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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2015‒10‒10
thirteen papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Asheim, Björn (CIRCLE, Lund University; UiS Business School/Centre for Innovation Research, University of Stavanger; BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo); Grillitsch, Markus (CIRCLE, Lund University); Trippl , Michaela (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Since its development in the 1990s, the Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) approach has attracted considerable attention from economic geographers, innovation scholars and policy makers. The RIS approach figures prominently in the scientific discourse about the uneven geography of innovation and the factors that shape the knowledge generation and innovation capacities of regions. The aim of this paper is to reflect about the emergence of the RIS approach, the current debate as well as future challenges. This reflection paper is guided by four overarching research questions: What are the origins and theoretical foundations of this approach? What has the RIS approach contributed to innovation studies and economic geography? What are the implications for innovation policy? And what are the recent lines of research and key research challenges in the future? We argue that the contributions of the RIS approach have been substantial. Still the approach has often been applied in a rather static way, more as a heuristic than a coherent theory. The key challenges for current and future research therefore are to move towards a more theory-based, dynamic perspective on RIS, dealing with new path development and the transformation of RIS. |
| Keywords: | regional innovation system; regional innovation policy; regional industrial change; transformation of innovation systems; research challenges |
| JEL: | O30 O38 P48 R10 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_036&r=all |
| By: | Barra, Cristian; Zotti, Roberto |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the regional innovation system (RIS) efficiency, and its determinants, in Italy through a Stochastic Frontier Analysis and using the concept of a knowledge production function. The contribution of universities’, private and public sectors’ resources devoted to research and development (R&D), in generating innovation, has been examined, as well as the impact of several exogenous environmental variables on RIS efficiency. The empirical findings suggest the importance of R&D investments taking place in the universities and in the private sector, which benefit the most to regional innovation activities; labour market and industries’ characteristics are found to have an important role on RIS efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Regional innovation system, Technical efficiency. Knowledge production function |
| JEL: | C14 C67 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:67067&r=all |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto; Yimei Zou |
| Abstract: | Should China build mega-cities or a network of linked middle-sized metropolises? Can Europe’s mid-sized cities compete with global agglomeration by forging stronger inter-urban links? This paper examines these questions within a model of recombinant growth and endogenous local amenities. Three primary factors determine the trade-o¤ between networks and big cities: local returns to scale in innovation, the elasticity of housing supply, and the importance of local amenities. Even if there are global increasing returns, the returns to local scale in innovation may be decreasing, and that makes networks more appealing than mega-cities. Inelastic housing supply makes it harder to supply more space in dense con…fines, which perhaps explains why networks are more popular in regulated Europe than in the American Sunbelt. Larger cities can dominate networks because of amenities, as long as the benefits of scale overwhelm the downsides of density. In our framework, the skilled are more likely to prefer mega-cities than the less skilled, and the long-run benefits of either mega-cities or networks may be quite different from the short-run benefits. |
| Keywords: | cities, Networks, growth, Migration |
| JEL: | R10 R58 F15 O18 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:841&r=all |
| By: | AGO Takanori; MORITA Tadashi; TABUCHI Takatoshi; YAMAMOTO Kazuhiro |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the interplay between the agglomeration of economic activities and interregional differences in working hours, which are typically longer in large cities, as normally they are more developed than small cities. For this purpose, we develop a two-region model with endogenous labor supply. Although we assume a symmetric distribution of immobile workers, the symmetric equilibrium breaks in the sense that firms may agglomerate when trade costs are intermediate and labor supply is elastic. We also show that the price index is always lower, while labor supply, per capita income, real wages, and welfare are always higher in the more agglomerated region. |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:15118&r=all |
| By: | Xiaohui Hu; Robert Hassink |
| Abstract: | Although regional resilience has come into fashion to understand how regional economies recover after shocks, it has suffered from dualistic thinking, which undermines its explanatory power. This article addresses this problem by developing a conceptual framework of uneven resilience of regions in a long-term perspective, on the basis of a comparative empirical analysis of adaptation and adaptability processes in two typical Chinese mining regions. This framework defines adaptation and adaptability in an evolutionary and mutually cohesive way that overcomes the traditional dualism. It also demonstrates how variations of adaptation-adaptability relationships can result in uneven regional resilience. |
| Keywords: | regional economic resilience, adaptation, adaptability, Chinese mining regions |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1533&r=all |
| By: | Boschma, Ron (CIRCLE, Lund University; Utrecht University); Martín , Víctor (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and ICEI); Minondo , Asier (Deusto Business School and ICEI) |
