Spatial Agglomeration of Manufacturing in Greece: Sectoral Patterns and Determinants

This article aims to demonstrate how the industry characteristics of manufacturing sectors affect the patterns of their spatial agglomeration. It also addresses several intricate issues concerning the measurement of localization economies and estimation of their main determinants in manufacturing industries. The original empirical analysis employs annual industrial data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) during the period 1993–2006 in Greece at the prefecture level, i.e. for 51 prefectures. The data processing reveals three important findings. The first is the temporal persistence of localization economies in the Greek manufacturing. The second refers to the high level of agglomeration associated with the high-technology industries as well as the resource- and scale-intensive industries. Lastly, there are significant effects of industry characteristics related to knowledge externalities, labour skills and productivity, scale economies and own-transport expenditure on spatial agglomeration, as resulted from the use of alternative geographic concentration indices and panel data models. Results obtained have implications for policy-makers, who can enhance the regional manufacturing activity by affecting these industry-specific factors. Amongst others, planning measures and policies which aim at promoting the local development and regional convergence should focus on reducing transport costs for firms or sectors, by improving the infrastructure capacity, interconnectivity and quality of services.     

Agglomeration economies and productivity differences in US cities

Plant-level data from the Longitudinal Research Database ofthe US Bureau of the Census are employed to estimate the impactof agglomeration economies on industry productivity across USmetropolitan areas. This analysis seeks to remedy three shortcomingsof previous empirical studies of agglomeration economies: relianceon aggregate spatial or sectoral data; lack of attention tospatial dependence in data; and representation of agglomerationeconomies with vague proxies such as city-size. We show howa number of establishment-, industry-, and city-specific factorsinfluence labor productivity across US cities, and we pay particularattention to separating the influence of different kinds ofagglomeration economies on firm efficiency. Here we follow Marshall'sPrinciples of Economics in examining the spatial concentrationof input–output linkages, the character of local laborpools and embodied technological spillovers.     

Agglomeration economies and the location of foreign direct investment: A meta‐analysis

This paper undertakes a meta‐analysis of the effect of agglomeration economies on foreign direct investment (FDI) location. It finds strong differences in these economies arising from both measurement and study‐specific characteristics. Economies generated from domestic rather than foreign activity have the strongest effects on FDI, with the latter only significant if related to the home country of the investor. Support is also found for studies that identify different sources of agglomeration economies, although this is largely underexplored in the empirical literature. The average agglomeration economies estimate is not influenced by publication bias and indicates genuine effects for agglomeration economies on FDI location choice.     

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF OFFICE RENT AND AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES: A CASE STUDY OF TORONTO*

ABSTRACT. An equilibrium model of office location is applied and tested in the Toronto metropolitan area. The model focuses on the role of communication among firms which is the driving force behind the spatial agglomeration of office firms. The model calculates the equilibrium floor rent in each district, given the existing building stock. The performance of the model is tested in terms of the goodness of fit between observed and estimated office rent in each district. By using the model, we estimate the value of agglomeration economies which is defined as changes in productivities caused by increases in the number of office firms. It is shown that the agglomeration economies in the office sector are much larger than those in manufacturing, and the external effects of agglomeration are considerably large.     

SHARABLE INPUTS,PRODUCT VARIETY,AND CITY SIZES*

In this paper, I investigate some of the causes of city formation in spatial economies. A model is proposed in which an intermediate differentiated input shared by more than one industry is the cause of the formation of diversified cities. The desire of both the traded-good and the local-good industries to employ a variety of inputs from the intermediate industry provides the reason for the agglomeration of the three industries. In addition, the paper contains a comparative-statics analysis of the model in an open and a closed-city framework. It is demonstrated that the larger the city, the more variety of intermediate inputs the city can provide and the more specialized it is in the production of the traded-good. Moreover, the model suggests that different industrial structures will result in different city Sizes.     

运用空间自相关分析集聚经济类型的地理格局

集聚经济的类型决定着区域经济的发展方向。传统的度量指标是基尼系数、Ellison-Glaeser指数等,但这类指标却没有考虑相邻地区间经济的相互影响。据此,本文提出用空间自相关方法,衡量区域的集聚经济水平,并且利用2002年江苏省县级工业数据,实证分析和探讨江苏省城市化和地方化集聚经济的地理格局。     

中原城市群城镇网络结构特征分析:基于空间引力与客运联系

以中原城市群县、市区节点为研究单元,基于引力模型与复杂网络模型,根据测定的城镇间引力量与城际直接的客运班次两类数据,对中原城市群空间网络结构特征进行比较与归纳。结果表明:中原城市群空间联系突出了"双中心"与层次结构特征,引力与客运联系网络互为支撑,又各具特色,郑州与洛阳在城市群网络结构中的中心度较高,但对网络并没有绝对的控制力,城市群网络的集团化效应明显。城市群最大联系轴向有序,但空间网络结构并没有呈现较强的"长尾分布",城镇网络结构中心度分布有序性差。城市群引力网络子群体间的联系较弱,内部的联系密切,受行政区划的屏蔽或行政级别差异影响显著;而客运联系网络各子群体之间的联系较强,核心市区功能效应显著。     

