Technological activity and productivity in the Spanish regions

This paper analyses the importance of technological activities in explaining the differences in productivity among Spanish regions in the period 1986–1996. It quantifies the effect of the regions’ own technological innovation, and the externalities associated with technological capital, on regional development. The analysis is based on the estimation of production functions and an equation explaining total factor productivity. Although a positive significant effect is obtained at national level on a long-term horizon, the significance of the effect of technological activities on the productivity of the Spanish regions in the period 1987–1996 depends on the indicator used. However, the technological spillover effects between regions are always highly significant regardless of the indicator used.

Geographical and sectoral clusters of innovation in Europe

In this paper we attempt to provide empirical evidence on the phenomenon of cluster agglomeration of innovation activities throughout time and space in European regions. More specifically we try to assess whether there are some forces which support the development of technologically specialised regional clusters. In particular we want to determine the spatial extent of these forces, their dynamics along the eighties and nineties and their connection with production clustering. We have started from a mapping of innovation activity in European regions by means of an exploratory spatial analysis based on global indicators of spatial dependence. As a result, in a second step, we check the hypothesis that innovation concentration can be a result not only of the geographic concentration of production but also of the development of technologically specialised clusters in neighbouring regions. The analysis is based on a databank set up by CRENoS on regional patenting at the European Patent Office spanning from 1978 to 2001 and classified by ISIC sectors and on the Cambridge Econometrics database on production activity. Among the main results, it is shown that specialisation in innovative activity is positively and significantly influenced by specialisation in production activity. Additionally, it is obtained that innovation tends to cluster more in sectors in which the neighbouring regions are also technologically specialised.

Examining the location factors of R&D labor in the regions of Greece

In this paper two models are developed in an attempt to elucidate the factors that influence the regional distribution of R&D labor across the regions of Greece. The first one is based on an adaptation of the [Guerrero and Seró (1997) Regional Studies 31:381–390] model to the Greek context treating the regional distribution of R&D labor as a function of the extent of agglomeration and the prevailing economic conditions. The second model extends the first one by taking into account two additional factors, viz. the production structure and infrastructure. The econometric results indicate the superior performance of the extended model in the context of Greece as well as attribute the location of R&D labor mainly on the diversification of industrial activity and the number of establishments in innovation-intensive sectors. It is therefore suggested that the stimulation of the regional production structure and infrastructure is essential for ‘knowledge-lagging’ regions.

The identification of functional regions: theory, methods, and applications

A functional region is characterised by a high frequency of intra-regional interaction. The text analyses how functional regions can be identified by using labour market data. Three approaches are applied in this task, named the local labour market, commuting zone, and accessibility approach, respectively. The text includes an application using the Fyrstad region. The situation is also studied at two points in time. The outcomes using the different approaches are compared, and the results combined have a richer flavour.

Emergent macrostructures of path-dependent location adoptions processes of firms

Agglomeration of firms in a regional context is a complex process that cannot be tamed easily using traditional economic models. Instead, in this paper, I conducted computer simulations to observe under the assumption of increasing returns how firms choose among competing locations to form regional agglomeration. By designing simple rules of firms’ spatial choice behavior, I observed through such simulations how firms moved across and within regions. The findings showed that firms tended to lock-in a particular region, that is, that region dominated all others in the firms’ movement, reminiscent of market domination of a technology among competing technologies. The emergent macrostructures were surprisingly orderly in that the distributions of sizes of spatial clusters in relation to frequencies followed a logarithmically linear form or a power law. Unpredictability, path dependence, and small events were present in the simulations and can be explained in the context of regional development. Useful insights as to how macrostructures of agglomeration emerge through microbehaviors of firms can be gained through the simulations.

Market access and regional disparities

New economic geography (NEG) has reached a theoretical consolidation while related empirical tests are still scarce. The present paper aims at providing some evidence on the validity of forces emphasized by NEG. The analysis starts from the nominal wage equation derived from the Krugman “core–periphery model” and focuses on one of the main propositions of NEG that access advantages raise factor prices. The paper investigates the significance of market access for regional wages and the geographic extent of demand linkages for a cross section of European regions, also taking into account the effects of national borders. The regression analysis covers the period between 1985 and 2000. The results are consistent with the implication of NEG that demand linkages affect the geographic distribution of economic activities, confirming the basic findings of previous analyses. However, regarding the spatial extent of demand linkages, our results differ significantly from previous findings that point to highly localised effects.

