hence urban spatial structure. While there is ample evidence on the cross-sectional relationship between location and land value (usually measured from the value of improved property), there is much less evidence available on the changes in this relationship over time, especially where location is represented using a disaggregate measure of urban accessibility. This paper provides evidence of this dynamic relationship using data on home sales in the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) metropolitan area, coupled with disaggregate measures of urban accessibility for multiple modes, for the period from 2000 to 2005. Our investigation seeks to track the effects of marginal changes in accessibility over time, as opposed to static, cross-sectional relationships, by using an unconventional approach in which the unit of observation is a "representative house" for each transportation analysis zone in the region. This approach allows us to control for changes in structural attributes of houses over time, while also isolating the effect of changes in accessibility levels. Results of this approach are compared to a cross-sectional model using the same variables for a single year to illustrate important differences. These differences are discussed in terms of their implications for practitioners and for further investigations of the relationship between transportation, location and land value. |
| Keywords: | Accessibility, Hedonic Model, Trends, Transportation, Land Use. |
| JEL: | R12 R14 R41 R48 R52 R53 H11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:accessdynamics&r=geo |
| By: | Soushi Suzuki (Sapporo University, Sapporo, Japan); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam); Piet Rietveld (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Standard Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is characterized by uniform proportional input reduction or output augmentation in calculating improvement projections. This paper develops a new Euclidean Distance Minimization model in the context of DEA in order to derive a more appropriate efficiency-improving projection model by means of a weighted projection function. The model is extended to the situation where some factor inputs are fixed, for instance, due to lumpiness or natural constraints. The extended DEA model is illustrated in the context of regional planning by using a data set on Italian tourist destination regions. |
| Keywords: | Euclidean Distance Minimization (EDM); Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); Multiple Objective Quadratic Programming (MOQP); efficiency improving projection; tourist efficiency |
| JEL: | D61 L83 R15 |
| Date: | 2011–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110110&r=geo |
| By: | Guivanna Aguilar (Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to make a quantitative evaluation of the impact that the expansion of the microcredit has had on the growth of the economic activity in the Peruvian regions. Having as a theoretical framework the developed theory to analyze the relationship between economic growth and financial development and with annual information for 24 regions of the country in period 2001 - 2008, a panel data model is estimated with per capita GDP growth like dependent variable and the loans provided by various types of microfinance institutions, the loans of the commercial banks and other variables that affect the economic growth like explanatory variables. The found evidence suggests that the microfinancial expansion has a positive impact in the growth of the economic activity of the regions unlike which it happens with the expansion of the banking intermediation. A comparative static exercise show that if the loans of CMAC, CRAC and specialized banks get to rich 10% of the GDP in each region, the rate of growth of the GDP per capita would rise in at least 4 percentage points. In the regions with greater poverty increase is more impressive and significant. |
| Keywords: | Microfinanzas, intermediarios financieros, cajas municipales, cajas rurales, crecimiento regional. |
| JEL: | C32 E32 E43 E52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pcp:pucwps:wp00317&r=geo |
| By: | Bergmann, Holger; Noack, Eva Maria; Thomson, Kenneth J. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the distributional equality of individual Scottish Government-administered payments in 2008 under CAP Pillars One (single farm payments) and Two (rural development measures) and in total, in terms of economic, social and spatial factors. The analysis shows that 94% of all payments were paid to claimants in core rural areas (94%) while only a few (5%) claimants resided in urban areas or outside of Scotland (1%). However, in both Pillars, claims made by urban residents were often higher than those made by rural dwellers. The Ordinary Least Squares spatial analysis shows that the level of payments was extremely dependent on the geographical location and natural conditions. Spatial factors describing the economic situation in the area of the claimant were significantly related to the level of the CAP amounts paid. Overall, the level of amounts paid was positively related to the natural, economic and social structures of the area of residence. The discussion tackles the question of whether the current system of farm income support by decoupled payments should be developed into a poverty payment system. |