| Abstract: | The development of new industries demands access to local capabilities. Little attention has yet been paid to the role of spillovers from neighbor regions for industrial diversification, nor has the role of network linkages between neighbor regions been investigated. As the spread of capabilities has a strong geographical bias, we expect regions to develop new industries in which their neighbor regions are specialized. To test this hypothesis, we analyze the development of new industries in US states during the period 2000-2012. We show that an US state has a higher probability of developing a comparative advantage in a new industry if a neighbor state is specialized in that industry. We also show that neighbor US states have more similar export structures. This export similarity seems to be explained by higher social connectivity between neighbor states, as embodied in their bilateral migration patterns. |
| Keywords: | new industries; regional branching; diversification; knowledge spillovers; US; regions; exports |
| JEL: | N94 O14 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_035&r=all |
| By: | Dan S. Rickman (Oklahoma State University); Hongbo Wang (Oklahoma State University) |
| Abstract: | Using a spatial hedonic growth model, this paper empirically examines the relative roles of natural amenities and urban agglomeration economies as determinants of U.S. regional growth patterns from 2000 to 2010. Natural amenities and urban agglomeration are measured using the USDA Economic Research Service county classification codes. The general finding is that natural amenities and urban agglomeration both influenced regional growth. However, the natural amenity ranking is estimated to be positively related to increased productivity over the period rather than increased attractiveness to households. Urban agglomeration is positively related to increased amenity attractiveness to households. Within Census regional analysis revealed a stronger role for household natural amenity demand in nonmetropolitan areas. |
| Keywords: | regional population growth, amenities, agglomeration, urban economics, economic geography |
| JEL: | R00 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:okl:wpaper:1505&r=all |
| By: | David Cuberes (Clark University); Jennifer Roberts (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | Using information on the exact location of urban households in Britain for the period 2009-2013 we explore the validity of standard urban land use models by estimating the extent to which distance of residence from the city centre is a function of income. This is the first study of its kind for British cities. After controlling for household characteristics and access to transport, as well as city and time effects, and taking account of both spatial and serial correlation, we find a strong positive association between household’s income and distance from the city centre. We also estimate the income elasticity of demand for land and find that this is not large enough to support the view that richer households locate further from the city centre mainly because they prefer larger dwellings. Finally, we find that while poorer households live closer to the city centre, they have experienced increasing real incomes over the period relative to those who live further away. This supports the view that cities in Britain attract poor people rather than generate poverty. |
| Keywords: | urban poverty; cities; segregation by income |
| JEL: | I32 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2015022&r=all |
| By: | Udesh Pillay (Human Sciences Reseach Council) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the 'global city region' concept, as it has gained currency in a large and growing contemporary literature on urban agglomeration and economic/locational cluster formation in the large cities of the developed and developing world. Following a review of this literature, the applicability of newly emerging concepts to describe the recent pattern of urban growth in African cities is tested. The discussion then turns to a review of South African cities as they experience various forms of contemporary transition, following which economic profiles of the country's 'big four' urban conurbations are offered. The international literature and the concept of 'global city region' formation is then revisited to assess the extent to which South African cities may be joining the new and recent global city region arrivals in the developing world. The paper concludes that the city that may be South Africa's best 'global' prospect, and that is most likely to approximate 'city region' status, is Johannesburg and, in particular, a spatially-quadrangular tract of land referred to as the 'urban' core of the province of Gauteng. Bibliography. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
| Keywords: | Global Economic Restructuring, City Regions, Localities |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2805220&r=all |
| By: | DRIDI, Manel |
| Abstract: | In this paper we seek to estimate the impact of local economic structure on the regional employment growth of 8 mainstream industry sectors in 24 local areas of Tunisia between 2000 and 2009. By referring to new economic geography and the empirical approaches dealing with agglomeration economies and dynamic externalities, we show that regional employment growth in industrial sector in Tunisia is driven mainly by externalities related to specialization while diversity do not seem to be important determinants of regional employment growth. Moreover we find that local competition have a positive significant effect on local employment growth. |
| Keywords: | regional growth, dynamic externalities, industrial structure, regional integration |
| JEL: | O47 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66988&r=all |
| By: | Ali T. Akarca (Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA); Aysit Tansel (Department of Economics, METU; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Bonn, Germany; Economic Research Forum (ERF) Cairo, Egypt) |
| Abstract: | Antalya and Mugla provinces located in southwestern Turkey have emerged as new magnets for internal migration in the country. Socio-economic, demographic and labor market characteristics of immigrants coming to these two provinces from various regions are studied to uncover the reasons fueling their moves. This is accomplished through an analysis of descriptive statistics, and an analysis of a gravity model estimated. Differences and similarities between immigrants coming to these two provinces and those going to other migrant magnets, between immigrants and natives in Antalya and Mugla, and among immigrants coming to the two provinces from various origins are noted. What distinguishes Antalya and Mugla from other migrant-drawing provinces is that they attract some retirees and university students as well and their immigrants participating in the labor force are attracted mainly by jobs created in the sectors related to tourism, either directly or indirectly, rather than industry. Immigrants from different origins exhibit different characteristics and tend to specialize in different types of jobs. However, as other migrant flows, those directed at Antalya and Mugla are affected by distance adversely and by unemployment differential, past migration and population size at origin, favorably. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration, labor market, gravity model, Turkey, Antalya, Mugla. |
