EUROPEAN UNION REGIONAL PRODUCTIVITY DYNAMICS: A “DISTRIBUTIONAL” APPROACH*

ABSTRACT Working within the “distributional approach,” this research offers evidence of past and future polarization in aggregate regional labor productivity in EU‐15. This finding is robust to alternative definitions of the spatial units used and does not appear to be the result of regional structural change. Spatial effects are found but are of rather localized nature. Turning to separate sectoral analyses suggests that past and future polarization in labor productivity across European regions may be associated with regional productivity differences in the services sectors.     

THE EUROPEANIZATION OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: LOCAL STRATEGIES AND EUROPEAN SPATIAL VISIONS IN NORTHERN FINLAND

By exploring the Europeanization of current practices of regional spatial planning, this article sets out to demonstrate the evolution of the European integration project. Specifically, by creating spaces of engagement to which the local and regional actors are “forced” to adapt, the emergence of European spatial planning has made planning practices at the regional level more complex and complicated. As such, the present study contributes to the current understandings of Europeanization by exploring the European integration process through the geographical conceptualizations of space and scale. These conceptualizations are used to illustrate the multidimensionality, complexity and subtlety of the geographies of Europeanization. The empirical investigations show that regional and local spatial policies are strongly engaged – both explicitly through the “technicalities” and implicitly through the “mentalities”– to the spaces of Europeanization. The engagement affects the effectiveness of sub‐regional spatial planning by promoting mismatches between the strategic frameworks and the material practices of the policy. Overall, the article illustrates that the geographies of Europeanization are continuous processes, which take place – often unrecognizably – in manifold discursive and material practices in various geographical contexts.     

European coherence and regional policy? A Finnish perspective on the observed and reported territorial impacts of EU research and development policies

The present article focuses on recent analysis on the regional impacts of research and development (R&D) actions within the European Union (EU). Focus will be on exploring a report produced by the European Spatial Observation Network (ESPON), and essential viewpoints of the report will be studied from the Finnish perspective. The operating framework is based on social scientific methodology. The conclusions are based on the current evolution of the Finnish innovation and technology policy. Also thematic areas for further research programming and information needs are proposed.     

东北地区经济空间极化及其驱动因子的定量研究

在对区域经济空间极化相关文献研究综述的基础上,借鉴有关研究方法,遵循从过程到格局、机理,从整体到局部的研究思路,首先以人均GDP为测度指标,综合分析东北三省及其内部各区域经济差异与空间极化的过程与空间格局,接着以人均GDP的极化水平为应变量,以工业总产值、当年实际直接利用外资额、社会商品零售总额、全社会固定资产投资、全员劳动生产率和复合流量的极化水平为自变量,建立多元线性回归模型,分析区域经济空间极化的内在机理。结果表明:①区域经济发展存在空间极化现象,且整体呈现出南强北弱的态势;②哈长经济区和辽中南经济区已初步形成,其中哈长经济区处于明显的集聚阶段,而辽中南经济区扩散效应已开始发挥作用;③地区经济发展的位序排名及其变化表明区域经济发展中心逐步南移;④区域差异和空间极化总体变化趋势基本一致,呈现出先升后降,但总体水平呈上升的变化态势;⑤多元线性回归模型表明各动力因子的作用程度和作用趋势不尽相同,但工业总产值和全员劳动生产率是东北三省及其内部区域经济空间极化演变所共有的主导驱动因子,说明其区域经济发展是一个内生增长过程,并提出应强化市场体制转轨、国有企业改组改革、产业结构升级换代和政府政策的导向作用。     

100年来东北地区经济地域格局的演变

东北地区经济地域格局的形成与发展受区域环境与经济成本的双重约束。基于100年来东北地区交通网络化过程分析,通过统计分析与现代GIS空间分析方法相结合,作者探讨不同时间序列东北地区的主要经济、社会发展特征,重点分析了37个城市区域的人口、经济等的空间集聚与边缘化特征以及土地利用变化、城市空间扩展等,揭示东北地区不同时期经济地域格局的演化机制,并预测其基本走向。     

Innovation Networks and Regional Development—Evidence from the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS): Theoretical Concepts,Methodological Approach,Empirical Basis and Introduction to the Theme Issue

A general consensus exists in the debate on innovation-oriented regional development, in which cooperation in innovation between manufacturing firms, service firms and research institutions continues to grow in importance with respect to business success and the economic performance of a region—at least for some region types. The academic discussion, thus far, has been shaped by a large number of outstanding theoretical studies focusing on this topic from the perspective of the innovative milieu concept, the network theory (spatial version), the regional innovation systems approach or the transaction cost theory. Up to now, comparative empirical studies have not been performed evaluating the significance of innovation networks over a sufficiently large and statistically representative data set for the various types of regions. This is the goal of this issue of European Planning Studies, which is introduced in this article. Briefly, the basic concepts for explaining network-oriented regional development are described and the essential features of the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS) are presented—developed by a research team of German economic geographers and regional economists. Between 1995 and 1999 ERIS carried out three extensive surveys in 11 European regions with a total return of 8635 questionnaires, in an effort to identify, systematize, and quantify linkages between innovative players. The question of the range of such innovative linkages plays a central role in this analysis.     