| Keywords: | Pillar One, Common Agricultural Policy, Gini-Coefficient, Rural-Urban distribution, distributional justice, Land Economics/Use, Q15, R14, R11, |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc11:108958&r=geo |
| By: | Wasmer, Etienne (Centre de recherche en économie de Sciences Po); Janiak, Alexandre (Departamento de Ingenieria Industrial (DII)); David, Quentin (Département de Droit de l'UL) |
| Abstract: | In the North of Europe, club membership is higher than in the South, but the frequency of contacts with friends, relatives and neighbors is lower. We link this fact to another one: the low geographical mobility rates in the South of Europe relative to the North. To interpret these facts, we build a model of local social capital and mobility. Investing in local ties is rational when workers do not expect to move to another region. We find that observationally close individuals may take different paths characterized by high local social capital, low mobility and high unemployment, vs. low social capital, high propensity to move and higher employment probability. Employment protection reinforces the accumulation of local social capital and thus reduces mobility. European data supports the theory: within a country and at the individual level, more social capital is associated with lower mobility. |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:sciepo:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h482kc28p&r=geo |
| By: | Frank Limehouse; Robert McCormick |
| Abstract: | This analysis examines the business impacts on law firms of locating in Central Business Districts (CBDs) in major U.S. cities. Specifically, we measure the price premium that law firms pay to locate in CBDs. Using micro-level data from the 1992 and 2007 Census of Services, we find that after controlling for firm size, firm specialization characteristics, and MSA and county attributes, law firms within CBDs pay about 15 to 20 percent more in overhead compared to those firms outside CBDs – a result consistent across time between 1992 and 2007. When including an important additional measure of firm quality, however, we find that this impact is reduced to about 7 to 9 percent, but still statistically significant. Additional results show that there is a significant correlation between firm quality and CBD location. We also find that firm size and firm specialization measures are important factors in the choice to locate within CBDs. We argue that these results indicate that CBD location for law firms may serve as networking, quality sorting, and branding mechanisms. |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:11-21&r=geo |
| By: | Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues |
| Abstract: | With this work we try to analyse the agglomeration process in Portugal, using the New Economic Geography models, in a linear and in a non linear way. In a non linear way, of referring, as summary conclusion, that with this work the existence of increasing returns to scale and low transport cost, in the Portuguese regions, was proven and, because this, the existence of agglomeration in Portugal. This work aims, also, to study the Portuguese regional agglomeration process, using the linear form of the New Economic Geography models. We pretend, yet, to explain the complementarily of clustering models, associated with the New Economic Geography, and polarization associated with the Keynesian tradition, describing the mechanisms by which these processes are based. As a summary conclusion, we can say which the agglomeration process shows some signs of concentration in Lisboa e Vale do Tejo (which is evidence of regional divergence in Portugal) and the productivity factor significantly improves the results that explain the regional clustering in Portugal (despite being ignored in the models of New Economic Geography). So, we can refer which the new economic geography said that in Portugal there is divergence between the continental regions. |
| Keywords: | new economic geography; linear and non linear models; Portuguese regions |
| JEL: | O18 C23 R12 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32609&r=geo |
| By: | Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho (Centro de Estudos em Educação, Tecnologias e Saúde (CI&DETS)) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in productivity (product per worker), at economic sectors level of the NUTs III of mainland Portugal, from 1995 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2005 (taking in count the data availability and the Portuguese and European context), considering the Verdoorn relationship. From the analyses of the data, by using Moran I statistics, it is stated that productivity is subject to a positive spatial autocorrelation (productivity of each of the regions develops in a similar manner to each of the neighbouring regions), above all in services. The total sectors of all regional economy present, also, indicators of being subject to positive autocorrelation in productivity. Bearing in mind the results of estimations, it can been that the effects of spatial spillovers, spatial lags (measuring spatial autocorrelation through the spatially lagged dependent variable) and spatial error (measuring spatial autocorrelation through the spatially lagged error terms), influence the Verdoorn relationship when it is applied to the economic sectors of Portuguese regions. The results obtained for the two periods are different, as expected, and are better in second period, because, essentially, the European and national public supports. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Econometrics, Economic Growth, Productivity Analysis, Regional Development |