THE MAGNITUDE AND CAUSES OF AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES*

ABSTRACT Firms and workers are much more productive in large and dense urban environments. There is substantial evidence of such agglomeration economies based on three approaches. First, on a clustering of production beyond what can be explained by chance or comparative advantage. Second, on spatial patterns in wages and rents. Third, on systematic variations in productivity with the urban environment. However, more needs to be learned about the causes of agglomeration economies. We have good models of agglomeration through sharing and matching, but not a deep enough understanding of learning in cities. Despite recent progress, more work is needed to distinguish empirically between alternative causes.     

"空间剥夺"与县域经济发展问题——以吉林省中部地区为例

本文以"核心—边缘"理论为基础,着眼于实证区域的特征,分析县域经济发展中的"空间剥夺"问题。指出县域经济"空间剥夺"具有空间性、持续性和综合性特征。将其作用机理概括为三个方面:县域经济发展要素的"极化"效应,制度因素的作用和核心城市产业的空间侵占。指出空间距离,核心城市与县域经济的规模对"空间剥夺"的强度和作用机理产生影响。在实证分析的基础上,认为吉林省中部地区存在县域经济发展的"滞后"区域。其形成与"空间剥夺"有直接关系。本文还探讨了"空间剥夺"下县域经济发展的思路,提出培育与区域特征相协调的主导产业,遏制发展要素的"逃逸,"并适时调整县域经济发展的"重心,"完善与县域经济相适应的金融系统等建议。     

Complexities in the spatial scope of agglomeration economies

This paper argues that the spatial scope of agglomeration economies is more complex than is often assumed in the literature. We provide insight into this issue by showing that agglomeration on short distances (<5 km) does not significantly affect wages, whereas it has a significant and positive effect on medium distances (5–10 km). This effect attenuates rapidly across geographic space, becoming insignificant after 40–80 km. We offer several explanations for this observed distance decay pattern. The results do not imply, however, that nearby agglomeration is irrelevant to the wage formation: only highly urbanized areas benefit from agglomeration on longer distances. Furthermore, this article finds no evidence that foreign economic mass affects wages in the Netherlands, which suggests that national borders are still a substantial barrier for economic interaction.     

TESTING FOR CAUSALITY BETWEEN PRODUCTIVITY AND AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES

ABSTRACT The productivity effects of agglomeration economies are often treated as endogenous in empirical work due to the potential for reverse causality. The extent to which these relationships are actually simultaneously determined, however, remains largely unobserved. This paper estimates panel data vector autoregressions for different sectors of the economy to test for bidirectional causality between productivity and both localization and urbanization economies. The aim is to address some key questions that will help to identify the extent of the endogeneity problem. Can we actually observe bidirectionality in the data? Does it feature more for some industries than for others? Is it more prevalent for localization or urbanization economies? The results show that agglomeration economies are not strictly unidirectional and that higher levels of productivity can induce growth in the scale of local urban and industrial environments. The paper discusses the difficulties that these issues pose for the estimation of agglomeration economies.     

The spatial extent of agglomeration economies across the wage earnings distribution

We investigate the spatial extent of agglomeration economies across the wage earnings distribution using economic mass (total employment) in four distance bands around each individual’s establishment in a quantile regression framework. We control for observable and unobservable individual and establishment characteristics. Remaining endogeneity in the model is assessed with a set of instrumental variables. Results indicate a positive effect of economic mass on wage earnings up to 25 km away from the establishment. The spatial extent of agglomeration economies is similar across the wage earnings distribution. However, increases in economic mass shift the wage earnings distribution in a nonsymmetric way.     

AGGLOMERATION,TRADE, AND SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT: BRINGING DYNAMICS BACK IN*

ABSTRACT The field of spatial economics has made enormous progress in theorizing and measuring agglomeration effects, trade costs, and urbanization. Typical models establish structural determinants by making strong assumptions about which forces are relevant and how these forces interact. But many of these assumptions, about firms, agents, spatial costs, and market structures, are questionable. As a result, the field has a long way to go to establish causality, and to be able to account for spatial economic dynamics.     

