|
on Economic Geography |
| By: | Carlino, Gerald (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Kerr, William R. (Harvard University, Bank of Finland, and NBER) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews academic research on the connections between agglomeration and innovation. We first describe the conceptual distinctions between invention and innovation. We then discuss how these factors are frequently measured in the data and note some resulting empirical regularities. Innovative activity tends to be more concentrated than industrial activity, and we discuss important findings from the literature about why this is so. We highlight the traits of cities (e.g., size, industrial diversity) that theoretical and empirical work link to innovation, and we discuss factors that help sustain these features (e.g., the localization of entrepreneurial finance). |
| Keywords: | agglomeration; clusters; innovation; invention; entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | J20 J60 L10 L20 L60 O30 R10 R30 |
| Date: | 2015–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofrdp:2015_027&r=geo |
| By: | Andrea SALUSTRI (Fondazione Economia-Università Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy); Michele MOSCA (Università Federico II Napoli, Napoli, Italy); Federica VIGANÒ (Libera Università di Bolzano - Free University Bozen - Freie Universität Bozen, Brixen-Bressanone, Italy) |
| Abstract: | The paper introduces a theoretical model to show how in a spatial framework characterized by urban-rural imbalances, the production of goods and services decreases moving from urban to rural areas. Specifically in rural and peripheral areas, the market and the public sector might supply an insufficient level of goods and services due to higher distance costs and lack of financial resources. Cooperatives and nonprofit organizations, i.e. social enterprises, are able to overcome distance costs and therefore spatial inequalities, by developing a productive and distributive function in marginalized areas, ensuring a fair and equal treatment among residents. Moreover, cooperatives and nonprofit organizations endorse the inclusiveness of the labor market, and raise peoples’ intrinsic motivation. |
| Keywords: | cooperative economics; nonprofit institutions and social enterprises;urban-rural development; size and spatial distributions of regional economic activity |
| JEL: | J54 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crc:wpaper:1512&r=geo |
| By: | Riccardo Crescenzi; Marco Di Cataldo; Andrés Rodríguez-Pose |
| Abstract: | Transport infrastructure investment is a cornerstone of growth-promoting strategies. However, in the case of Europe the relevant literature is increasingly failing to find a clear link between infrastructure investment and economic performance. This may be a consequence of overlooking the role of government institutions. This paper assesses the connection between regional quality of government and the returns of different types of road infrastructure in EU regions during the period between 1995 and 2009. The results unveil a strong influence of regional quality of government on the economic returns of transport infrastructure. In weak institutional contexts, investments in motorways – the preferred option by local governments – yield significantly lower returns than the more humble but possibly more efficient secondary road. Government institutions also affect the returns of transport maintenance investment. |
| Keywords: | Transport infrastructure, Public capital investment, Economic growth, Institutions, Government quality, Regions, Europe |
| JEL: | R11 R40 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1535&r=geo |
| By: | Mendieta Muñoz, Rodrigo; Pontarollo, Nicola |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the convergence process of Ecuadorian cantons during the period 2007-2012 accounting for the role of spatial spillovers through spatial econometric tool. The advantage of this technique is to provide a reliable estimation because it takes into account the spatial interaction in the territory. In addition, it allows identifying clusters of cantons characterised by similar spatial patterns that can be interpreted as convergence clubs because they represent areas with similar initial conditions in the “basin of attraction” that, according to economic theory, converge to a common steady state equilibrium. The results highlight that a convergence process is present, but it involves the cluster of most developed cantons. This opens various policy implications related to i) the capacity of cantons to take advantage from the positive dynamics of neighbours, ii) the persistence of development in some circumscribed areas, and iii) the spatial unbalanced development. |
| Keywords: | Subnational convergence, Spatial Econometrics, Convergence Clubs. |
| JEL: | C21 O47 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–12–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68399&r=geo |
| By: | John Gibson (University of Waikato); Chao Li (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Hundreds of studies in economics misinterpret China’s sub-national population and per capita data. The most widely used population counts are of hukou registrations from each province, prefecture, county, or city rather than of the people living in each place and generating local GDP. Over 220 million people have left their place of registration, while almost none had when reforms began, creating time-varying errors in estimates of per capita income of sub-national units. We survey empirical articles in blue ribbon journals, in development journals, and in regional and urban economics journals that use China’s sub-national data. Over 80 percent of articles use these data erroneously; most commonly the wrong population or employment counts are used to measure the size of sub-national units, and per capita data are calculated with the wrong denominator for the interpretation placed on variables. We provide examples of errors from each group of journals, and a critical test of one highly-cited study. Specifically, we show that if hukou registrations are erroneously used to measure the local population, following existing practice, conclusions about driving forces for urban area expansion are reversed. We give recommendations for more careful use of China’s sub-national population and per capita data. |
| Keywords: | Hukou; China; measurement error; population; sub-national growth; urban area |
| JEL: | O47 Q56 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:15/14&r=geo |
| By: | Luo,Xubei; Zhu,Nong |
| Abstract: | The hub-periphery development pattern of the Guangdong economy, to some extent, is a miniature of that of the Chinese economy. The Pearl River Delta, drawing from its first-nature comparative advantages in factor endowments and proximity to Hong Kong SAR, China, and Macau SAR, China, and the second-nature advantages as first-movers in the reforms in attracting and retaining domestic and foreign resources, has developed into a regional economic center. This paper examines the pattern of inter- and intra-provincial migration and that of the concentration of production, to explore the challenges and opportunities for the success of ?double transfer.? The paper suggests a four-prong approach, to improve the business environment, support the realization of latent comparative advantages, increase the skill level of the labor force to support the upgrade of the production structure, and protect the vulnerable, to support the inclusive growth of the economy in Guangdong in a sustainable manner. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Population Policies,Regional Economic Development,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies |
| Date: | 2015–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7509&r=geo |