The economic rationale for integrated tariffs in local public transport

In this paper, it is shown that integrated tariffs can be used to extract the consumer’s surplus when there are a lot of connections supplied so that the law of large numbers applies in the estimation of the consumer’s willingness to pay. The time validity limitations of tickets are explained by a nonlinear pricing approach. Links between optimal pricing in local public transport and network characteristics are highlighted.

An analysis of wage flexibility: evidence from the Spanish regions

The theory of Optimum Currency Areas poses that one of the most important costs that EMU may entail for countries belonging to it is the loss of some instruments of political economy (exchange rate and monetary policies) in response to shocks. The aim of this paper is to analyse real wage flexibility, which is one of the main alternative adjustment mechanisms to these policies. For this purpose, the case of the Spanish regions for the period 1985–1999 is reported. First, we develop a nonparametric approach to show that unemployment and productivity growth rates have reduced effects on wage evolution in the period of study. Second, semiparametric estimation techniques are applied to provide more econometric evidence regarding regional flexibility of real wages in Spain. Additionally, some suggestions are developed on the topic of EMU’s ability to improve the degree of regional wage flexibility. The general conclusion that we draw in the study is that regional wages are very rigid and the impact of EMU, though favourable, will be reduced.

Location decisions of Japanese new manufacturing plants in China: a discrete-choice analysis

This paper adopts a conditional logit model to empirically examine the location choices of Japanese greenfield manufacturing foreign direct investment among Chinese provinces. It is hypothesized that its location decisions in China would be determined by the provinces’ market sizes, infrastructure capacities, labor, land, and energy costs, agglomeration effects, labor quality, and policy incentives. A Hausman–McFadden test is conducted to test whether the independence from irrelevant alternatives assumption of the conditional logit model is violated.

Spatially varying development mechanisms in the Greater Beijing Area: a geographically weighted regression investigation

This study aims to extend the understanding of regional development mechanisms in China. This study investigates spatial non-stationarity in China’s regional development mechanisms by applying geographically weighted techniques on spatial datasets in the Greater Beijing Area, China. The analyses reveal two results: first, regional development mechanisms in the Greater Beijing Area show significant spatial non-stationarity; and second, development mechanisms have strong local characteristics; this study hence complements the current literature in China’s regional development studies. The study demonstrates the importance of local spatial modeling techniques in regional development research.

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A time series analysis of U.S. metropolitan and non-metropolitan income divergence

This paper employs time series methods to analyze convergence across metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions during the 1969–2001 period. The results suggest that non-metropolitan regions are diverging from below the U.S. average income level, while metropolitan regions show mixed evidence of convergence. These summary results vary by geographic location and the size of the region, with medium-sized metropolitan regions showing the strongest tendencies to converge, while non-metropolitan areas with larger urban centers and small towns showed the strongest tendencies to diverge. Differences in human capital (as well as employment concentrations in farming and mining) appear to have influenced the relative performance of metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions during the last 30 years, suggesting a role for agglomeration economies in the observed trend toward divergence.

Housing intermediary services in China: the rise and fall of ‘Fang Wu Yin Hang’

Housing reforms in China are often conceived to have engendered a gradual shift towards a market system. New institutions have been introduced to enable decentralized, monetarized and privatized allocation of housing units. This study explores the emergence, growth and downfall of an intermediary service (known as ‘fang wu yin hang’) created spontaneously by real estate agents to facilitate housing transactions in the Chinese cities. Although this new institution looked capable of strengthening the rationality, efficiency, transparency and impersonality of China’s housing market, it was abandoned soon after its inception. The failure of this transient service suggests the presence of some social institutions, which could have blocked China’s progress towards a full-fledged market system in the housing sector.

Inter-generational Occupational Mobility Amongst Blacks in the Mitchell’s Plain Magisterial District, Cape Town: Evidence from the Khayelitsha/Mitchell’s Plain Survey

This study examines inter-generational occupational class mobility amongst blacks (Africans and coloureds) in the Mitchell’s Plain Magisterial District in Cape Town, South Africa. The results of the Khayelitsha/Mitchell’s Plain Survey conducted in 2000 serve as the main source of data. We show that middle-class occupational origins do not necessarily guarantee the transmission of advantage from one generation to the next. The findings revealed that there is a churning effect at work with respondents experiencing upward occupational class mobility due to the changing occupational structure, which at the same time is counteracted by considerable downward occupational class mobility. This result is partly due to (1) the particular class structure of the Mitchell’s Plain Magisterial District, which excludes many middle-class black areas and therefore has a more working-class character and (2) the precarious character of the black middle class, which is concentrated in low-paid nursing and teaching occupations.