| JEL: | C21 O40 O47 R58 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:11/2011&r=geo |
| By: | Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues |
| Abstract: | This work aims to test the Verdoorn Law, with the alternative specifications of (1)Kaldor (1966), for the 28 NUTS III Portuguese in the period 1995 to 1999. It is intended to test, also in this work, the alternative interpretation of (2)Rowthorn (1975) about the Verdoorn's Law for the same regions and periods. With this study we want, also, to test the Verdoorn´s Law at a regional and a sectoral levels (NUTs II) for the period 1995-1999. The importance of some additional variables in the original specification of Verdoorn´s Law is also tested, such as, trade flows, capital accumulation and labour concentration. The main objective is to confirm the presence of economies to scale that characterise the polarisation process with cumulative causation properties, explaining regional divergence. By introducing new variables to the original specification of Verdoorn´s Law we intend to examine how the economies to scale are influenced by the consideration of factors related to the Polarisation (Keynensian tradition) and Agglomeration (spatial economics tradition) phenomena. This study analyses, yet, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in productivity in the NUTs III economic sectors of mainland Portugal from 1995 to 1999, considering the Verdoorn relationship. |
| Keywords: | Verdoorn law; spatial autocorrelation; Portuguese regions |
| JEL: | O18 C23 C21 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32610&r=geo |
| By: | Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to present a further contribution, with panel data, to the analysis of absolute convergence ( and ), associated with the neoclassical theory, and conditional, associated with endogenous growth theory, of the sectoral productivity at regional level. Presenting some empirical evidence of absolute convergence of productivity for each of the economic sectors in each of the regions of mainland Portugal (NUTS III) in the period from 1995 to 1999. They are also presented empirical evidence of conditional convergence of productivity, for each of the economic sectors of the NUTS II of Portugal, from 1995 to 1999. The structural variables used in the analysis of conditional convergence is the ratio of capital/output, the flow of goods/output and location ratio. This study analyses, also, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects and human capital in the conditional productivity convergence in the economic sectors of NUTs III of mainland Portugal between 1995 and 2002. This study analyses, yet, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in the conditional product convergence in the parishes’ economies of mainland Portugal between 1991 and 2001. The conclusions depend of the period and of the method used. |
| Keywords: | convergence; spatial econometrics; Portuguese regions |
| JEL: | O47 O18 C23 C21 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32631&r=geo |
| By: | Beatrice D. Simo-Kengne (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Manoel Bittencourt (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically examines the effect of house price changes on economic growth across provinces in South Africa. The economic impact of house prices is estimated using a panel data set that covers all nine provinces in South Africa from 1996 to 2010. We find that when heterogeneity, endogeneity and spatial dependence are controlled for, house price changes exhibit a significant effect on regional economic growth in South Africa. The paper then introduces a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) specification and shows that spatial effects are highly important in South African housing markets. Moreover, the estimation results suggest that the wealth effect is important at the aggregated level which contrasts the relevance of the collateral effect found at the regional level. |
| Keywords: | House prices, Economic growth, Spatial dependence, Panel data |
| JEL: | C33 E23 E24 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201116&r=geo |
| By: | William Latham (Department of Economics,University of Delaware); Dmitry Volodin (Department of Economics,University of Delaware); Christian Le Bas (Laboratoire d'Économie de la Firme et des Institutions, Université Lumière Lyon); Riad Bouklia Hassane (Laboratoire d'Économie de la Firme et des Institutions, Université Lumière Lyon) |
| Abstract: | Regional creative resources include inventors. Policies conducive to inventors’ productivity or attracting productive inventors promote regional development. We build on prior work on inventor mobility and productivity, analyzing German, French and British patents filed in the US by 7,500 “prolific” inventors (fifteen or more inventions). We measure inventor mobility across regions, companies and technologies. We analyze the relationships among mobility, productivity and value. We find geographic mobility increases inventor productivity in the UK and France but not in Germany and geographic mobility is not related to the value of inventions except in Germany where it has a negative effect. |
