A FUZZY REGIONAL GROWTH MODEL TO CONTROL FOR REGIONAL INCOME DISPARITIES THAT ARISE IN A MODIFIED RAHMAN MODEL

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a first step towards controlling regional income disparities that arise in a modified Rahman model. The study is based on the use of the concept of fuzzy numbers from fuzzy set theory and the motions of an optimism and pessimistic optimal solution. A particular algorithm is advanced and detailed stimulations are discussed that focus on the controllability of the minimum share if investment. The fuzzy regional growth model codicils of a relatively easy to implement system with a fuzzy condition that can be extended to allow for a range of disparities in a system of regions.     

Increasing returns and spatial unemployment disparities

Abstract.  Recent trade and location theories (e.g., the "new economic geography") deal with regional disparities in production and income, but assume full employment and are thus ill equipped to study regional unemployment disparities. The wage curve-approach, which explicitly shows how disparities in real wages and unemployment rates are interrelated, can not endogenously explain the origin of these asymmetries. In the article we derive a theoretical model that combines these two strings in the literature. We show that a core-periphery in real wages is associated with and magnified by regional unemployment disparities. This wage curve relation is stable over time with an increasing returns technology. That is, the wage curve does not vanish as workers move from the periphery to the core, but it is rather reinforced by migration. These theoretical predictions are consistent with stylised empirical facts from the EU.     

Some effects of regional differentiation on integration in the European community

The main objective of this article is to discuss integration problems concerning regional differentiation and regional disparities in the E.C. countries, by adopting theoretical approaches and indicators for measuring the disparities in regional development policies. To test the relevance of the potentiality factors, the analysis studied the causes of regional disparities which are used in the E.C. studies as the most convenient approach. Turkish G.D.P. variations by regions are examined using the quasiproduction function based on a Cobb-Douglas specification taking into account as a function of activity, infrastructure, industrial employment and agglomeration rates. The results show that these factors are significant for testing the potential theory for a developing area.     

Regional income disparity and fiscal-monetary policy

In this paper, first we present an interregional macroeconomic model of Japanese economy. Then, using the model, we examine how macro-stabilization policies affect regional income disparities. We show that according to our model, the regional income disparity becomes smaller both in the case of recession combined with balance of payments surplus under a fixed exchange rate regime, and in the case of recession combined with a strong Japanese Yen under a flexible exchange rate regime. Conversely, it becomes larger both in the case of expansion combined with balance of payments deficit under a fixed exchange rate regime, and in the case of expansion combined with a weak Japanese Yen under a flexible exchange rate regime. We also show that the results of our analyses are consistent with Japanese experiences during the last three decades.     

Fiscal decentralization and regional disparities: The importance of good governance

In this paper we consider how government quality mediates the relationship between fiscal decentralization and regional disparities. Previous work has argued that fiscal decentralization has the potential to reduce income differences across regions but that this potential may not be realized because of governance problems associated with sub-national authorities. Our empirical evidence based on a sample of 24 OECD countries over the period 1984 to 2006 lends a measure of support to this idea. We find that fiscal decentralization promotes regional convergence in high government quality settings but, worryingly, it leads to wider regional disparities in countries with poor governance.     

Agglomeration, congestion, and regional unemployment disparities

Regional labor markets are characterized by huge disparities between unemployment rates. Models of the New Economic Geography explain how disparities between regional goods markets endogenously arise but usually assume full employment. This paper discusses regional unemployment disparities by introducing a wage curve based on efficiency wages into the New Economic Geography. The model shows how disparities between regional goods and labor markets endogenously arise through the interplay of increasing returns to scale, transport costs, congestion costs, and migration. The level and stability of regional labor market disparities depends on the extend of labor market frictions.     

REGIONAL CONVERGENCE IN THE EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the effects of European Monetary Union (EMU) on regional convergence. First information is provided about the magnitude and the evolution of regional disparities. Subsequently, the relation between economic integration and long run regional convergence is discussed. Third, regional convergence is shown to be dependent on flexible regional adjustment to changing economic conditions. In the transition to and in the final stage of EMU sufficient regional wage flexibility will be requires to cope with adverse economic shocks. The last part of the paper estimates the reponse or regional labor income to region-shape and national shocks.     

