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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2016‒04‒30
eight papers chosen by Andreas Koch Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Coughlin, Cletus C. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); Novy, Dennis (University of Warwick, UK) |
| Abstract: | Trade data are typically reported at the level of regions or countries and are therefore aggregates across space. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivity of standard gravity estimation to spatial aggregation. We build a model in which initially symmetric micro regions are combined to form aggregated macro regions. We then apply the model to the large literature on border effects in domestic and international trade. Our theory shows that larger countries are systematically associated with smaller border effects. The reason is that due to spatial frictions, aggregation across space increases the relative cost of trading within borders. The cost of trading across borders therefore appears relatively smaller. This mechanism leads to border effect heterogeneity and is independent of multilateral resistance effects in general equilibrium. Even if no border frictions exist at the micro level, gravity estimation on aggregate data can still produce large border effects. We test our theory on domestic and international trade flows at the level of U.S. states. Our results confirm the model’s predictions, with quantitatively large effects. |
| Keywords: | Gravity; Geography; Borders; Trade Costs; Heterogeneity; Home Bias; Spatial Attenuation; Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) |
| JEL: | F10 F15 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2016-006&r=geo |
| By: | Saracoglu, Durdane Sirin; Roe, Terry L. |
| Abstract: | Structural change or the change in the sectoral composition of output is a common component in the growth process in developing economies. Not recognized in previous models of this process is the households' choice of urban - rural residency which not only alters the demand for regionally specific goods (e.g., housing, education, health), and hence the cost of living, but also the stock of rural - urban labor and the rate of growth and structural change. We investigate the relationship between GDP growth, regional imbalances, and rural-urban migration using a neoclassical multi-region-sector growth model. The household decision for migration is dependent on the cost-of living differentials implied by the relative changes in regional home goods prices across regions as capital deepening occurs and the capital stock within each region evolves. Results show that allowing for residency choice provides a much richer explanation of the forces of structural change and growth. |
| Keywords: | Rural-urban migration, structural transformation, growth, residency choice, multi-sector modeling, general equilibrium, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Public Economics, O41, R13, R23, C61, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212690&r=geo |
| By: | FUKUGAWA Nobuya; GOTO Akira |
| Abstract: | Local public technology centers (LPTCs) are technology transfer organizations administrated by local governments in Japan. LPTCs arrange various technology transfer channels mainly for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. Although it has been recognized that technical consultation is the most important channel for technology transfer, there are virtually no reliable statistics that define and measure this. This study is the first to investigate such technical consultation, gathering information from surveys conducted at the branch level. The key findings can be summarized as follows. First, LPTCs solve various (technological and non-technological) problems through technical consultation. What is notable is that a non-negligible proportion of the problems have to do with design. Second, these problems are diverse in terms of complexity as well, with design problems requiring a longer time to solve. Third, technical consultation acts as a gateway to further technology transfer activities. Additional technical assistance triggered by technical consultation varies across technological fields. Fourth, LPTCs act as innovation intermediaries that connect SMEs to other sources of knowledge, such as universities, when the problems are too hard to solve internally. Fifth, LPTCs believe that technical consultation contributes to their researchers' better understanding of local firms' technological needs, which is salient for LPTCs that frequently deal with design problems. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:16062&r=geo |
| By: | Hiroki Kondo (Department of Economics, Sophia University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes human capital investment decision and location choice, focusing on the intergenerational interactions within a family in an economy where geographic concentrations of high technology industries and high-level service sectors are proceeding. For highly educated young adults searching for job opportunities is much more frequently accompanied by long distance migrations, sometimes beyond the national border. That discourages parents to invest in human capital for their children. Public human capital investment decision is also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital; Spatial Agglomeration; Intergenerational Interactions; Migration. |
| JEL: | R12 R13 R23 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irv:wpaper:151606&r=geo |
| By: | Venables, Anthony J |
| Abstract: | Many cities in developing economies, particularly in Africa, are experiencing "urbanisation without industrialisation". This paper conceptualizes this in a framework in which a city can produce non-tradable goods and - if it is sufficiently competitive - also internationally tradable goods, potentially subject to increasing returns to scale. The city may get locked into non-tradable production for three distinct reasons. One is high demand for non-tradables, arising if the city receives income from other sources (such as natural resource rents), creating an urban Dutch disease. A second is coordination failure amongst potential producers of tradable goods. A third arises from the way in which the city is built. In a two-period model with sunk construction costs, expectations about second period outcomes shape construction decisions, which in turn shape the competitiveness of the city. There may be two (perfect foresight) equilibria. One in which land values are relatively low, little is invested in buildings, and the city is too low density and too high cost to attract tradable production. The other in which land values are high, the city is built taller and denser and is able to accommodate more workers and attract tradable production; this, in turn, generates the employment and income to support high land values. The former configuration is consistent with the "urbanisation without industrialisation" experience of many African cities. |
