Economic structure,productivity, and infrastructure quality in Southern Mexico

There are large and sustained differences in the economic performance of sub-national regions in most countries. In this paper, we examine economic structure and productivity in Southern Mexico and compare these to the rest of the country. We employ firm level data from Mexican manufacturing to test the relative importance of firm level characteristics such as human capital and technology adoption compared to external characteristics such as infrastructure quality and regulatory environment in explaining productivity differentials. We find that the economic structure of the South is considerably different from the rest of the country, with the economic landscape being dominated by micro enterprises and a relative specialization in low productivity activities. This coupled with low skill levels and fewer skill upgrading opportunities reduces the performance of Southern firms. Productivity differentials between Southern and other firms, however, only exist for micro enterprises. The econometric analysis shows that while employee training and technology adoption enhance productivity, access to markets through improvements in transport infrastructure linking urban areas also have important productivity effects.We would like to thank Jose Luis Guasch for comments and suggestions and Julio Gonzalez for assistance in getting access to the firm level ENESTYC data. We appreciate the cooperation and collaboration of the Mexican National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) throughout the process. This paper is part of a larger program to examine the contribution of economic geography and investment climate to economic efficiency. The findings reported in this paper are those of the authors alone, and should not be attributed to the World Bank, its executive directors, or the countries they represent.Received: September 2002 / Accepted: May 2003     

Rethinking the impacts of foreign investors on urban development: the city of Macao

A number of papers in the economics and urban literature find positive impacts of foreign investment on cities and praise the role of foreign investors in urban development. The author argues for a different stance by developing an urban economics model for tourist cities. The model illustrates that in the presence of significant side effects, foreign investors?? and a tourist city??s preferences regarding openness of the city greatly diverge. Foreign investors tend to shape a city??s policymaking toward greater openness. Therefore, policymakers in tourist cities concerned about sustainable development should carefully regulate foreign capital inflows at an optimal level. Evidence from Macao lends support to the theoretical construction.     

An econometric analysis of private sector participation in China’s urban water supply

This paper explores the impact of private sector participation on industrial performance of urban water supply by using panel data for 35 major cities in China over the period 1998 to 2008. We find that the introduction of private sector participation is significantly correlated with improvement in integrated production capacity and water coverage rate, but not correlated with the investment in fixed assets. Private sector participation has a positive impact on the integrated production capacity in the developed eastern cities and contributes to narrowing the gap of water coverage rate between the less developed central and western cities and the more developed eastern cities. We also find that the participation of foreign companies, but not domestic private companies, significantly improves water industry performance. The research sheds some light on the importance of private participation in urban water markets. However, the performance of domestic private firms in urban water supply still needs be improved.     

The influx of high-income foreign nationals and the housing market in a developing country: a case study of Suzhou Industrial Park,China

Increasingly globalising human and capital mobility has created new dynamics to the housing market. Foreign nationals, strengthened by inflows of foreign direct investment, have appeared in major Chinese cities. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the impact of foreign nationals on China’s housing market. By using a case study of Suzhou, this research investigates the following research questions: How are foreign nationals associated with housing price increases in a globalising city? Where and why these impacts have been felt? This research conducted a survey questionnaire with 508 expatriate foreign nationals and built housing price data sets in Suzhou. A consumer theory provides a framework to understand different housing consumption behaviours of heterogeneous socio-economic groups. Findings represent that expatriate foreign nationals played a key role in a high-end housing market due to their higher income levels and housing subsidies provided by their employer. They tended to form ethnic communities in a prime location to better access language-specific services and quality amenity facilities.     

Country Marketing and Planning Implications of the European Soccer Championship EURO 2004

Sports championships are major events capable of changing the image of cities and countries. Countries use these mega-events mostly to enhance economic development opportunities, to attract foreign investment, to generate tourism revenues, to regenerate parts of cities, and to increase the population’s self-esteem. However, the major boost seems to come from the marketing strategies. Host countries promote their images as modern, cosmopolitan, and attractive places, ideal to attract footloose capital. The EURO 2004 European Soccer Championship in Portugal was one such mega-event. Portugal constructed new and renovated old stadiums to host the championship. I argue that EURO 2004 was above all a country marketing strategy conducted by the political elite, supposedly with benefits for the country as a whole; nonetheless, the benefits had distinct geographical and societal impacts within a limited timeframe. The key finding is that the EURO 2004 belonged to the same category of events as the EXPO’98 and the Porto 2001, which helped change the image of Portugal, nationally and internationally; however, a constant reliance on mega-events to modernize and make a country more competitive is not sustainable in the long run.     

