Transport infrastructure and regional convergence: A spatial panel data approach

This article examines the contribution of transport infrastructure to the regional convergence in Spain for the period 1980–2008. Spatial econometric techniques are employed to decompose the direct, indirect and total effects of roads, railways, ports and airports. In addition, the analysis is complemented by estimating the determinants of the regional allocation of transport investments. Evidence confirms the presence of absolute and conditional convergence. However, only roads appear to have an impact on this convergence process. It is also understood that the main driver of transport investments has been the equalization of the infrastructure endowment between the different Spanish regions. The reduction of inequalities between regions in terms of road provision could explain the positive contribution of roads to the process of regional convergence in Spain.     

Infant mortality in Turkey: Causes and effects in a regional context

This study attempts to identify the causal and/or direct effects of sociocultural determinants of infant mortality in Turkey within a regional context using causal graph analysis and global and local spatial models. The conceptual framework, combined with the data, shows that fertility and consanguinity have direct effects on infant mortality rates, and that female illiteracy, as a proxy for maternal education, is the main cause of rising infant mortality even in the presence of latent confounding. The surface of estimates further shows that the local effects of female illiteracy and consanguinity are non-stationary across space, calling for location-specific policies.     

从项目管理的角度浅谈西部地区基础设施建设

对西部大开发中基础设施建设的特点和项目管理中存在的各种问题进行了论述,提出了一系列针对西部地区基础设施建设切实可行的项目管理方法,解决了西部地区基础设施建设过程中存在的一系列难题,达到了为西部地区建设提供切实有效的项目管理目标和方法的效果。     

The impact of local factors on the scope of benefits from public investment: the case of tourism infrastructure in Saxon municipalities

Following the transition from socialist central planning economies to market economies in all of the former socialist countries, many regions have had to cope with severe structural changes and economic development problems. To overcome these problems, local governments have tried to invest in new public infrastructure to support the development of new industries. This paper looks at infrastructure that supports tourist activities and argues that the impact of infrastructure generally depends on certain local factors which differ between municipalities. One important factor is whether the local population possesses the relevant complementary factors, in particular the right ‘soft skills’.     

Telecommunications infrastructure and regional income convergence in China: panel data approaches

The conditional convergence framework constitutes the theoretical basis for different dynamic panel data approaches. But models with different specifications or estimated by different methods may have very different results. This study empirically tests the results by applying different panel data approaches to the study of telecommunications infrastructure in regional economic growth across China. Specifically, the pattern of regional economic growth across 29 regions in China from 1986 to 2002 is examined. The results suggest the system GMM estimation is more likely to produce consistent and efficient estimates than OLS and fixed-effect estimation. Findings indicate a significant and positive relationship between telecommunications infrastructure and regional economic growth in China and the empirical results from different estimations suggest robust results for this particular assessment. The authors wish to acknowledge the insightful and helpful comments of two anonymous referees that significantly raised the quality of this study. Any errors or misinterpretation are the responsibility of the author.     

The telecommunication infrastructure: A model for optimum voice-data coverage

Since voice and data services can greatly enhance the quality of life of people in rural areas, the expansion of the telecommunication infrastructure is one of the most important planning activities for governments especially in developing nations. This study presents an analytical tool for policy makers to evaluate various alternatives that expand telephone and Internet services to underserved and unserved remote areas. Based on Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets of existing infrastructures, a computer model is developed to generate Telecom-and-Internet access maps of a defined region. The map presents the least-cost plan to provide telephony and Internet services to a given percentage of population in a specified area. A remote area of Bangladesh is selected as a case study. Several scenarios are simulated in order to explore the possibility of extending the reach of telecommunication services to the last-mile customers, and to evaluate pilot projects as building blocks of a nationwide infrastructure.     

Reducing risks to electric power infrastructure due to extreme weather events by means of spatial planning: Case studies from Slovenia

The paper concerns the potential for spatial planning to improve the reliability of electric power infrastructure. The aim is to reduce risks of electric power outages due to extreme weather events (EWE) by proper siting of installations. A method of evaluating risks due to EWE is applied in two case studies. The first considers ice storms and the damage they cause to power grids; the second considers the damage of heavy rainstorms to hydroelectric power plants (HPPs). The results are presented in the form of a risk assessment method that can be incorporated into spatial planning.     