| Keywords: | city; economic development; structural transformation.; tradable goods; urban |
| JEL: | O14 O18 R1 R3 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11212&r=geo |
| By: | Keola, Souknilanh; Tsubota, Kenmei |
| Abstract: | There are conventional methods to calculate the centroid of spatial units and distance among them with using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The paper points out potential measurement errors of this calculation. By taking Indian district data as an example, systematic errors concealed in such variables are shown. Two comparisons are examined; firstly, we compare the centroid obtained from the spatial units, polygons, and the centre of each city where its district headquarters locates. Secondly, between the centres represented in the above, we calculate the direct distances and road distances obtained from each pair of two districts. From the comparison between the direct distances of centroid of spatial units and the road distances of centre of district headquarters, we show the distribution of errors and list some caveats for the use of conventional variables obtained from GIS. |
| Keywords: | Geography, Maps, Information technology, Centrality, Road distance, Direct distance |
| JEL: | C21 D82 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper589&r=geo |
| By: | Juan Mauricio Ramírez; Juan Guillermo Bedoya; Yadira Díaz |
| Abstract: | "La distribución espacial de las actividades económicas tiende a ser desigual y se concentra en algunas áreas geográficas como resultado de la existencia de economías de aglomeración. Sin embargo, la existencia de una geografía económica desigual no implica que el mapa de las oportunidades sociales, y en particular el acceso a mínimos sociales deba ser desigual. En este estudio se analiza la pobreza multidimensional en Colombia a nivel municipal, explorando el efecto de la geografía como condicionante de los resultados sociales, y el papel que la descentralización pudo haber jugado para contrabalancear dichos efectos. El estudio aborda la relación entre descentralización y pobreza multidimensional en dos direcciones: en la primera se analiza la evolución de la pobreza multidimensional en Colombia a nivel municipal entre 1993 y 2005, y su asociación con variables de geografía económica y de descentralización. En la segunda, se evalúa el efecto causal del esfuerzo fiscal de los municipios de Colombia sobre la privación multidimensional. Los resultados del estudio sugieren que las estrategias para superar la pobreza deben complementarse con un enfoque territorial y tener en cuenta que la privación está fuertemente definida por interacciones geográficas. Políticas territoriales diferenciadas y diseños de la descentralización que tengan en cuenta la heterogeneidad de los municipios y las regiones, son definitivamente requeridos con el fin de mejorar la convergencia de los territorios a mínimos sociales. El papel de las variables de geografía económica debe ser tenido en cuenta en el diseño de tales políticas. En particular, Colombia tiene una agenda pendiente para reducir la pobreza rural." |
| Keywords: | Pobreza, Pobreza Multidimensional, Geografía Económica, DescentralizaciónDesarrollo Rural, Colombia |
| JEL: | I32 R12 O18 |
| Date: | 2016–02–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000439:014443&r=geo |
| By: | Bruno de Oliveira Cruz; Iuri Vladimir Queiroz |
| Abstract: | A elevação das taxas de investimento no país está entre os principais objetivos de política econômica para garantir o crescimento sustentável nos próximos anos. Uma das preocupações dos pesquisadores regionais é que o perfil da distribuição espacial destes investimentos redimensione e arrefeça o processo de desconcentração industrial observado nas últimas duas décadas. Além disso, importante pilar da política regional seria o de complementação das cadeias produtivas a partir dos investimentos em curso. Este trabalho tenta contribuir com esta discussão, tendo como base a avaliação do perfil dos investimentos previstos pelo Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) para o período 2014-2017. Analisam-se os efeitos encadeados dos investimentos previstos utilizando a matriz insumo-produto de 2005. Com o detalhamento setorial dos efeitos encadeados, é possível avaliar a distribuição espacial destas indústrias, com base em dados da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS), levantando alguns indícios sobre possíveis impactos regionais destes investimentos. Para analisar a distribuição espacial, utilizam-se diversos indicadores de correlação espacial e indicadores de colocalização, como o proposto por Elisson, Glaeser e Kerr (2010). Em outras palavras, a partir dos efeitos encadeadores e da atual estrutura industrial, avalia-se o padrão de colocalização das indústrias com investimentos previstos e indústrias afetadas tanto a jusante como a montante do processo produtivo. In a recent report, BNDES, a major bank financing investment in Brazil, announced that investment in some selected sector for the period 2014-2017 could reach the impressive US$ 275 billion. Oil and Gas, vehicle and automobile, pulp and paper, electronics, chemistry, Steel mill are among the sector which would expand activities in the next four years. In a very important paper, Ellison, Glaeser and Kerr (2010) showed that input-output linkages are the most important variable to explain industries co-agglomeration. Those investments perspectives open a new possibility for regional policies, following the results of EGK, one could estimate the backward and forward linkages and possibility to co-agglomerate industries, given the potential investment in the sectors described above. The objective of this paper is to identify the backward and forward linkages of the investment matrix for the period 2014 and estimate the spatialdistribution of those sectors in backward and forward linkages with the original initial investment. In other words, we apply the co-agglomerations indexes to asses which sector has the highest probability, given an investment in a sector, for instance Oil and Gas and backward/forward linkage, the co-agglomerate. The identification of those sectors can shed some lights on sectors policy makers could successfully support and can improve the performance of the regional policies. |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2172&r=geo |