| JEL: | J21 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:1505&r=all |
| By: | Vergara, Adrián; Gierhake, Klaus; Jardón, Carlos; Hernández Garcia, Jaime; Vidal, Alberto; Carranza, Eric |
| Abstract: | ¿Existen acciones y políticas urbanas a nivel latinoamericano que permitan afirmar que se está presentando una transformación innovadora en la comprensión y aprehensión del espacio público hacia un instrumento de política urbana y social? Esta pregunta se intenta resolver en este ensayo a través de cuatro ejemplos en ciudades latinoamericanas, mostrando desde el contexto particular de cada una de ellas, como se está dando y a través de que prácticas se concreta dicha transformación y como pueden replicarse en otros contextos como parte de procesos de generación, transmisión, transferencia y apropiación de nuevo conocimiento. Luego de una introducción en la que se establecen algunos conceptos y planteamientos sobre espacio público para marcar la discusión, se desarrollan los ejemplos de Bogotá, Quito, .Montevideo y México D.F resaltando algunos aspectos de las políticas y las prácticas urbanas desarrolladas y los elementos sobresalientes de su innovación, para discutir posteriormente en que medida estas visiones y prácticas son realmente factibles como solución a los viejos y nuevos problemas que enfrentan nuestras ciudades. Finalmente en las conclusiones se resalta el aporte que desde las ciencias sociales se hace al tema y se plantean sugerencias futuras. Por un lado para el caso de Bogotá se plantea la importancia que adquiere el espacio público en los barrios populares y sus alcances en la transformación de la ciudad. Para el caso de Quito se demuestra cómo la política urbana puede funcionar tomando como herramienta de apoyo una concepción fundamentada en el espacio público; para el caso de Montevideo se presentan tres ejemplos que muestran dificultades y al mismo tiempo fortalezas del manejo del espacio público; finalmente en el caso de México D.F. se evidencia como a pesar de existir una entidad estatal con bastas funciones sobre el espacio público de la ciudad se presentan no obstante contradicciones en el tratamiento e intervención sobre este, poniendo entonces en tela de juicio no solo las intervenciones mismas sino toda la estructura administrativa involucrada. |
| Abstract: | Public space in Latin America - from spatial and social fragmentation to territorial cohesion. New challenges - and old problems. Could the concrete experiences and policies with regard to public spaces of Latin America metropolitan zones be fundamental for a spatial development concept? With reference to four Latin American metropoles this article shows the specific contextual factors of each town, the specific actions for the establishment of new concepts and presents proposals how the achievements realized could be repeated in further metropoles. With the examples Bogota (Columbia), Quito (Ecuador), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Mexico D.F. (Mexico) central aspects of municipal and communal development are presented. Each of the four communes has carried out striking innovations. These spatial specific experiences are the basis for the discussion, in how far these social innovative concepts contribute to the solution of traditional and actual problems. In the case of Bogota the extent to which public space has gained importance for the development of lower and middle class residential quarters is worth mentioning. The example of Quito demonstrates how municipal developmental policy could function on the basis of a comprehensive concept of public space. The case of Montevideo shows the problems and potentials of the management of public space. In the case of Mexico City public spaces are managed by the local administration resulting in contradicting and uncoordinated activities. This approach is dubious with regard to the interventions themselves and even with regard to the efficiency of the administrative structures. The four particular examples can be seen in a greater regional perspective, since two international forums in Bogota have been devoted to the subject “public space”. Furthermore, the structure and action fields of the “Network of South American Metropoles“, (Red de Ciudades Suramericanas) would permit to introduce this topic as a kind of comprehensive task of this organism. In this context the discussion paper could be a cross-sectional instrument for applied research. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:73&r=all |
| By: | Gierhake, Klaus; Jardón, Carlos M. |
| Abstract: | Der Artikel untersucht den Innovationsprozess im Metropolitandistrikt Quito aus der Perspektive 'Nutzung des lokalen Wissens'. Dafür wird das Konzept des intellektuellen Kapitals genutzt, unter der Perspektive angewandter Wissenschaft (Geographie / Ökonomie) inhaltlich und räumlich angepasst. In methodischer Hinsicht wird mit der Verbindung des Konzeptes 'lokales Wissen' und geographische Innovationsforschung ein 'Mehrwert' erreicht. Die verschiedenen Facetten des Lokalen Wissens können die Möglichkeiten eines Territoriums, Innovation zu generieren, beeinflussen. Das kann in diesem Zusammenhang kann qualitativ nachgewiesen werden. So gewinnt auch der wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Ansatz des 'intellektuellen Kapitals' an Erklärungswert, integriert er doch nun eine sehr viel präzisere territoriale Perspektive. Insgesamt werden siebzehn Indikatoren vor dem Hintergrund des realen Kontextes der Gemeideregierung Metropolitanzone Quito vorgestellt. [...] |
| Abstract: | The publication examines the innovation process in the Metropolitan district Quito with respect to 'utilization of local knowledge' applying the concept of intellectual capital adapted according to informational and spatial criteria from the perspective of applied science (geography / economy). With this methodology the combination of the concept local knowledge with geographical innovation research should produce an added value. The different facets of local knowledge can modify the possibilities of regions to generate innovation. This has been proved in a qualitative manner. Thus the concept of intellectual capital used in economical science obtains explanatory value, since it integrates a much more precise territorial perspective. Altogether seventeen indicators are presented in the concrete context of the Metropolitan zone of Quito. [...] |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:71&r=all |