Location choice for Japanese frozen food industry in East Asia using domestic market access with the penetration rate of refrigerators

In the 2000s, after the Asian financial crisis, East Asian countries achieved rapid economic growth. Many Japanese frozen food companies focused on East Asian markets, but faced problems with the cold chain and refrigerators. In this study, we use the penetration rate of household refrigerators in the host country to calculate market access, which we then use to estimate the location choice model. The results of the conditional logistic model show that the location choice for Japanese frozen food companies is affected not only by the penetration rate of refrigerators, but also by traditional cost-reduction factors, such as wages and investment promotion policies in the host country. In addition, domestic market access encourages Japanese FDI in East Asia.     

The Limits of Housing Investment as a Neighborhood Revitalization Tool: Crime in New York City

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Local residents often oppose place-based affordable housing on the grounds that such housing will increase crime and decrease property values. New York City has actually used affordable housing investment as a neighborhood revitalization tool, leading to a positive impact on neighborhood property values. Households in distressed neighborhoods consistently cite crime as a problem, but we know little about the impact of housing investments on crime. Using a unique set of point-specific data on affordable housing and crime locations between 2002 and 2008 in New York City, I estimate a set of regression models to identify the effect that affordable housing investments have on crime on the block where they are situated. I find little evidence that affordable housing investments either reduce or increase crime on New York City blocks, suggesting there are limits to the revitalization effects of these subsidies and that crime fears about subsidized housing are unwarranted.

Takeaway for practice: Cities with tight rental markets such as New York should continue to invest in affordable housing construction. However, these cities need to find ways to expand housing options in higher-income, less-distressed neighborhoods, or they risk exacerbating concentrated poverty and further subjecting low-income households to unsafe living environments.     

我国房地产行业的外资参与及其影响

当前,外来投资者正在快速且全面进入我国房地产市场的各个环节,受到各方的广泛关注.本文总结了进入中国房地产行业的外资来源和投资形式,分析了我国房地产行业利用外资的现状和表现,认为日趋成熟的市场环境、丰富的投资机会和逐渐清晰可控的房地产投资风险是当前外资进入我国房地产市场的主要原因.同时提出,应该肯定外资的引入有利于推动我国房地产行业的竞争和成熟;也应对外资进行政策引导,保持我国房地产市场发展的独立和稳健.     

Which Indonesian firms export? The importance of foreign networks

This article examines export propensities among Indonesian manufacturers. The pattern of trade between nations is well understood, but much less is known about firm level determinants to export: why do some Indonesian firms start to export while others continue to produce for the domestic market? One reason for different export propensities could be that the sunk costs for exports differ between firms. This article examines if foreign networks decrease export-costs and thereby have a positive impact on the export propensity in Indonesian manufacturing establishments. Three different types of foreign networks are examined: foreign ownership, import, and the regional presence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).Received: 31 January 2002, Accepted: 27 November 2002, JEL Classification: F10, F23, L10     

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     

关于我国房地产开发重心转移的探讨

房地产业的发展受国家宏观政策、土地市场的调整、资金导向等多种因素影响,文章从七个方面论述我国未来房地产业的发展重心将从大中城市转向小城镇。     

浅谈轴线与城市发展的关系

本文从轴线的由来、构成及其与城市发展的关系三个方面论述了中国传统城市轴线的发展过程,并通过与国外典型城市轴线的横向对比明确了传统城市轴线对城市建设所起的作用,最后结合对当下国内城市设计典型案例中轴线运用的研究提出了现今城市轴线设计中存在的弊端和解决的思路。     

我国金矿资源勘查开发引进外资竞争力的研究

自１９９０ 年以来,全世界己有７５ 个国家（ 发展中国家为主） 修改了（ 或引入了新的） 矿产资源法,制定了新的有利于引进外资的税制及各项优惠政策,提高了在国际上吸引外资勘查开发本国矿产资源的竞争力。近年来,国际上金矿资源勘查开发的投资流向主要集中于南美、东南亚及中亚等新兴市场国家。从影响金矿资源勘查开发的国际投资等因素入手,通过与新兴市场国家投资环境的对比,着重分析了我国目前引进外资困难局面的症结所在及利用外资的优势,提出了改善投资环境的建议。     

Distance,time since foreign entry,and productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment

This paper investigates the effect of foreign direct investment on the productivity of local manufacturing firms in Romania. We decompose traditional country‐wide spillover measures in different components according to both proximity between foreign and domestic firms and time‐since‐foreign‐entry. We find larger and faster spillover effects for local suppliers of foreign firms at shorter distance, driven mainly by recent foreign entrants. Irrespective of distance, foreign firms of medium maturity generate backward spillover effects that fade away with longer presence. A positive effect on local competitors is not significantly affected by distance, but requires the presence of mature foreign firms.     