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From SIF to City Fund: a new direction for urban policy in Flanders,Belgium

For years, analysts have wondered about the exceptional place that Belgium, and in particular Flanders, has taken in the urban policy landscape. Contrary to neighbouring, equally strongly urbanised Western European countries, Flanders maintained a tradition of neglect towards its urban centres, linked to the hegemony of a rural-based Christian-democratic party. In the 1990’s, this tradition was converted into an urban policy approach which, equally at odds with developments towards urban entrepreneurialism in other Western European countries, remained strongly oriented towards social policy. Only in 1999, when, for the first time in 50 years Christian-democrats resigned from government, the Flemish discourse took a more pro-urban and entrepreneurial approach. This paper shows how this discursive shift at the regional scale is reflected in local urban policy-making practices and warns against the detrimental social effects it might have on the field.

Local Economic Development in the City of Lusaka,Zambia

The aim in this article is to examine the example of LED planning in Zambia, a country which post-2000 has been experiencing a modest expansion of decentralization. More specifically, the paper draws from a range of primary sources of information to discuss the development of planning for LED in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city. It is argued that whilst there has occurred a growth of planning around LED in Lusaka, implementation has been limited due to a number of factors, including capacity constraints and finance.

Military Base Conversion in South Africa: Opportunities for Local Economic Development

Cutbacks in defence budgets have highlighted the importance of issues around the conversion of former military bases. The international experience shows that the process of closing military bases and converting them to alternative uses can open up possibilities for local economic development (LED). This article examines South African debates and experience of the reuse of military bases made redundant in the post-apartheid period. Implications for LED are discussed in two case studies of the Zwartkop Air Force base and the Bourke’s Luck Military Base.

Regional economic instability: the role of industrial diversification and spatial spillovers

Within regional science there has been a long history of interest in the relationship between economic instability and regional diversification. Despite this interest there are many unresolved issues in the literature, and while regional economic theory suggests that greater diversity will make regional economies more stable, the evidence is far less convincing. In addition, very little is known about how other variables affect the level of instability experienced by regional economies. This paper intends to clarify some of these points, with developments in the field of spatial data analysis meaning that additional insights may be gathered using these techniques. The analysis uses data from the 125 Local Government Areas of Queensland, a state economy of Australia that consists of many types of regions, ranging from densely settled urban centres to sparsely settled rural regions.

Inter-regional corporate ownership and regional autonomy: the case of Switzerland

By using a unique database on the ownership relations of Swiss firms, this article proposes a study of specific regional characteristics in that it reveals the way in which ownership is structured. The paper clearly highlights the different ways that regions behave regarding their involvement in these ownership structures, on a national and international level. The types of behaviour can be associated with the various economic specialisations of Switzerland’s regions. Firstly, it appears that the most frequent ownership links occur among firms within the same Regional Production System. It is then noted that the links between the Swiss regions are far less numerous than international links. The international links, by their number and their distribution throughout Switzerland, constitute the main source of discrimination between the regions. The financial region of Zurich masters this ownership issue most competently. It is the most autonomous region in that it is able to maintain control over its economy, to become highly involved in other spaces, and attract the most investments. It would appear that the regions that are the best integrated within the network are those that have been best able to take advantage of the evolution of the Swiss financial system. The low density of the links between the various Swiss regions suggests that these regions organise their relations on scales that are different to that of the nation. This clearly raises questions regarding the policies based on the principle that the growth of the main centres affects the rest of the country positively.

Incentive consistency and the choice of a spatial pricing mode

This paper extends Gronberg and Meyer’s results (1981 21:541–549) and studies the problem that occurs when transportation costs are different between a firm and consumers: The firm (based on a profit-maximizing consideration) may adopt discriminatory pricing with an inefficient transport mode. This inefficient pricing behavior may not be consistent with the social optimum, whereby the problem of incentive inconsistency thus occurs. When dealing with endogenous pricing modes having asymmetric transportation costs, one should pay more attention to the distortion caused by the inconsistency problem.

The Limits of Decentralisation in Urban Zambia

Against a background of the expansion of decentralisation across sub-Saharan Africa and widespread debates concerning the benefits associated with decentralisation, this article analyses the example of Zambia. The paper highlights the “limits” or constraints affecting the success of decentralisation. From detailed research in Ndola, attention is drawn to several issues surrounding the council’s inadequate human resource base as well as critical funding constraints which impact upon public service delivery.