Winners and losers of rapid growth in Turkey: Analysis of the spatial variability of convergence

This paper investigates spatial variability of regional convergence for the 2004-2017 period in Turkey. Results from neoclassical convergence model which are robust to inclusion of a spatial battery points out the existence of convergence. However, additional results highlight that regional convergence is spatially heterogeneous. While underdeveloped regions exhibit higher convergence, convergence speed is not distributed evenly among these underdeveloped eastern regions. These findings point out that, last epoch of Turkish transformation fails to have equity enhancing effects at local level, rather there are winners and losers of the rapid growth of 2000s.     

Age cohort effects on unemployment in the USA: Evidence from the regional level

Since the early 1970s, it was argued that shifts from relatively smaller to larger youth cohorts in the labor force raise the unemployment rate. In contrast, using US state-level data, two studies come to a contrary conclusion. I provide a theoretical framework for local labor markets that considers age cohort differences in labor market characteristics. Using a spatial panel data model and US county-level data (2000–2014), the estimates provide strong evidence that aging of the working-age population reduces overall unemployment by almost 1 percentage point. Long-run effects that consider local feedbacks are even larger.     

Mosquitoes,birth rates and regional spillovers: Evidence from the Zika epidemic in Brazil

This paper investigates the impact of the incidence of the Zika virus on birth rates in Brazil. We estimated a difference-in-differences model that explicitly considers the spatial interaction of virus incidence, measuring its impact on the affected municipalities and their neighbours—not directly affected. Our results show that directly affected municipalities experienced a 1.7% decrease in birth rates in 2016 and 2.5% in 2017, while municipalities close to those affected—but not directly affected—showed reductions of 1.2% and 2.1% for the same periods. Moreover, the evidence shows that the effect was not guided by biological effects and was concentrated among younger women.     

A joint spatial econometric model for regional FDI and output growth

This paper studies the joint dynamics of foreign direct investments (FDI) and output growth in European regions by using spatially augmented systems of equations modeling framework that incorporates third-region and spillover effects. The joint framework is used to study the dynamic impacts of regional human capital endowments, which demonstrates the importance of explicitly accounting for an endogenous relationship. The relationship is highlighted in a stylized projection exercise, where the long-run impacts are pronounced in Eastern Europe and capital cities. Overall, ignoring the relationship of regional economic performance and FDI distorts the implied transmission mechanism, which is of utmost importance for policy makers.     

Trade openness and regional income spillovers in Brazil: A spatial econometric approach*

This paper employs a spatial Durbin growth model to estimate the impact of trade openness on regional per capita income in Brazil using a data set of 469 Brazilian micro‐regions over the period 2004–2007. We calculate the direct, indirect and cumulative impact on per capita income of trade openness and human capital in these micro‐regions. Results indicate that greater trade openness in a region promotes economic development locally, while exerting negative influence on per capita income of the neighbouring regions. Our findings also show that human capital has a positive – direct and indirect – impact on the economic development of Brazilian micro‐regions.     

The role of R&D collaboration networks on regional knowledge creation: Evidence from information and communication technologies

We investigate how R&D networks impact regional innovation, considering alternative connectivity structures based on co‐publications, co‐inventions and projects supported by the EU‐FP. Patent activity impacts on ICT during 2003–2009 for 213 European regions are quantified using a spatial Durbin model. Findings indicate that local knowledge flows to proximate regions are influenced by: proximate regions that are not collaboration partners, proximate collaboration partners, and distant collaboration partners. Evidence on the role of distant collaboration partners is found only for co‐invention networks.     

Economic crisis and regional resilience: Evidence from Greece

Shift‐share and input‐output models are combined to explore the resilience of Greek regions to economic crisis. Model results indicate that rural regions are more resistant to recessionary shocks than urban regions. The analysis of the space‐specific ability of sectors to withstand economic shocks portrayed the resilience of agriculture, while food industry, although its impact overtime declined, managed to increase its employment in seven out of thirteen regions. The tourism sector contracted but showed more resilience in the island regions than in the continental regions. The spatial heterogeneity in the effects of the recessionary shocks re‐emphasizes the need for targeted and differentiated regional development policies.     