Geographical Concentration of Manufacturing Industries in China: The Importance of Spatial and Industrial Scales

Using the most recent data from the first economic census in China, a team of China-based and American economic geographers investigates the geographical concentration of manufacturing industries at the provincial and county levels by integrating proxy variables for natural advantages, agglomeration economies, and institutional changes (e.g., decentralization) associated with economic transition. The authors focus their investigation on manufacturing activity as a whole, as well as on manufacturing categories at the two- and three-digit levels of aggregation (the latter representing a finer scale of analysis than used in almost all previous studies). Interesting differences emerge in the locational patterns of industries whose enterprises pursue strategies of globalization vis-à-vis local protectionism. Differences also are apparent in the impacts of agglomeration economies and knowledge spillover at different spatial scales. The findings suggest that both spatial scale and level of industrial aggregation matter when analyzing patterns of industrial agglomeration in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: L10, L20, L60, O18. 5 figures, 5 tables, 50 references.     

高速铁路对湖南城市群可达性的影响

引入可达性的概念,以现阶段与预期2030年的湖南城市群综合铁路网数据为基础,选取加权平均旅行时间、经济潜力和日常可达性3个度量指标,比较分析了高速铁路的发展对湖南城市群城际间8城市可达性的影响。结果表明:高速铁路大大缩短了城际之间的时空距离,将全面提升湖南区域可达性水平,促进区域均衡化空间结构的形成;另一方面,尽管高速铁路将推动多中心空间结构的形成,但对湖南城市可达性水平的影响具有明显的区域差异,可分为两个层级,各城市在新的交通格局下应抓住机遇,探寻符合自身特点的发展道路。     

RETAIL AMENITIES AND URBAN SPRAWL

This paper examines the interaction between local retail markets and population density in cities. We demonstrate that welfare costs of urban sprawl need not come only from road congestion or environmental externalities, as often suggested in the literature. A city also forgoes potential agglomeration economies in retail when it settles into a spatially sprawling equilibrium. Our theory predicts an additional spatial equilibrium where the city is inefficiently dense, characterized by strong retail agglomeration economies within the core.     

ADDITIVE-INTERACTION MODELS OF SPATIAL AGGLOMERATION*

A wide variety of existing models of spatial agglomeration postulate additive-interaction effects among agents. In this paper, a synthesis of such models is achieved by establishing certain mathematical equivalences between them. In particular, it is shown that Rockafellar's conjugacy theory of concave functions yields a symmetric one-to-one correspondence between three classes of existing models, here designated as spatial-accessibility models, endogenous-contact models, and fixed-contact models. These correspondences not only allow the transference of results between models, but also suggest new economic interpretations of each model in terms of its conjugate model. A series of examples are drawn from the literature to illustrate these results.     

Where Do Cities Form? A Geographical Agglomeration Model for Europe*

Abstract. In the recent literature on spatial agglomeration models, substantial progress has been made in modeling urban structures in terms of number and size of cities, but the question where cities arise remains unanswered. This paper illustrates that if a spatial agglomeration model is extended with a true geographical dimension, the location of cities can also be endogenized. A geographical agglomeration model for Europe shows that the size and place of cities can be simultaneously determined. The empirical results suggest that elementary economic forces such as agglomeration economies and transportation costs might be able to explain place and size of cities in the long run to a substantial degree. In addition, some new statistical measures of fit are discussed that are needed to evaluate simulations results of this kind.     

Transport Infrastructure,Agglomeration Economies,and Firm Birth: Empirical Evidence from Portugal*

Abstract. This paper uses municipality‐level data to study firm birth in Portugal from 1986 to 1997. This is a period of significant improvements to the Portuguese motorway network raising important questions as to its impact on the spatial pattern of firm birth. The paper focuses on the effect of such large‐scale road investment together with the role played by agglomeration economies for firm birth in 13 industry sectors and 9 service sectors. Motorways increase the attractiveness of locations close to the new infrastructure for most sectors. However, marked differences among sectors exist in the way transport improvements affect geographical firm‐birth concentration. The results also indicate that a more diversified local economic environment encourages firm birth, but little evidence is found for agglomeration benefits stemming from sectoral specialization at the local level.     

AGGLOMERATION,URBAN WAGE PREMIUMS,AND COLLEGE MAJORS

The aim of this paper is to examine the manner and extent to which worker skill type affects agglomeration economies that contribute to productivity in cities. I use college majors to proxy for skill types among workers with a bachelor's degree. Workers with college training in information‐oriented and technical fields (e.g., STEM areas such as engineering, physical sciences, and economics) are associated with economically important within‐field agglomeration economies and also generate sizeable spillovers for workers in other fields. In contrast, within‐field and across‐field spillovers for workers with college training in the arts and humanities are much smaller and often nonexistent. While previous research suggests proximity to college‐educated workers enhances productivity, these findings suggest that not all college‐educated workers are alike. Instead, positive spillover effects appear to derive mostly from proximity to workers with college training in information‐oriented and technical fields.