Specialization, R&D and productivity growth: evidence from EU regions

The present paper analyzes the effect of regional specialization and R&D expenditures on labor productivity growth. Following Fingleton [Environ Plan 32:1481?C1498 2000], we assume positive externalities in labor productivity growth and technological spillovers depend on interregional distances and economy size. Regional specialization and R&D expenditures are assumed to enhance growth by affecting the level of technology. Although it may seem natural that specialization and R&D expenditures can convey great advantages on economic growth, evidence varies across sectors. We conduct an empirical analysis for two economic sectors and the economy as a whole. Recently developed spatial econometric methods are adopted to control for potential heteroscedasticity in the growth equation.     

An export-base analysis of Louisiana's petroleum driven economy

Louisiana's economy has traditionally relied on industries that are intensive in natural resource utilization as the basis for economic growth. The dramatic energy price increases during the 1970s provided the incentives for this economy to increase its specialization in the mining and processing of petroleum-based products. A differential export-base model using ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression was developed in this paper for estimating aggregate employment multipliers. Results from the analysis indicate that oil and gas mining, chemical and petroleum manufacturing, and lumber and paper production are highly significant employment generators. Mining employment was estimated to be highly dependent on petroleum prices. By interfacing the employment demand equation with the economic base model, specific and general petroleum employment impacts are assessed. The current recession in the oil and gas mining industry is having a major impact on employment, income and public finances for this region.     

山东省寿光市空间发展新模式:从中心全能到全域协作

新的发展形势下,区域经济成为寿光市发展的主题,空间引导思路随即产生变化,由单一的依托中心城区向区域联动转换。《寿光市城市总体规划(2011—2030)》分析了区域发展态势和县域经济转型下的空间需求,提出了"海陆联动"的发展战略,在市域层面谋划支撑城市未来可持续发展的"一城一区"空间结构。寿光市的全域空间规划思路对处在大都市区内部的县级单元规划建设具有借鉴意义。     

The evolution of regional multi-pole growth

Regional multi-pole growth is an important spatial form of regional economic organization pattern. We construct a model of regional multi-pole growth evolution to study its mechanism based on the assumption of heterogeneous space and inseparability of the economic subject. The study concludes that the evolution of regional multi-pole growth is affected by factors such as transportation costs, economies of scale, the crowding-out effect, and the factor endowments of superior location and inferior location. Based on the condition that the factor endowment of a location remains the same, with an increased economy of scale effect and a decline in the marginal production cost advantage, location will strengthen the agglomeration layout, which does not help form regional multi-pole growth patterns. With an increase of the crowding-out effect and a decline in the marginal production cost disadvantage, location will strengthen the dispersed layout, which fosters the formation of the regional multi-pole growth pattern. When transportation costs are high, a decline in such costs strengthens the links among locations, fostering the evolution of the regional spatial organization form to shift from dispersion to agglomeration. However, when transportation costs are somewhat reduced, their further reduction leads the regional spatial organization pattern into dispersion. Therefore, under certain conditions and with a decline in transportation costs, regional multi-pole growth weakens first and then strengthens.     

Testing and explaining economic resilience with an application to Italian regions

This paper studies regional economic resilience by exploiting the properties of the non‐linear smooth‐transition autoregressive model. A testing procedure to distinguish between engineering and ecological resilience is presented, and a measurement of economic resilience is provided. Regional differences in economic resilience are explained by the presence of spatial interactions and by adopting a set of determinants like economic diversity, export performance, financial constraints, and human and social capital. An empirical investigation is conducted for analysing regional employment evolution in Italy from 1992 to 2012. Some concluding suggestions propose possible future areas of research.     

我国地域经济差异与人口迁移研究

改革开放后的区域经济差异持续扩大是促动我国人口迁移空前活跃的主要因素,而日趋活跃的人口迁移亦对区域经济差异产生均衡作用。本文通过测算我国1985-2000年各省区在人口迁移前后“人口—GDP”的基尼系数变化,验证了人口迁移对区域经济发展不均衡的减缓作用。在此基础上,测算区域经济达到均衡状态下的各省区理论人口和人口迁移潜力,并重点分析了县一级行政地域的理论人口和人口迁移潜力分布。     

国外区域一体化对产业影响研究综述

区域一体化是全球化下区域经济发展和区域空间结构优化的重要趋势。改革开放后,区域一体化成为我国参与经济全球化,实现市场化改革的重要手段。近年来,各级政府积极推进的以城市为主体,以城市群为主要形式的区域一体化更是不断上升为国家战略。本文通过对国外区域一体化对参与方的产业带来的影响进行综述,集中探讨区域一体化下的产业结构变化、产业空间变化以及由此产生的经济增长效应,以期为中国区域一体化的实践提供有益启示。     