Planning and Antiplanning in Nigeria: Lagos and Ibadan

This case study of two Nigerian cities concerns the effects of planning policies on the cost, location, and quality of housing for the low-income majorities of the cities' residents. Planned development policies, followed in Lagos and other cities in developing areas, often appear irrelevant and even detrimental to the solution of housing problems. By contrast, Ibadan has coped with its growth problems in a natural, unguided way without active governmental control over development. To be effective, urban development planning policies must consider access to employment and environmental sanitation together with the operations of the land and housing markets in a programmatic, rather than a project oriented, approach.     

Inequities in the broadband revolution

Residential broadband options such as cable and digital subscriber lines are growing in popularity. However, evidence suggests that urban areas are receiving the majority of infrastructure investment, thereby leaving many rural locations with few options for broadband access. With access to telecommunication infrastructure becoming an increasingly important component to local economic development, issues of infrastructure equity are significant. This paper explores telecommunication equity and its effect on economic development by addressing the impact of geography on infrastructure investment and growth. A comprehensive database of broadband service providers and data from the Ecom-Ohio project (http://www.ecom-ohio.org), are used to explore broadband access options in the state of Ohio by examining the characteristics of market demand that are driving cable and digital subscriber line infrastructure investment. In addition, this paper develops an explanatory framework for identifying key market characteristics indicative of demand for residential broadband services through the use of statistical models and a geographic information system. Results suggest that income, education, age, location, and competition from alternative broadband platforms influence digital subscriber line infrastructure investment. Received: November 2001/Accepted: September 2002     

The tyranny of distance prevails: HTTP protocol latency and returns to fast fibre internet access network deployment in remote economies

Public policies to deploy enhanced local broadband access infrastructure in locations physically very far removed from the firms and customers with whom they transact are frequently justified by claims of increased competitiveness arising from the elimination of the ‘tyrannies of distance’. Yet relative distance-based disadvantages remain in respect of time-dependent applications and those hosted on distant infrastructures or requiring data sourced from distant locations. Trading off the effects of faster local access and latency on the time taken to load a Web page based on the HTTP Web protocol, we demonstrate that the increasing returns to distance rapidly overcome the effect of faster local access bandwidth as the distance the data must travel increases. We conclude that claims that investment in ultra-fast local broadband access will unconditionally facilitate a step-change in national economic performance are without foundation. In the absence of some compelling underlying competitive advantages, the ‘transformational’ economic benefits will be local rather than international in nature. At best, government investment in nationwide fast fibre networks is a defensive strategy that enables ongoing participation in the international economy, but at relatively higher costs than those faced by larger economies in closer proximity to end markets.     

Forming foreign enclaves in Shanghai: state action in globalization

Urban spatial restructuring in the globalization process is contingent and non-uniform due to the multiplicity of interactions among the different actors involved. The burgeoning literature on Chinese cities suggests that local forces play an active role in many disciplines. One of the primary places to study such interaction is the foreign enclave, a residential concentration intended for foreigners (including ethnic foreigners and ethnic Chinese from overseas) that is emerging in many large Chinese cities. However, the local authorities’ role in the formation of foreign enclaves has not been systematically examined. This article considers how the local authorities interpret the development of foreign enclaves and then how they design and implement strategies for them. Using the case of Gubei New District, the first and largest cluster of foreign housing projects in Shanghai, the article argues that developing foreign enclaves is central to the local governments’ pursuit of structural competitiveness. An examination of this process may shed some light on the local authorities’ dynamic response to the globalization of housing markets in Chinese cities, with shifting strategies corresponding to the varying perceived interests.

大城市边缘区非正式土地市场模式浅析

根据我国大城市边缘区土地开发利用多元的主要特征,针对边缘区内土地非常规整合开发的事实,梳理和总结了4种非正式土地市场模式,包括：以村集体为主体的开发出租;以土地开发公司、村集体及第三方企业为主体的联合开发;集体建设用地流转试点;征地留用地制度试点。从开发方式和开发流程、开发主体、土地类型、土地权属、管理制度、利益关系等层面,结合现有政策框架,分析各模式中相关主体的组织关系、投资收益分配和存在问题,并从土地来源、开发主体、土地获取途径、基础设施配套情况、土地开发形式、土地最终归属、空间配置效率等方面分析其差异性。     

Global integration and the intra-urban determinants of foreign direct investment in Shanghai

*The flow of capital between cities has shaped both the global urban network and the internal structure of cities. Chinese cities have attracted a substantial amount and variety of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the past two decades. The intra-urban distribution of FDI and the location of fixed assets have been significant in their restructuring. This paper investigates the causes and consequences of different patterns of FDI within Chinese cities using Shanghai as a case study.