Describing migration spatial structure

The age structure of a population is a fundamental concept in demography and is generally depicted in the form of an age pyramid. The spatial structure of an interregional system of origin-destination-specific migration streams is, however, a notion lacking a widely accepted definition. We offer a definition in this article, one that draws on the log-linear specification of the geographer's spatial interaction model. We illustrate our definition with observed migration data, we discuss extensions and special cases, and proceed to contrast our definition and associated empirical findings against another measure having an alternative definition. Received: 11 October 2000 / Accepted: 3 April 2001     

Integrated regional econometric+input-output modeling: Issues and opportunities

Recent research on integrated econometric+input-output modeling for regional economies is reviewed. The motivations for and the alternative methodological approaches to this type of analysis are examined. Particular attention is given to the issues arising from multiregional linkages and spatial effects in the implementation of these frameworks at the sub-national scale. The linkages between integrated modeling and spatial econometrics are outlined. Directions for future research on integrated econometric and input-output modeling are identified. Received: 20 January 1999 / Accepted: 26 June 1999     

Entrepreneurship and spatial externalities: Theory and measurement

The paper presents an empirical analysis on the role played by urbanisation and localisation economies on factor productivity of firms. A vast literature exists on this issue, conceptually presenting reasons supporting either industry size or city size as sources of external advantages. In general, the empirical analyses are based on the estimates of aggregate city or industry production functions; the limited hypotheses characterising these studies have suggested to test another methodology, based on the estimate of a production function at the firm level, and calculate how factor productivity changes according to different degrees of urbanisation and localisation economies. The methodology is applied to firms chosen in the high-tech sector, which demonstrates a high spatial concentration in particular areas of the Metropolitan Area of Milan. The result is that factor productivity is influenced by both urbanisation and localisation economies, but the latter show an increasing positive effect on factor productivity. Moreover, the size of firms plays an important role in defining the impact of urbanisation and localisation economies on firms' outcome.     

Sources of variation in regional economies

This paper employs a vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology to examine the role of oil price shocks, defense shocks, national, and local shocks in explaining fluctuations in non-farm employment in a sample of ten states/MSAs in the US in the period 1969–2000. These include a sample of energy rich states and a sample of presumed beneficiaries of defense spending. Existing literature provides mixed evidence on the effects of defense shocks and oil shocks or does not focus on individual states. Results of this paper indicate that oil shocks and defense shocks have more pronounced effects at the local level than they do at the national level. An increase in the price of oil has a fairly large and for the most part statistically significant positive impact on the energy rich states and has a negative and statistically significant impact in the case of the Detroit-Flint MSA. When defense shocks occur they have a sizable impact on local economies that are beneficiaries of defense spending, even though their importance over the whole sample is not always significant. A key policy implication that emerges is that macroeconomic policy at the aggregate level may not be sufficient to uniformly stabilize regional economies that face oil, defense, and local shocks. Furthermore, to the extent that some of these states are linked more to their own local economies rather than to the US economy, they would have to rely more on local stabilization policies when faced with adverse local shocks. Received: November 2001/Accepted: August 2002     

Firm and household mobility in the presence of variations in regional characteristics

This paper examines the behavior of households and firms in the presence of variations in regional characteristics that affect their location decisions. It then determines relevant equilibrium conditions. Based on the implications of these equilibrium conditions, firm and household locations can be explained either by the dominance of firms or by the dominance of households. The results of this theory are applied to the case of 17 Arab countries. Received: November 1998/Accepted: June 2000     

The regional distribution of Spanish unemployment: A spatial analysis

In this article we propose a set of tools for analysing the regional distribution of unemployment. As we are interested in the characteristics of the distribution as a whole, results from a traditional regression analysis are complemented with those obtained by estimating its external shape before and after being conditioned to factors underlying regional unemployment. In addition, we specifically consider the spatial characteristics of the distribution, and the empirical model we develop to determine explanatory factors includes spatial effects. This framework is applied to the study of the provincial distribution of unemployment rates in Spain. Results point to increasing spatial dependence in the distribution of regional unemployment rates, and a change in the factors causing regional differentials over the last decade.     

