The agglomeration of U.S.-owned and foreign-owned plants across the U.S. States

Agglomeration in U.S. manufacturing is more common than initially thought. This clustering arises from location natural advantages and spillovers. Extant studies on agglomeration do not distinguish the activities of U.S.-owned plants from those that are foreign owned. This distinction is crucial since policies seem to have differential impacts on both types of plants. I find that industry scale, resource intensity and urbanization economies have larger impacts on foreign plant agglomeration whereas knowledge intensity has a larger effect on domestic plant agglomeration. Received: September 2001/Accepted: April 2002 I would like to thank the UNO University Committee on Research for support of this project and Ke Yang for invaluable research assistance. The paper has benefited from the comments made by an anonymous referee. The usual caveats apply.     

The sources of the urban wage premium by worker skills: Spatial sorting or agglomeration economies?

We estimate the respective importance of spatial sorting and agglomeration economies in explaining the urban wage premium for workers with different sets of skills. Sorting is the main source of the wage premium. Agglomeration economies are in general small, but are larger for workers with skills associated with non‐routine job tasks. They also appear to involve human capital accumulation, as evidenced by the change in the wage of workers moving away from denser regions. For workers with routine jobs, agglomeration economies are virtually non‐existent. Our results provide further evidence of spatial density bringing about productivity advantages primarily in contexts when problem‐solving and interaction with others are important.     

Road pricing and agglomeration economies: a new methodology to estimate indirect effects applied to the Netherlands

A congestion charging scheme may be a good alternative for infrastructure investment to improve the allocation of road usage over different user groups, thereby enhancing economic welfare. However, a congestion charge also increases the costs of traveling, thereby possibly inducing agglomeration effects (Arnott in Congestion tolling with agglomeration externalities, paper presented at Conference in Honor of Kenneth A. Small, University of California, Irvine, 2007). Agglomeration effects in relation to infrastructure investment can be substantial (Venables in J Transp Econ policy, 2007) and they can be estimated using a spatial computable general equilibrium model (Bröcker in Ann Reg Sci 32, 367–387, 1998). Agglomeration effects of congestion charging are, however, difficult to assess using this approach because the government revenue from the congestion charge should be redistributed to the population. This redistribution of government revenue may be either agglomeration- or dispersion-augmenting and thereby change the agglomeration effects significantly. In this paper, we propose a methodology based on a spatial computable general equilibrium model to estimate the agglomeration effects of congestion charging with an agglomeration-neutral redistribution effect. In this manner, we do take the redistribution effect into account without letting it interfere with the effect of the congestion charge. This is important because we only want to evaluate the congestion charge, independent of the chosen redistribution scheme. In our application of the proposed methodology for the Netherlands, agglomeration benefits are found to be substantial and have, in general, the opposite sign as the relative cost change.     

Determinants of journeys to work in central London, 1954–93

In this paper we analyze a unique data set compiled by London Transport since 1953, concerning the number of people working in the London CBD. We consider whether the marked changes over time in employment are attributable to changes in government policy, industrial structure, macroeconomic changes, transport costs or agglomeration economies. Using cointegration methods we conclude that macroeconomic developments are quantitatively the most important factor, although transport costs have significant effects. Government decentralization policy appears to have had little effect, although our results are consistent with the presence of agglomeration economies.     

Understanding urban sub-centers with heterogeneity in agglomeration economies—Where do emerging commercial establishments locate?

This paper investigates the formation of employment sub-centers from a new perspective of heterogeneity in agglomeration economies. Using highly granular commercial and residential land-use data (2001–2011) in Chicago, we measure how the locations of jobs, population, quality-of-life amenities, and transportation networks shape specific and heterogenous sub-centers. First, the results suggest that the CBD as it was traditionally defined is no longer the primary source of agglomeration externalities for the new economic sectors; sub-centers with sector-specific positive agglomeration externalities have stronger correlations with new commercial establishments. Secondly, residents appear to give the highest weight to quality-of-life amenities in choosing where to live. Both trends imply dis-incentives for CBD agglomeration. These findings connect the heterogeneous production theories with land use planning and urban design, through new empirical insights into how urban sub-centers grow. Furthermore, we put forward a method for forecasting of future sub-center growth through measuring changes in the probability of commercial development, and discuss its practical implications for planning and design in Chicago.     

Strangers in our midst: the usefulness of exploring polycentricity

The existence and persistence of cities provide prima facie evidence of agglomeration economies, but do little to inform our understanding of the specific nature of forces that induce the concentration of economic activity, nor the spatial scale at which they occur. Though the theoretical literature on conceptualizes these forces without specific geographic scale, the empirical literature largely treats them as working mainly at the metropolitan level. We argue that agglomeration may work at different spatial scales. There is now extensive evidence that metropolitan areas are polycentric, with a significant portion of employment clustered in employment centers outside the CBD. This provides basic evidence of net agglomeration benefits at the sub-metropolitan level. We explore theories of agglomeration and consider how they may explain the presence, location, characteristics, and growth of employment centers. We illustrate the usefulness of exploring polycentricity with a case study of the Los Angeles region. Our understanding of agglomeration economies can be enriched by investigating the nature of employment centers and the forces that produce and sustain them.     