Inter-regional networks and productive efficiency in Japan

Traditional agglomeration theories cannot explain Japan's sustained reduction of regional disparities. This study employs stochastic frontier analysis to investigate the role of inter-regional networks in improving productive efficiency using the concept of “borrowed size.” Improved inter-regional networks are a driving force for strengthening local economies and converging regional disparities. Borrowed size from large city agglomeration was highly effective in local areas. The development of transportation networks has enabled local areas to catch up to large metropolitan areas. The results suggest that the development of high-speed transportation networks can help to reduce regional disparities in the Japanese economy.     

1980年代以来我国区域城市化差异的演变——及其影响因素

综述了关于我国城市化区域差异的研究成果,运用差异系数、基尼系数和泰尔指数测算了1980年代以来我国城市化水平的区域差异。研究发现全国省际城市化水平的相对差异一直在缩小,但2000年后发生了变化——全国分省的相对差异加速缩小,而三大区域之间的相对差异变得更加显著,并主导了全国的区域城市化差异。不仅如此,三大区域的绝对差异也越来越占据主导地位。进一步的研究发现,除了历史、地理和区位因素外,区域政策、经济发展差异、经济全球化、行政区划调整和省际人口迁移影响了区域城市化差异的演变趋势。最后本文提出了对未来城市化区域差异演变趋势的判断,并阐述了缩小城市化区域差异的现实政策意义。     

Internet infrastructure and regional convergence: Evidence from Turkey

This study presents novel evidence regarding the role of regional internet infrastructure in reducing regional per capita income disparities. We base our study on the assumptions that (1) the diffusion of information homogenizes regional economies through reducing the dissimilarities in institutions and culture, and (2) the telecommunication capacity, represented by the internet infrastructure of a region, facilitates this flow of information. Using the data from the 26 statistical NUTS‐2 regions of Turkey for the period 1999–2011, we find evidence that internet infrastructure increases the speed of regional convergence.     

THE LIMITS OF SPATIAL PLANNING: REGIONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE SOVIET EPOCH

ABSTRACT This article discusses the long-term changes in regional economic disparities, mainly of production, in the Soviet Union. Previous studies, based largely on data from the time of the Khrushchev "thaw" onwards, have linked up with Williamson's (1965) theory of the inverted U-curve to suggest that the USSR was at the stage where regional disparities were increasing. When data from the pre-Khrushchev period are brought in, however, what emerges is that these regional disparities in the USSR described a right-way-up U-curve of which earlier studies had only observed the latter part. This result is interpreted to mean that the extremely unbalanced industrialization strategy of the Stalin era was based on extensive exploitation of raw materials which required spatial dispersion of production. When the economy eventually had to move into a balanced phase, growth was concentrated in the most developed parts of the country. What happened in the Soviet Union, therefore, can be characterized as paradoxical when compared with both the neo-classical theory's equalization and Myrdal's self-reinforcing polarization. Imbalance of economic structure went hand in hand with regional equalization, while the shift towards balanced economic structure brought increased regional disparities.     

On factor specificity,trickle down effects and regional disparities in income

This paper sets up a three commodity, three factor (with one factor both industry and region specific) and two region model to examine the implications of specific and non-specific factor accumulation on regional disparities in income. Factor specificity is a real world phenomenon and may, for example be caused by geographic reasons. For instance oil wells, beaches and so on are geographically immobile inputs—oil wells for production of oil and beaches for production of tourism. This paper analyses the implications of above type of factors on regional income and contrasts it with the case of non-specific factor accumulation. The main results obtained are given below. First, region specific factor accumulationmay raise both the per capita and absolute income in the region endowed with the specific factor. Second, under certain plausible assumptions, region specific factor accumulation has no “trickle down” effects on the other region. Thus specific factor accumulation may lead to increasing regional inequalities under very mild looking restrictions. This is a disturbing result because it shows that a industry booming on account of region specific factor accumulation may have no impact on other regions of the economy. The paper thus highlights the cnditions for the absence of interregional “trickle down” effects. In contrast non-specific factor accumulation has no impact on interregional per capita distribution of income—highlighting yet again the importance of region specificity of a factor of production.     