National structural change and metropolitan specialization in the United States

The national economy is split into four broad sectors. The observed variation in long-term growth among sectors leads to a shift in the composition of aggregate demand. I test Henderson's propositions, namely that secular shifts in the composition of national demand lead to changes in the numbers and sizes of different types of urban places. The numbers and sizes of places specialized in the information sector has increased while the numbers and sizes of places specialized in manufacturing has decreased or has not changed. Metropolitan population growth and per capita earnings growth are enhanced by specialization in the information sector. Received: 29 January 1998 / Accepted: 9 March 1999     

General equilibrium spatial models

This paper confirms the so called perverse effect of L?schian entry on wages regardless of the form of the labor supply curves. The form of our labor supply after firm entry is not only different from the one before entry, but also sharply different from that found by Kohlhase and Ohta [8]. However, we show that while the Kohlase-Ohta model has a convex labor supply, the Ohta-Asami-Kohlhase model has a concave labor supply as does the extended model presented here. Moreover, we find that the same perverse result is derived from either one of the two contrasting forms of the labor curve assumed, i.e., regardless of the convexity vs. concavity of the labor supply. Received: May 1999/Accepted: June 2000     

Regional valuation of infrastructure and transport attributes for Swedish road freight

Is it possible to identify regional differences among shippers in their valuation of infrastructure improvements? In this study, the question is analysed using a random utility approach, where parameters are estimated by a logit model. Data consist of a Swedish stated-preference study from 1992. The results indicate that regional differences exist, but that a considerable heterogeneity in the empirical data means that in some cases the results are not robust. However, when industrial mix, shipping distance, and goods values are held constant, the analysis still indicates the existence of regional differences. Independently of the limitations in the results, the study has implications for any infrastructure benefit analysis where parameters from spatial averages are used. The results are based on short-term decisions, and one should recognise that parameters may vary in the mid- and long-term. Received: May 1999/Accepted: March 2001     

An application of a switching regimes regression to the study of urban structure

The purpose of this article is to propose and highlight a statistical estimation procedure for joint identification of irregularities in population distribution in urban areas having a directional dimension, and the estimation of the parameters of the model's separate regimes. The method we propose here is an application of the switching regimes regression technique developed by Quandt (1958, 1960) for identifying the most likely allocation of n observations into two separate regimes, each associated with a different mechanism that generates its own set of observations. A subsequent purpose is to apply empirically the switching regimes method to the city of Tel-Aviv – Yafo, and discern possible regimes where population densities are generated by different processes. Received: 28 August 2000 / Accepted: 16 March 2001     

Amenities and urban residential structure: An amenity-embedded model of residential choice

The basic model of residential choice, which has been established by generalizing Von Thünen's concept to an urban context, states that the equilibrium structure of residential land use is determined by the trade-off between accessibility and space. The willingness to sacrifice space for accessibility differs between households and depends on household income. The equilibrium land use is the outcome of the interplay between the income elasticity of space consumption and the income elasticity of commuting outlays. The primary purpose of this article is to extend the basic model by incorporating a location-dependent quality of the environment. The proposed model examines the locational consequences of household choice as influenced by a complicated interplay among three factors: the income elasticity of housing demand, the income elasticity of commuting costs, and the location-dependent amenity schedule. The equilibrium land use is contrasted for two types of cities: the case 1 city in which the level of amenities increases toward the urban fringe, and the case 2 city in which the level of amenities is assumed to decrease as one moves toward the urban fringe. Received: 2 August 1999 / Accepted: 18 September 2000     

The impact of revenue-neutral tax policy on plant location under price uncertainty

This research note incorporates price uncertainty into a production- location model and examines the impacts of a revenue-neutral tax policy on production and location decisions. In particular, it is shown that under an assumption of decreasing absolute risk aversion, a revenue-neutral rise in the marginal tax rate increases the firm's output and causes the firm to move its plant closer to (away from) the market center provided that the production function exhibits increasing (decreasing) returns to scale. Nevertheless, the plant location remains unchanged as a result of a revenue-neutral tax policy if the production function is constant returns to scale. A comparison between revenue-neutral and income or lump-sum taxes and hence some important policy implications are also provided in the analysis. Received: 1 March 1997 / Accepted: 18 May 1999     

Modelling residential location choice in an area with spatial barriers

A model is presented for residential location choice in rural areas with spatial barriers. We address the problem through comparative static analysis focusing on how residential location choices are affected by a new road link across the spatial barrier. We proceed through a probability theoretical approach: choose a family of utility functions representing every possible location, and equip this family with a probability measure. Then choose a representative within an equivalence class of utility functions, and represent the probability distribution by a parametrized family of distributions. Our analysis demonstrates that investments in new road links do not necessarily represent an adequate instrument for achieving ambitions in regional policy. We identify reasonable situations where a new road link could just as easily generate net migration from the area in which the investments are directed. In general, our analysis demonstrates how agglomeration and centralisation tendencies can be considerably affected by transportation infrastructure innovations. Received: June 1999/Accepted: June 2001 This paper benefited from comments by Bj?rn Sandvik and Lars-G?ran Mattsson.     