Regional determinants of firm entry in a developing country

We analyse the determinants of firm entry in developing countries using Argentina as an illustrative case. Our main finding is that although most of the regional determinants used in previous studies analysing developed countries are also relevant here, there is a need for additional explanatory variables that proxy for the specificities of developing economies (e.g., poverty, informal economy and idle capacity). We also find evidence of a core‐periphery pattern in the spatial structure of entry that seems to be mostly driven by differences in agglomeration economies. Since regional policies aiming to attract new firms are largely based on evidence from developed countries, our results raise doubts about the usefulness of such policies when applied to developing economies.     

Outsourcing in the innovation process: Locational and strategic determinants

Abstract. There is now substantial evidence that locational and agglomeration influences can have a significant positive effect on innovation performance. Networking and boundary-spanning activities are also increasingly recognised as important contributors to innovation success. In this article we attempt to discover whether these factors are associated: in particular, is there any link between plant location, agglomeration effects and the extent of outsourcing in the innovation process? Using data for a large sample of UK and German manufacturing plants, we find that organisational and strategic factors play a much greater and more consistent role than locational influences in shaping the level of outsourcing in the innovation process. Strategic approaches to outsourcing may also benefit plants in obtaining economies of scope in the management or governance of outsourcing within the innovation process.     

Congestion deterioration and transportation project evaluation

Transportation projects may lead to deterioration in the average travel time of the urban area because projects reduce travel cost and thus stimulate additional demand caused by migration. Transportation benefits are conventionally measured by the total surplus based on the general equilibrium demand curve for trips. Applying the conventional measurement method to the above paradox of increased congestion results in a negative measured benefit. The present paper explores the economic conditions that lead to this paradox. The study concludes that the necessary condition is the existence of both migration and positive external agglomeration economies. Accordingly, the conventional benefit measurement method is not applicable in this case. Last, the paper shows the benefit measurement formula corresponding to this case and some numerical simulations.     

竖向集约与CBD规划反思

国内CBD存在片面追求形态美而导致CBD空间集聚效益下降的问题。在商务集聚、集中发展原因剖析的基础上,指出市场经济下"CBD择址的高通勤可达性区位指向"和"CBD的高强度发展特性"。结合CBD适宜的公共交通模式,阐述了CBD的竖向集约发展需求。高密度、高强度的建筑布局模式是CBD健康发展的内在需求,也是将公共交通出行的一端牢牢的确定在CBD较小且适宜的步行范围内,是促进城市集约发展的关键。     

Agglomeration economies in Japanese industries: the Solow residual approach

This paper proposes a new approach to measuring agglomeration economies in Japan. Under the proposed approach, we used the Solow residual to measure agglomeration economies and confirmed that agglomeration economies exist in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. Furthermore, this paper shows that social overhead capital has a positive effect on agglomeration economies. Currently, agglomeration economies are robust only in metropolitan areas; however, they are present throughout Japan because of the disproportionate allocation of social overhead capital within the nation.     

Agglomeration and relocation: Manufacturing plant relocation in Korea

This study investigates the magnitude of localization economies by analysing the relocation pattern of Korean establishments in the manufacturing sector. Relocation of establishments is identified by their move across the border of wards, counties, or cities and distinguished between beyond and within their workers' commuting distance. It seems that relocation beyond commuting distance costs more than that within commuting distance since the former includes additional costs related with searching for, hiring, and training new workers. Key findings of this paper show that external benefits from agglomeration are large enough to be recognized by manufacturers through relocation beyond the border of their workers' commuting area. When the own industry's share of employment in all manufacturing industries becomes doubled through relocation, the probability for establishments to relocate over a long distance across the boundary of their workers' commuting area rises by 17 per cent. The results for sub‐samples divided by the age of establishments show that older establishments are more likely to relocate over a long distance to an area with disproportionate presence of establishments in the same industry. These results seem to fit product life cycle theory by Duranton and Puga. As the production process of the product becomes standardized, the firms producing that product tend to relocate to the specialized area where they can reduce the production costs by increasing dependence on the existing intermediate input suppliers, who are more likely to appear in a more specialized area.     

Urban spatial structure,agglomeration economies,and economic growth in Barcelona: An intra‐metropolitan perspective*

This paper presents an intra‐metropolitan approach to analyse the impact of urban spatial structure on local economic growth. Focusing on the Barcelona metropolitan region (BMR) between 1986 and 2001, we estimate a municipal employment growth model in which dynamic agglomeration economies related to urban spatial structure are considered using distance to employment centres, to assess metropolitan effects, and distance‐weighted variables, to measure neighbourhood effects. The results obtained show the existence of neighbourhood specialization economies and metropolitan urbanization‐localization economies fostering local growth. All of this leads to the paper's main conclusion: urban spatial structure is important for economic growth in an intra‐metropolitan context.     

