nep-geo New Economics Papers
on Economic Geography
Issue of 2024‒07‒08
seven papers chosen by
Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung


  1. Gathering round Big Tech: how the market for acquisitions concentrates the digital sector By Ioramashvili, Carolin; Feldman, Maryann; Guy, Frederick; Iammarino, Simona
  2. Irish regional GDP since independence By De Bromhead, Alan; Kenny, Sean
  3. Technological invention and local labour markets: evidence from France, Germany and the UK By Ioramashvili, Carolin
  4. Exploring The Spatial Structure of Interregional Supply Chain: A Multilayer Network Approach By Maulana, Ardian; Hokky, Situngkir
  5. The impact of Fiscal decentralization on regional development By Elezi, Shiret
  6. Regional structural change in Argentina (1996-2019): Concepts, measurements and unequal trajectories over the business cycle By Niembro, Andrés; Calá, Carla Daniela
  7. Measuring and Predicting “New Work” in the United States: The Role of Local Factors and Global Shocks By Gueyon Kim; Cassandra Merritt; Giovanni Peri

  1. By: Ioramashvili, Carolin; Feldman, Maryann; Guy, Frederick; Iammarino, Simona
    Abstract: Small businesses within the digital sector are spread across the USA. However, a significant number of promising small businesses concentrate in major technology hubs, either initially or through relocation. This phenomenon can be attributed to the influential role played by localized markets for financing and acquisition, which is, in turn, driven by the dominant market positions held by major digital platforms. Our research demonstrates a clear pattern of localized acquisition markets, particularly in sectors frequently targeted by the seven largest American digital giants—Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Apple, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Oracle, and Adobe, collectively known as ‘Big Tech’. This localization trend has become more pronounced between 2000 and 2020. Our analysis indicates that the gravitational pull of these acquisition markets poses challenges to local initiatives aimed at fostering digital businesses. These efforts would be more successful if measures were taken to limit the market influence of digital platforms.
    Keywords: Big Tech; digital start-ups; acquisitions; monopoly; regional inequality
    JEL: R11 R12 F00 O33
    Date: 2024–02–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123670&r=
  2. By: De Bromhead, Alan; Kenny, Sean
    Abstract: This paper constructs the first estimates of Irish regional GDP over the twentieth century and traces the relative economic performance of Ireland's regions since independence. Using an array of data sources available at a county level, output in Agriculture, Industry and Services in benchmark census years is estimated. Applying a variety of alternative measures, we find a reduction in regional inequality over the period that is similar to the broader European pattern. Regional convergence over the period 1926-1991 was driven by both within-sector convergence in productivity and structural change. Our paper helps to understand the regional dimensions to Irish economic development from the birth of a newly independent state up to the eve of Ireland's growth 'miracle' in the 1990s, when the first official efforts were initiated to construct these figures. Finally, we connect our estimates to these official figures to examine GDP at the level of NUTS regions up to 2021.
    Keywords: Regional GDP, Ireland, Economic History, Inequality, Economic Growth
    JEL: N34 N94 O18 R11 R12
    Date: 2024
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:298001&r=
  3. By: Ioramashvili, Carolin
    Abstract: I estimate employment multiplier effects by skill group from graduate employment and innovation at the NUTS1 and 2 level in France, Germany and the UK. Using local projections, I estimate the effects over 5-year horizons. Both graduate employment and patenting have temporary, positive impacts on non-graduate and mid-skilled employment. There is considerable heterogeneity in terms of the direction and magnitude of the effects across the three countries. The paper shows that innovation can be a source of regional employment growth, even for those without a graduate degree.
    Keywords: skills; regions; patents; invention; employment
    JEL: J21 J24 O18 O33 O40 R11
    Date: 2024–09–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123630&r=
  4. By: Maulana, Ardian; Hokky, Situngkir
    Abstract: This research aims to elucidate the organizational patterns of interregional economic interdependence to enhance our comprehension of the national economy's structure at a regional scale. Employing a multilayer network model, this study represents economic interdependence among Indonesian regions, utilizing the InterRegional Input-Output (IRIO) table. Through the application of various metrics, such as degree and strength distribution, assortativity coefficient, and global and local rich club coefficient, to the multilayer IRIO network, we uncover the organizational patterns of economic exchanges between provinces and economic sectors within Indonesia. Our findings demonstrate that a multilayer network approach reveals the heterogeneous and complex structure of the national economy at the regional level. By analyzing the assortativity pattern and global rich-club coefficient, we illustrate that the IRIO network exhibits a hierarchical organization, where significant provincial-sector nodes are interconnected and form dense rich clubs, extending from a few structural cores to peripheral regions. Additionally, we identify distinct connectivity patterns of non-rich nodes based on their incoming and outgoing relations. The insights gained from this study have implications for the macro-control of regional development.