Stochastic convergence tests for US regional per capita personal income; some further evidence: a research note

This paper contributes to the time-series literature on US regional income convergence. We apply unit root tests to metropolitan and nonmetropolitan per capita personal income series from 1969 to 2001. We show that some of the mixed results on regional income convergence in the time-series literature may be the result of using different unit root tests. We demonstrate these mixed results with our data. Then, using a test we consider the most appropriate, we generate results which reject the hypothesis that US regional incomes are nonstationary. Thus, we provide additional support for the regional convergence of US per capita regional income.     

The spatial and temporal dynamics of US regional income inequality, 1950–1989

The inverted-U hypothesis which so influenced research on regional income inequality is obsolete and does not predict or explain the recent rise in regional inequality. We argue that the regional dynamics literature on polarization, polarization reversal and spatial restructuring offers more powerful explanations to changes in regional income inequality. In addition to the conventional approach of measuring systemic inequality, the empirical analysis in this paper emphasizes inequality variations, which put into focus the interplay between regional dynamics and regional income inequality. The findings highlight the impact of sectoral shifts and global spatial restructuring on the US regional economy, where new cores of growth and renewed growth are emerging.     

Regional economic integration and the evolution of disparities

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of interregional disparities in Europe and in the United States in recent decades, considering also the changes that economic integration over the 1990s and beyond may bring. The assumptions of the existing paradigms on differential regional change are placed in perspective, by relating them to past and ongoing changes in interregional disparities. Data on the European (EC) and United States cases are analyzed, providing insights into past performance and into its possible causes. A final section then discusses the characteristics of regional inversion processes, and their potential for reducing interregional disparities as economic integration advances. These macro-level characteristics are related to micro-level processes in which innovation (technological, organizational, institutional) plays a central role, allowing less developed regions to bypass a rigid or static domestic spatial division of labor through the inversion process.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 4th World Congress of the RSAI, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, May 1992.     

中国城市贫困状况分析及反贫困对策

随着城市贫困人口的增加和城市贫富差距的拉大,城市贫困问题已备受关注。基于统计数据测算,我国目前城市合理的贫困线大约在人均年收入7500～8500元之间,贫困人口数大约为5000万人,是目前低保标准和受保人数的2倍左右。受到区域经济差异的影响,其中东部地区贫困人口比重最低,东北地区和西部地区贫困人口比重较高。研究深刻分析了城市贫困问题产生的根源,依照我国国情提出城市贫困监测、城市经济发展、收入分配机制改革、社会保障体系完善、人力资本投资及反贫困路径的拓展等多方面反贫困的对策建议。     

Rate-weight analysis: A suggested technique for examining regional-national growth rate differentials

Conclusion Using the 1959–1969 Southeast-national growth rate differential as a case study, this paper has introduced a simple technique for examining the non-behavioral components of this growth rate differential. This technique disaggregates by income source the rate and weight effects of this differential. Its value is that it disaggregates, measures, and offers some conceptual insight into regional phenomena that actually occurred.     

Interregional labour migration and real wage disparities: Evidence from Japan

This paper empirically tests the relationships between interregional labour migration and regional real wages based on a multi-region economic geography model, which describes bilateral migration flows. In particular, this paper highlights real wage disparities in the migration analysis. Our empirical methodology contains two steps. First, we structurally estimate a gravity model using manufacturing workers’ migration flows across the 47 Japanese prefectures. Second, using the estimates of the structural parameters, we examine the impact of the real wage on the net migration rate. We find that migrants respond to real wage disparities, rather than to nominal wage disparities.     

Regional unemployment in Turkey

High unemployment rates are a concern for a country, existence of high regional unemployment differentials is another. Turkey has both. This paper using spatial and nonparametric techniques documents the wide regional unemployment disparities in Turkey from 1980 to 2000. Data indicate that the provincial unemployment rates are quite persistent and the gap across different regions widens even further with spatial clusters emerging across the country. The evidence indicates that human capital and demand deficiency are the sources of observed disparity across provinces. Furthermore, the sources of unemployment differentials have changed over time.     

可控性节能建筑设计

节能建筑有两个重要特征,地区差异性和过程控制性。该文根据可控性原理提出建筑总体环境布局、建筑空间、围护结构及构件的可控性节能设计方法。