Efficiency wages,agglomeration, and a developing dual economy

In analyzing the implications of rural-urban migration in the presence of efficiency wages and external economies of scale in the urban sector, this paper focuses on structural transformation of a developing dual economy. It compares the agglomeration effects in the urban sector under exogenous wage distortion with that under exogenous wage distortion and external economies of scale and also with the agglomeration under efficiency wages and external economies of scale. It shows that because of the employment enhancing effect of rural-urban migration with efficiency wages, the agglomeration economies are bigger with efficiency wages than with minimum wage distortion in the Harris-Todaro model. In exploiting the existing external economies of scale, this agglomeration reduces the sectoral wage differential, and changes the effects of factor accumulation and commodity price changes in a way that is different from the effects under migration with exogenous wage distortion.Received: February 2003/Accepted: October 2003     

An industry disaggregated analysis of the determinants of regional entry and exit

Empirical research by, among others, Armington and Acs (Reg Stud 36:33–45, 2002) show that regional determinants of new firm formation differ between industries. This paper reinvestigates the regional determinants of entry and exit considering these findings using panel data methods at three different levels of aggregation. Agglomeration, in terms of localisation economies, is unequivocally found to be positive for regional new firm formation, but does not necessarily prevent firms from exiting. The results also show that industry structure is a more important explanatory variable for differences between entry and exit rates across regions than regional factors.     

Marshallian theory of regional agglomeration

Most models of regional agglomeration are based on the new economic geography (NEG) model in which returns to scale are pecuniary. We investigate the implications for regional agglomeration of a 'Marshallian' model in which returns to scale derive from technological externalities. Workers are assumed to have heterogeneous 'home region' preferences. The model is designed to explain how 'second nature' determines regional wage inequality and the regional distribution of economic activity. We show that agglomeration is not a necessary outcome of Marshallian externalities. However, if centrifugal or positive externalities are sufficiently strong relative to their centripetal or negative counterparts, the model generates multiple agglomerating equilibria. These equilibria multiply if, in addition, there are scale economies in amenities. A dynamic version of the model is developed in which external economies and inter-regional labour mobility grow over time. Regional wage inequality overshoots its long run equilibrium and, there is more agglomeration in the long run.     

Regional policy from a supra-regional perspective

The issue of the interplay between the two objectives of equity and efficiency for national policy-makers in charge of regional policy is becoming topical once again in regional economics. This paper first reviews this issue theoretically and looks at recent literature contributions to show that, although many advances have been made, little attention has been paid to the effects of regional structural differences on the trade-off between the two objectives. Then, to demonstrate that differences between the regions of which a country is composed may influence the results of the models, a new simple short-run two-country four-region model is introduced to study the trade-off (differentiating for different regional productivity and different strengths of agglomeration economies—which are innovatively modelled on the demand side). In this short-term model, the national policy-maker can affect entrepreneurship through the set-up costs of firms. Similarly to the traditional literature, for countries composed of identical regions, spatially dispersed allocations of public support to production are more efficient with low agglomeration economies whereas spatially concentrated allocations are more efficient with high agglomeration economies. As the regions become different, however, unbalanced allocations of public support to the most advanced region become more efficient even in the case of relatively weak agglomeration economies, until, when regions are sufficiently different, the most efficient allocation of public support to production is always concentrated in the most advanced territories. If some sort of compensating mechanisms were available, in the short-run the policy-makers could decide to support the competitiveness of the already more-productive regions and transfer income to the lagging ones. All these issues are studied with reference to southern Italy (“Mezzogiorno”) and eastern Germany (former DDR) in order to show not only the similarities with the model’s predictions but also the many differences, resulting from the far greater complexity of actual development processes. Discussions and comments from an anonymous referee, Marco Alderighi, Roberto Camagni, Roberta Capello and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose are gratefully acknowledged.     

珠江新城地下空间交通规划研究

珠江新城地下空间是广州市规模最大、最重要的地下空间开发项目,该项目最重要目的是整合和优化广州中央商务区的交通资源,以避免将来在该区域出现交通拥堵的现象。介绍并分析了该项目交通规划方案的总体构思和理念。     

发展CBD新区生态交通的思考

本文分析了中央商务区作为特定区域的五个方面的交通特点及中央商务区与城市交通之间的关系,指出两者的矛盾是必然存在的。城市交通系统在一定程度上决定了CBD 的区位,城市交通规划和建设要从根本上支持CBD的中心地位。最后说明了生态交通的含义,指出CBD新区应从交通网络、交通工具、交通设施、交通对象与交通环境等几个方面来考虑CBD生态交通发展问题,并提出了六点对策。     

National and regional corporate spatial structure

Much is known about the macro-impacts of business activities on national and regional economies; however, comparatively little is known at the micro level about the impact spatial agglomeration of corporate wealth and performance has on urban systems. This paper reports on a collaborative research project between the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and Dun and Bradstreet, an international financial credit agency, to analyse the spatial implications of corporate structure in metropolitan regions. This paper analyses spatial patterns of medium to large businesses in three Australian State capital cities at the postcode level in order to assess the agglomeration of corporate capital, sales, and performance. The research indicates that ratio analysis can provide a useful insight into the competitiveness of metropolitan regions and the control corporate headquarters have over decision making and investment processes. The findings of this research are of special interest to capital markets, business and urban researchers in the Asia Pacific Region. Received: September 1997/Accepted: September 2001