从县域经济走向区域经济——以浙江省三门湾地区发展与空间规划为例

县域经济是一种行政区划型区域经济,是以县城为中心、乡镇为纽带、农村为腹地的区域经济。而区域经济更具有自然融合的经济的含义,界限比较模糊,往往是跨行政区的自然经济区,经济功能的发挥主要是通过经济发展的内在客观联系。本文从县域经济的成就与问题出发,分析县域经济在区域发展中的意义与作用,研究县域经济的发展趋势。     

A critical examination of the export-base theory of urban-regional growth

Summary In an early discussion with North on the merits of the export-base theory, Tiebout stated:The idea that essentially the export base is the necessary and sufficient condition for regional economic growth may be, by definition, a true statement...Put another way, it is possible to define the necessary condition for regional economic growth as the creation of an export base... Again, formally speaking, it is the ability to develop an export base which determines regional growth. Yet in terms of causation, the nature of the residentiary industries will be a key factor in any possible development.     

Welfare and population growth: The effect of the spatial dimension

This paper examines regional population growth and welfare levels in relation to the following variables: population size of the region; spatial location; and access. A theoretical model is developed relating welfare to income and range of choice, and empirically testable implications are derived. Regression equations estimated on 1960–1970 census data are used to test the implied hypotheses. It is shown that growth in both population and income (and the level of the latter) in a regional economy are directly and significantly related to the size of the regional population center and inversely related to the distance from that center. Quality of access is also found to be an important determinant of growth and welfare levels. The results suggest that national and/or local population distribution analysis or policy must take explicit account of spatial location and access quality.     

Regional growth in Mexico under trade liberalisation: how important are agglomeration and FDI?

The opening of the Mexican economy in the late 1980s has generated increasing levels of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as substantial changes in the location pattern of economic activity within Mexico. Although these developments have coincided with marked changes in Mexico’s regional growth regime, previous research has focused mainly on identifying growth effects from regional endowments of physical and human capital. In this paper, we extend on this research by conducting empirical analysis that centers explicitly on identifying the regional growth effects from agglomeration and FDI. The main findings of our analysis are threefold. First, we find that both agglomeration and FDI have acted as important drivers of regional growth in the last two decades. Second, both phenomena can be linked to the materialization of both positive and negative growth effects. The variety of growth effects that we identify is in line with the locational readjustments of economic activity that have taken place. Third, our estimations also identify clear spatial dimensions to the growth effects from agglomeration and FDI; furthermore, these spatial growth effects represent an important component of the overall spatiality of the regional growth process in Mexico.     

Regional growth and spatial spillovers: Evidence from an SpVAR for the Spanish regions

This paper provides a spatial vector autoregressive (SpVAR) analysis of growth spillovers for the Spanish regions over the period 1965–2003. First, a spatial Granger causality analysis is performed that indicates the relevant impact of spatial spillover effects across regions in Spain. Second, the empirical research offers a contribution in the context of the SpVAR modelling estimating the push‐in (from the neighbours to the region) and push‐out (from the region to its neighbours) effects of growth spillovers within a regional economic system. Finally, the proposed methodology reveals empirical evidence about both the short‐run and long‐term regional growth adjustment processes in space and time. The results for the Spanish regional panel data suggest the existence of strong spatiotemporal regional spillovers of growth output. This has important implications for the choice of regional policy goals and regional policy instruments.     

A forecasting territorial model of regional growth: the MASST model

The profound and unique institutional and economic processes which characterise the historic period Europe is facing and will face call for appropriate methodologies to forecast the impact of these processes on Europe and its territory. Few regional econometric models as the basis of forecasting exercises have been developed, either replicating national macroeconomic models, or through complex systems of equations for each region that are linked to both the national aggregate economy and to the other regional economies through input—output technical coefficients that determine intra- and inter-regional trade and output. This paper presents a new regional forecasting model, labelled MASST (macroeconomic, sectoral, social and territorial), built on a modern conceptualization of regional growth. In MASST, regional growth is conceived as a competitive, endogenous and cumulative process in which social and a spatial elements play an important role: local resource endowments and increasing returns in the form of agglomeration economies and spatial growth spillovers perform an important role in the explanation of regional growth differentials. MASST is generative in nature, since local factors matter, but it is also a model that considers a second family of development factors, these being macroeconomic and national. This structure of the model gives rise to the possibility of producing an efficient interactive national—regional approach, combining top-down and bottom-up approaches.     

US regional population growth 2000–2010: Natural amenities or urban agglomeration?

Using a spatial hedonic growth model, this paper empirically assesses the roles of natural amenities and urban agglomeration economies in US regional growth patterns from 2000 to 2010. Natural amenities and urban agglomeration are measured using the USDA Economic Research Service county classification codes. The general finding is that natural amenities and urban agglomeration both influenced regional growth. Yet, the natural amenity ranking is estimated to be positively related to increased productivity over the period rather than increased attractiveness to households. Urban agglomeration is positively related to increased amenity attractiveness to households. Within census regions, household natural amenity demand played a stronger role in non‐metropolitan areas.     