Industrialized construction in the Swedish infrastructure sector: core elements and barriers

Improving productivity and innovation is a central challenge in all industries, but particularly in construction where improvements have been slow. To meet this challenge, a recent investigation into the actions of Swedish government clients has recognized needs to improve planning during project procurement phases, increase numbers of turnkey contracts and raise industrialization of the sector. In response, the Swedish Transportation Administration has launched a research and innovation programme to foster an industrial approach and identify ways to increase the standardization of products and processes. However, increasing industrialization has been difficult to achieve in the project-based construction industry except in the process-based housing sector. Further, there has been little research on the concept of industrialized infrastructure construction and barriers to its implementation. Opinions and attitudes of clients, consultants and contractors in the infrastructure sector were investigated in relation to the core elements of industrialized construction, and the barriers hindering its development. Opportunities and obstacles related to both product and process standardization for continuous improvements and the relationships between clients and contractors are revealed. Hence, the implementation of industrialized construction requires tightly focused governance at the outset of projects and profound changes to established attitudes, norms and regulations.     

R&D networks and regional knowledge production in Europe: Evidence from a space‐time model

In this study we estimate space‐time impacts of the embeddedness in R&D networks on regional knowledge production using a dynamic spatial panel data model with non‐linear effects for 229 European NUTS 2 regions in the period 1998–2010. Embeddedness refers to the positioning in networks where nodes represent regions that are linked by joint R&D projects funded by EU Framework Programmes. We find evidence that increasing embeddedness in EU funded R&D networks leads to positive immediate impacts on regional knowledge production, and that regions with lower levels of own knowledge endowments more likely exploit the positive effects. However, the long‐term impacts of a region's embeddedness in these R&D networks are comparatively small.     

Convergence and regional productivity differences: Evidence from Greek prefectures

We study the effect of technology gaps and capital deepening on the productivity growth of Greek prefectures over the period 1971-1995. The empirical results show that Greek prefectures tended to converge over time, contrary to conventional wisdom. It is found that capital deepening plays a significant role in explaining productivity differences at the regional level. The empirical results are discussed in detail.We would like to thank the anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. Thanks also go to Professor Clive Richardson and M. Terrasi for his constructive comments which improved the quality of the paper substantially. All errors remain the responsibility of the authors.Received: April 2001 / Accepted: May 2003     

Tourism and regional growth in Europe

The paper analyses the impact of domestic and international tourism on the economic growth process for 179 European regions. The econometric analysis is based on a spatial growth regression framework where the rate of GDP per capita growth at the regional level for the period 1999–2009 depends on tourism flows, in addition to the traditional growth variables. Besides controlling for initial conditions, we also include a wide set of covariates to account for the endowment of human and technological capital and for the geographical, social and institutional features of the regions. The results, confirmed by several robustness checks, demonstrate that regional growth is positively affected by domestic and international tourism.     

(Un)bundling infrastructure procurement: Evidence from water supply and sewage projects

Public infrastructure has long been faced with difficulty in financing. Available public resources are often limited in many countries. Competitive bidding in public procurement systems is an important instrument to contain the public investment costs. But competition is often limited in the infrastructure sector. In such circumstances, better public procurement design can save a lot of public resources. There is a general tradeoff between the competition effect and economies of scale and scope; large contracts can benefit from the scale and scope effects but have to compromise competition. The unbundling approach can foster competition but may suffer from diseconomies of scale and scope. Using procurement data from water supply and sewage projects in developing countries, the paper analyzes the effects of the (un)bundling strategy on bidders’ entry and bidding behavior. It shows that the bidder cost structure exhibits significant diseconomies of scope between two main public works in this sector, i.e., treatment plant construction and distribution network installation. There is no clear evidence of the competition effect. Therefore, there is no rationale of bundling these two works into a single contract. Unbundling can help governments to contain public infrastructure costs.     

Innovative regional milieux,small firms,and regional development: Evidence from Mediterranean France

The purpose of this article is to critically examine key factors that have been involved in the remarkable economic turnaround of Mediterranean France, which until recently was always considered to be a peripheral zone within the national economy. Particular attention is given to the role of noneconomic factors that condition the location choices of households and firms and to the roles of technological innovation, service activities, and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the regional development process. With increasing vertical disintegration, Mediterranean France has been realizing external economies from the expansion of the entire system of production. SMEs, which are especially prevalent in this region — and which have behavior patterns that follow a logic that is more spatial than sectoral in nature — have contributed significantly to endogenous regional development through their growth as an ensemble. The new regional organizational paradigm transcends older forms of industrialization.