    Keywords: Multilayer network; Spatial network; Interregional input-output table, Rich-club phenomenon, Hierarchical organization.
    JEL: C1 C40 E0 H4 H7 J1 O1 O4 P0 R1 R5 Z18
    Date: 2024–05–05
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:121129&r=
  5. By: Elezi, Shiret
    Abstract: Fiscal decentralization of power from the central to the local level in North Macedonia officially began on July 1st, 2005, and after 20 years there are some changes but in general more than 50% of LGSUs gets transfers from the central government financing were the institutions are located and not real competences for local services, the capital grants don’t follow the municipal development, migration from rural area to urban is more and more evident, this mean that the system from start creates misbalanced financing of LGSUs. The main issue is fiscal decentralization and balanced regional development are closely related instruments and there is a need when making policies for one of these instruments of economic progress to take into account the both of them. RNM, on the one hand, does not have success in the balanced regional development, and on the other hand, there is a need expressed by the Government and other stakeholders for advancing of decentralization. So far, researches are prepared about balanced regional development and fiscal decentralization, but those researches are thematic and concern either regional development or decentralization separately as separate phenomena and do not go into the interactions and impact of fiscal decentralization on the balanced regional development in RNM. This analysis aims to fill that research gap because these phenomena in real life do not act separately from each other and certainly have mutual influence. This is important for policy makers to know that in the advancing of fiscal decentralization laws and policies, those policies and laws cannot separate these two instruments as separate instruments for achieving national goals. For RNM, in addition to the relatively high unbalanced in regional development, it is even more worrying that this, measured by the coefficient of variation of GDP per capita for the regions, is increasing in the period from 2011 to 2022.
    Keywords: fiscal decentralization, balanced regional development, GDP, inequality, local revenues, GINI coefficient
    JEL: H70 H71 H72 H76 H77
    Date: 2024–04–30
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:120847&r=
  6. By: Niembro, Andrés; Calá, Carla Daniela
    Abstract: Although multiple studies on structural change can be found at the national level, the definition of structural change is far from univocal and its subnational manifestations remain underexplored. This paper empirically examines the patterns of regional structural change in Argentina according to the four main definitions used in the literature (not only productive diversification, predominant in the economic geography field), highlighting the differences that arise when applying these concepts. Based on employment data for 85 labor market areas (LMAs) throughout the 1996-2019 period, we propose different criteria to apply and measure the four definitions and to classify the heterogeneous trajectories of structural change in LMAs, including cluster analysis. As the business cycle is a critical dimension in such an unstable economy, we examine the entire period and compare two sub-periods with very different economic dynamics. The results show that the identification of structural change depends on the concepts and measures used, the unit of analysis (national versus regional) and the type of economic cycle. These findings call for context- and place-based policies.
    Keywords: Cambio Estructural; Estructura Productiva; Diversificación de la Producción; Argentina; 1996-2019;
    Date: 2024–05–24
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:4106&r=
  7. By: Gueyon Kim; Cassandra Merritt; Giovanni Peri
    Abstract: The evolution of work is of emerging importance to advanced economies' growth. In this study, we develop a new semantic-distance-based algorithm to identify “new work, ” namely the new types of jobs introduced in the US. We characterize how “new work” relates to task content of jobs and skill characteristics of workers and document its geographic distribution and association with employment growth. Then, we analyze whether local factors associated in the previous literature with agglomeration economies and productivity growth as well as local exposures to global shocks—technology, trade, immigration, and population aging—predict the creation of “new work.” We find local supply of college educated in 1980 as the strongest predictor of “new work.” Using the historical location of 4-year colleges, a strong instrument for local college share, we find a positive and significant causal effect of local supply of human capital on “new work.”
    JEL: F1 J11 J14 J23 J24 J61 O33
    Date: 2024–05
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32526&r=

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