| Keywords: | Patents, inventor mobility, prolific inventors |
| JEL: | O31 R58 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:11-06.&r=geo |
| By: | Ragazzi Elena (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Moncalieri (TO), Italy); Rolfo Secondo (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Moncalieri (TO), Italy) |
| Abstract: | The competitiveness of a territory is more and more explained by factors that combine technological innovation, recognized as a key element of the competitive advantage of an economic system, with knowledge, creativity, and sometimes even art and culture. In some areas of ancient industrialization we can find at local level a social capital that is a synthesis of economic, social and cultural aspects. This can be used both for the products promotion and for the support to new industries able to offer to the end consumer not only products but the opportunity to carry on an experience with the local tradition. The paper examines two cases of industrial districts in Italy (Biella and Carrara), where the cultural aspect of the traditional manufacturing has been the starting point for enhancing the territorial system and for the beginning of an integrated supply, products-services, which has expanded the boundaries of the previous specialization and it is now a strong element of territorial competitiveness.La compétitivité d’un territoire est de plus en plus expliqué par des facteurs qui associent à l’innovation technologique, depuis longtemps reconnue comme élément de l’avantage compétitif d’un système économique, la connaissance, la créativité et, parfois, même l’art et la culture. On voit ainsi comme dans les territoires d’ancienne industrialisation on retrouve à niveau local une synthèse entre aspects économiques, sociaux et culturels qui représentent un capital utilisable soit pour la promotion sectorielle, soit pour le soutien à la naissance de nouvelles filière capables d’offrir au consommateur final pas seulement un bien, mais la possibilité de faire expérience avec une tradition. Le papier examinera deux cas de districts industriels italiens (Biella et Carrara) où l’aspect culturel de la production traditionnelle a été le point de départ pour une valorisation du système territorial et pour la naissance d’une offre intégrée produits-services qui a élargi les frontières de la précédente spécialisation et représente un élément fort de la compétitivité territoriale. |
| Keywords: | Art et culture, créativité, districts industriels |
| JEL: | O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csc:cerisp:201009&r=geo |
| By: | Arthur Huang; David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | Anecdotal and empirical evidence has shown that road networks, destination accessibility, and travelers' choice of destination are closely related. Nevertheless, there have not been systematic investigations linking individuals' travel behavior and retail clusters at the microscopic level. Based on GPS travel data in the Twin Cities, this paper analyzes the impacts of travelers' interactions with road network structure and clustering of services at the destination on travelers' destination choice. A multinomial logit model is adopted. The results reveal that higher accessibility and diversity of services in adjacent zones of a destination are associated with greater attractiveness of a destination. Further, the diversity and accessibility of establishments in an area are often highly correlated. In terms of network structure, a destination with a more circuitous or discontinuous route dampens its appeal. Answering where and why people choose to patronize certain places, our planning, our findings shed light on the design of road networks and clusters from a travel behavior perspective. |
| Keywords: | travel behavior, destination choice, accessibility, GIS analysis, GPS travel data, road networks |
| JEL: | R30 L22 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:retaildestinations&r=geo |
| By: | Anderson, Duncan J.; Jack, Claire G. |
| Abstract: | A non-linear mathematical farm business optimisation model, that is set within a spatial economic framework, has been developed. The model incorporates factors such as location, spatial market orientation and technology use, and identifies the business strategy that is optimal in different market and policy environments. Farm household time-use is incorporated centrally within the model, enabling it to examine how on-farm and off-farm activities compete for limited farm household human resources. The model is applied to a beef and sheep farm that can choose between selling livestock to meat processors or processing on-farm and selling direct to consumers. Model simulations reveal when it is optimal for the farm business to innovate in this way and how this decision is affected by changes in key parameters. The farm business model is solved using the GAMS/LINDOGlobal mathematical programming software package. While traditional nonlinear programming and mixed-integer nonlinear programming algorithms are guaranteed to converge only under certain convexity assumptions, GAMS/LINDOGlobal finds guaranteed globally optimal solutions to general nonlinear problems. The model and model results are discussed within the context of theoretical underpinnings, model tractability, and potential applications. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc11:108782&r=geo |