Trade policy and regional inequalities

This article aims to analyze the effects of trade policies on the pattern of regional inequalities within a country. It is inspired, firstly, by the debate concerning the role of protectionist policies in the development of a pattern of striking regional inequalities during the Spanish industrialization process and, secondly, by current evidence of an increase in these inequalities following Spain's entry in the EU, in 1986. We employ an economic geography model comprising three regions: two domestic and one external. Labor mobility is permitted between the domestic regions but not with the external region. The model shows that trade liberalization increases regional inequalities. Received: 4 March 1999 / Accepted: 17 February 2000     

A multiple gap approach to spatial economics

In previous work investment and regional location have been analysed in terms of gaps or thresholds that should be closed or passed in order to produce operational results (growth, local development).  The topic is taken up again using a min-algebra which, at least to the knowledge of the author, has not yet be applied to (theoretical) spatial economics, though max-plus algebra has been used to tackle scheduling problems.  Examples of multiple gap situations will be given, together with their econometric implications; min-algebra will be defined, and examples of its applications worked out; topics for further research will be presented in conclusion. Received: October 2000/Accepted: September 2001     

Impacts of national development and decentralization policies on regional income disparity in Korea

This paper analyzed the effects of national development and decentralization policies on the regional income disparity in Korea. It also attempted to test whether there was a structural change in the causal relationship between income inequality and its determinant factors. This study found that the degree of variation in regional incomes was positively correlated with the spatial distribution of decentralization instruments such as educational services, employment, infrastructure facilities, and information network variables. The effects of some decentralization policies on regional income inequality were fully realized within a period of three years. Finally, the impacts of the spatial decentralization of public goods on regional inequality fluctuated until the early 1980s but were stabilized as industrial restructuring and spatial reorganization progressed during the 1990s. Received: December 2001/Accepted: June 2002     

Information linkages in regional market networks with applications to healthcare markets

The spatial availability of information as a determinant of consumer choice and export sales is analyzed along with other spatial-economic determinants of export competition. A spatial interaction framework is applied to two alternative specifications; a pair-wise model of information dominance and a spatially dispersed information model for consumers located in different market areas. Model estimates of the role of spatial availability of information, market power, distance, and populati on demand thresholds on export sales are based on national data from The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. The regional application is for Medicare health exports from the Seattle hospital market to markets throughout the state of Washington. Information availability increases export sales of hospital Medicare services with the strongest impact occurring for the pair-wise model of information dominance. The spatially dispersed information model shows a smaller and less significant impact of information availa bility on export sales. Distance between Seattle and export markets has a strong, negative effect on export sales and on intra-regional patient mobility. Market power within the Seattle center exerts a positive impact on sales and mobility. Received: 14 December 1999 / Accepted: 5 May 2000     

A state-space approach for measuring regional manufacturing production indices

In this research note we propose a latent variable model in the spirit of Israilevich and Kuttner (1993) to measure regional manufacturing production. In order to test the validity of the proposed methodology, we apply it for those Spanish regions that have a direct quantitative index. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the methodology proposed and show that it can overcome some of the difficulties of the indirect method applied by the INE, the Spanish National Institute of Statistic s. Received: 20 April 1999 / Accepted: 9 February 2001     

Optimal search on spatial paths with recall,Part II: Computational procedures and examples

This is the second part of a two-part analysis of optimal spatial search begun in Harwitz et al. (1998). In the present article, two explicit computational procedures are developed for the optimal spatial search problem studied in Part I. The first uses reservation prices with continuous known distributions of prices and is illustrated for three stores. The second does not use reservation prices but assumes known discrete distributions. It is a numerical approximation to the first and also a tool for examining examples with larger numbers of stores. Received: 10 October 1996 / Accepted: 3 May 1999     

The paradox of unequal regional investment and equal regional economic growth in China

China's policy on Special Economic Zones has attracted increasing flows of direct foreign investment to China. The investment has been very unequally distributed among China's 30 regions.  The article focuses on the regional economic growth as a result of the direct foreign investment in the region and its spillover effects on neighboring regions. The unequal distribution of direct foreign investment should in principle tend to enlarge the regional economic differences. The article, however, shows that this is not the result of the investment.  The empirical findings highlight the impact of direct foreign investment on the Chinese regional economies in transition. Received: November 2000/Accepted: August 2001