Export base theory and multiplier estimation: A critique

In recent years export-base related models have come under increasing criticism by regional economists. At the same time, the framework is being used implicitly in the great many studies including most socioeconomic environmental impact studies. The paper shows that the various alternatives commonly used at each step in the process of an export-base analysis (i.e., that is to specify one or more equations and estimate an indirect-direct employment multiplier) generates widely varying estimates of that multiplier, A recommendation is made that regional scientists turn their attention to other types of models including input-output frameworks and case studies for determining appropriate multiplier values.     

A Moran eigenvector spatial filtering specification of entropy measures

Regional science investigations of geographical disparities in socio-economic development sometimes utilize entropy, which measures a phenomenon's distributional uniformity across geographical space. Entropy also is widely utilized to measure random phenomenon dispersion, and often used to identify the most probable allocation of a phenomenon in space. Its common formulation is with empirical frequencies, following Shannon. Batty introduces spatial entropy assuming equal probability over space. His specification considers probabilities as fundamentally being spatially independent, which does not hold in most empirical geographical analyses. Hence, an entropy measure can be further modified by controlling extra variation caused by spatial autocorrelation. This paper proposes a Moran eigenvector spatial filtering (MESF) entropy specification that accounts for spatial autocorrelation when modelling georeferenced data. Using eigenvectors from a transformed spatial weights matrix, MESF identifies and isolates spatially autocorrelated components within a georeferenced variable. Coupling it with a non-normal distribution, such as a binomial or beta probability model, which researchers often employ to describe empirical probabilities, expands its utility. The proposed method is examined with an application to regional income inequality in Poland during 2005–2012. This application demonstrates that accounting for spatial autocorrelation further enhances an entropy measure, showing that the MESF specification provides a flexible method for controlling spatial autocorrelation in an entropy formulation.     

Institutions vs. ‘first‐nature’ geography: What drives economic growth in Europe's regions?

The debate on whether institutions or geography prevail in driving economic growth has been rife (e.g., Sachs 2003 vs. Rodrik et al. 2004). Most of the empirical analyses delving into this debate have focused on world countries, whose geographical and institutional conditions differ widely. Subnational analyses considering groups of countries with, in principle, more similar institutional and geographical conditions have been limited and tended to highlight that geography is more important than institutions at subnational level. This paper aims to address whether this is the case by investigating how differences in institutional and ‘first‐nature’ geographical conditions have affected economic growth in Europe's regions in the period 1995–2009. In the analysis we use a newly developed dataset including regional quality of government indicators and geographical characteristics and employ two‐stage least squares (2SLS) and instrumental variables‐generalized method of moments (IV‐GMM) estimation techniques with a number of regional historical variables as instruments. Our results indicate that at a regional level in Europe institutions rule. Regional institutional conditions – and, particularly, government effectiveness and the fight against corruption – play an important role in shaping regional economic growth prospects. This does not imply, however, that geography is irrelevant. There is evidence of geographical factors affecting regional growth, although their impact is dwarfed by the overriding influence of institutions.     

长江三角洲城镇空间格局与区域经济相关分析

长江三角洲是我国经济最发达地区之一。自改革开放特别是９０年代以来,城市化加速发展,形成了具有鲜明地域特征的城市化模式,而其内部的城镇空间格局相互区别。本文以景观空间分析和区域经济理论为基础,综合ＲＳ和ＧＩＳ手段,分析城镇空间形态和区域经济特征,并从中探讨城镇格局与地区经济的相关性。本文对于我国城市规划建设,特别是经济发达地区的城市化进程具有一定参考意义。     

How can western China attract FDI? A case of Japanese investment

This paper adopts a conditional logit model to empirically examine the changes of Japanese investors’ location choices in response to China’s recent reorientation of its development strategy from the eastern coast to interior areas. This strategy adjustment is intended to attract FDI into China’s western region in hopes of promoting its economic growth and reducing economic inequality. Future policy suggestions on FDI attraction to western China are proposed based on the empirical details. This paper was the winning entry of the 19th Charles M. Tiebout Prize in Regional Science, and was presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association in San Diego, CA, February 2005.     

尺度重组视角下地域空间演变及管治机制述评

随着1970 年代以来经济全球化所带来的全球地域格局重塑以及2000 年后尺度理论的引入,国内学者展开了对尺度 重组理论及其实践性运用的积极探讨。在系统梳理尺度重组概念内涵的基础上,进一步探讨尺度重组分析框架下的空间演 变及管治性问题。从城市、区域层面考察该理论在区划调整、区域一体化、跨区域融合及地方增长极培育四大方面的实证 研究进展,提出以尺度重组为视角重新审视空间演变中的关系性及建构性问题是当下全球化时代中值得关注的一个重要议 题。而当前实证研究领域与理论间仍存在较大断裂,研究广度及深度有待充分挖掘与扩展,未来在城市、区域研究及规划 研究领域可进一步拓展多重空间尺度建构及其影响、空间治理结构的多元化转变以及引入多个理论视角或新技术手段来共 同分析特定空间现象等方面的内容。