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Spatial Agglomeration (spatial + agglomeration)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences66%

Selected Abstracts

Spatial Agglomeration, Technological Innovations, and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Italian Industrial Districts

GROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2008
GIULIO CAINELLI
ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact on firms' productivity of innovative activities and agglomeration effects among firms belonging to Marshallian industrial districts and the possible joint effect of these two forces. We study a sample of 2,821 firms active in the Italian manufacturing industry in the period 1992,1995. Our analysis uses an original data set based on three different Istituto Nazionale di Statistica statistical sources,Community Innovation Survey, Archivio Statistico delle Imprese Attive (Italian Business Register), and Sistema dei Conti delle Imprese (Italian Structural Business Statistics),to estimate an "augmented" Cobb-Douglas production function to account for the impact of technological innovations and district-specific agglomeration effects on a firm's productivity growth. Our data set allows us to distinguish between product and process innovations, thus, through econometric analysis, we hope to achieve a better understanding of which of these two types of innovative activities benefits most from participation in an industrial district. Our empirical results show that belonging to an industrial district and making product innovations are key factors in the productivity growth of firms and that product innovations appear to have a greater effect on the economic performance of district rather than non-district firms. [source]

Industrial Agglomeration and Development: A Survey of Spatial Economic Issues in East Asia and a Statistical Analysis of Chinese Regions

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2003
C. Cindy Fan
Abstract: In this article, we explore the issue of industrial agglomeration and its relationship to economic development and growth in the less-developed countries of East Asia. We present theoretical arguments and secondary empirical evidence as to why we should have strong expectations about finding a positive relationship between agglomeration and economic performance. We also review evidence from the literature on the roles of formal and informal institutions in East Asian regional economic systems. We then focus specifically on the case of China. We argue that regional development in China has much in common with regional development in other East Asian economies, although there are also important contrasts because of China's history of socialism and its recent trend toward economic liberalization. Through a variety of statistical investigations, we substantiate (in part) the expected positive relationship between agglomeration and economic performance in China. We show that many kinds of manufacturing sectors are characterized by a strong positive relationship between spatial agglomeration and productivity. This phenomenon is especially marked in sectors and regions where liberalization has proceeded rapidly. We consider the relevance of our comments about industrial clustering and economic performance for policy formulation in China and the less-developed countries of East Asia. [source]

ON THE IMPACT OF LABOR MARKET MATCHING ON REGIONAL DISPARITIES,

JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009
Joe Tharakan
ABSTRACT We propose a model where imperfect matching between firms and workers on local labor markets leads to incentives for spatial agglomeration. We show that the occurrence of spatial agglomeration depends on initial size differences in terms of both number of workers and firms. Allowing for dynamics of workers' and firms' location choices, we show that the spatial outcome depends crucially on different dimensions of agents' mobility. The effect of a higher level of human capital on regional disparities depends on whether it makes workers more mobile or more specialized on the labor market. [source]

Parking lots, store chains and spatial agglomeration*

PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2005
Jose Noguera
Agglomeration; bid-rent; land use; residential district; firm district Abstract., This article analyses the role of parking lots in spatial agglomeration. We set up a spatial competitive monopolistic model of agglomeration. In their shopping trips, households travel by car to a parking lot from where they proceed on foot to do their shopping. We also show that the presence of store chains may lead to multiple shopping centres or mall equilibriums. [source]

National growth versus spatial equality?

REGIONAL SCIENCE POLICY AND PRACTICE, Issue 1 2008
A cautionary note on the new, trade-off' thinking in regional policy discourse
national efficiency; regional equity; trade-offs; regional policy Abstract Recently, there has been increasing interest in whether and to what extent the spatial agglomeration or concentration of economic activity and employment in particular regions may actually benefit national growth. The implication is that policies that seek to reduce regional economic inequality may in fact be nationally inefficient: in other words, that a policy ,trade-off' may exist between the pursuit of national growth and the reduction of regional economic disparities. This view has been particularly associated with the so-called ,new economic geography' models, and seems to be circulating in official policy circles. This paper suggests that neither the theoretical argument nor the empirical evidence for a national efficiency-regional equity trade-off are yet convincing, and that until much more research has been undertaken on both fronts policy-makers should exercise caution in appealing to this supposed trade-off notion to justify particular policy choices. [source]

Mixed oligopoly and spatial agglomeration: a comment

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2007
Oscar J Cárdenas
Abstract., This paper extends Matsushima and Matsumura (2003) by incorporating a large production cost difference between public and private firms in a quantity setting spatial mixed oligopoly. The public and private firms first choose their locations in a linear market and then compete in quantities. It is shown that for a significant inefficiency of the public firm, all firms (including both public and private firms) agglomerate at the market centre. Ce texte développe les résultats de Matsushima et Matsumura (2003) en incorporant la possibilité d'une grande différence de coûts de production entre l'entreprise publique et les entreprises privées dans un oligopole spatial mixte de concurrence par les quantités. Les entreprises (publiques et privées) choisissent leur localisation dans un marché linéaire et se concurrencent par les quantités. On montre que, s'il existe une inefficacité significative de l'entreprise publique, toutes les entreprises (publiques et privées) tendent à s'agglomérer au centre du marché. [source]

Mixed oligopoly and spatial agglomeration

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2003
Noriaki Matsushima
We use a circular city model with quantity-setting competition. In contrast to a pure market case discussed by Pal (1998a), spatial agglomeration of private firms always appears in equilibrium. All private firms locate at the same point, and the public firm locates at the opposite side. We also find that this equilibrium pattern of the location is second best provided that output of each private firm cannot be controlled by the social planner. JEL Classification: H42, L13 Oligopole mixte et agglomération spatiale Les auteurs examinent un marché mixte où une entreprise publique possédée par l'État et cherchant à maximiser le niveau de bien-être est en concurrence avec des entreprises privées qui cherchent à maximiser leurs profits. On utilise un modèle de cité circulaire où la concurrence se fait en choisissant la quantité produite. En contraste avec le cas du marché parfait discuté par Pal (1998a), l'agglomération spatiale des entreprises privées paraît être en équilibre. Toutes les entreprises privées se localisent au même point, et l'entreprise publique se localise du côté opposé. Il appert que ce pattern d'équilibre de localisation est un équilibre de second ordre compte tenu du fait que la production de chaque entreprise privée ne peut être contrôlée par le planificateur social. [source]