Marrying in the city in times of rapid urbanization

Economic, social, political, and demographic processes changed Western European cities strongly during the nineteenth century. Especially during this time, the northern part of Belgium (Flanders) became highly urbanized. Investigating the long-term development of the marriage pattern in the cities of Antwerp, Aalst, and Ghent gives a detailed picture of the evolution of the urban marriage pattern. In this article, specific emphasis is on gender, social, and migration distinctions. The results confirm that there is a male-female difference and variation among various social and migrant groups in the age at first marriage during the period 1800-1906. Moreover, regional differences are also visible. In the port city of Antwerp, massive immigration caused a unique evolution in the age at first marriage during the last decades of the nineteenth century, which did not appear in the textile cities of Aalst and Ghent during this time.     

湖南省经济空间结构演变及工业化主导因素分析

经济空间结构是经济地理学和区域经济学研究的重要论题之一,为了揭示湖南省经济空间结构演变过程及演变机制,分析了湖南省经济空间结构演变过程;并从工业化、区域政策和城镇化等方面分析了其经济空间结构演变机制。结果表明:20世纪80年代中期以来,湖南省经济正处于空间集聚过程,经济空间结构呈现出明显的核心-边缘模式;湖南省经济空间结构与工业化、区域政策和城镇化存在内在联系和耦合关系,其中工业发展是湖南经济增长的主要动力,也是经济空间结构形成与演化的重要原因。     

The Spatial Distribution of the Internet in the European Union: Does Geographical Proximity Matter?

This paper examines the spatial distribution of the Internet in the European regions. To achieve this aim, our analysis combines a set of non-parametric techniques proposed in the context of the economic growth literature, with various spatial econometric instruments. The results reveal that regional disparities in Internet adoption are greater than territorial inequalities in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. In addition, our findings show that the distribution under consideration is characterized by the presence of positive spatial dependence, which implies that physically adjacent regions register a similar degree of Internet adoption. Finally, the analysis carried out allows us to assess the role played by variables such as GDP per capita, unemployment rate, stock of human capital and population density, in explaining the spatial distribution of the Internet in the European Union.     

Patterns of Regional Inequality in Transition Economies

This paper provides a comparative account of important aspects of regional development in transition economies, on the basis of regional statistics available for Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. More specifically it examines the geographical pattern of disparities, the convergence/divergence trends that have taken place at the regional level and the relation of regional disparities to the process of transition. It is found that spatial adjustments under transition favour metropolitan and western regions, especially in countries sharing common borders with the European Union (EU) and being a short distance from the European core. In addition, disparities have increased at various rates and degrees in transition countries to levels that are higher than most of the EU countries. Given that the catch-up process, which favours more often efficiency than equity policies, has a long way to go, the regional problems in these countries may take alarming, by EU standards, dimensions.     

Regional Innovation Policies in the Czech Republic and the Case of Prague: An Emerging Role of a Regional Level?

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the development of Czech innovation policy which started to get its shape in the first years of the 21st century. The article traces its origins to a number of interlinked factors—the introduction of European regional policy in the Czech Republic, the increased inflow of foreign direct investment into R&D-intensive sectors and also the devolution of power to Czech regions that were established in 2001 and gave a new, regional dimension to research and innovation policy. It pays particular attention to the process through which the regionally-based innovation policy advocated by the European Union (EU) has been translated and adapted in the context of a new EU member state. As an illustration of the efforts at the regional level to make a better use of the potential of R&D and innovation in the regional development, a case study of a regional innovation strategy of the City of Prague is analysed. The City of Prague was selected for a critical analysis of an innovation system and innovation policy due to the fact that it is a region with significant but until now not fully exploited innovation potential and, in addition, its first innovation strategy has been recently adopted. The innovation strategy is closely scrutinized and the process of its elaboration is critically examined within the European and especially national context. The authors demonstrate that there is a lot of conceptual ambiguity and confusion associated with the process of transferring the experiences of Western European regions to the Czech Republic. The authors believe that at least some of their observations and analysis of weaknesses of the process through which the regional innovation strategy (RIS) has been carried out will have relevance for other Czech regions and even for other regions in the new EU member states.     

The Effect of Business Support on Employment in Manufacturing: Evidence from the European Union Structural Funds in Germany,Italy and Spain

This study investigates employment growth in the business activities supported by the European Cohesion Policy. We examine cross-industry, cross-regional variations in a sample of fourteen manufacturing industries and seventy European regions (in Germany, Italy and Spain) and take advantage of detailed European Union Structural Funds data at the regional level for the period 2000–2006. We show that business support is positively associated with higher employment growth in industries that are initially smaller and in those with higher growth opportunities. The results suggest that direct support to businesses by the European Cohesion Policy contributes to the growth process of employment in different industries. Because previous estimated effects at the aggregate level may in fact conceal large differences across industries, we conclude that our empirical analysis contributes to the understanding of how Structural Funds can affect industrial and regional development as well as adjustment paths.     

The Euro: Faith Hope and Parity

The inauguration of the euro as the currency of the European Union is the most far‐reaching step so far taken in the long‐term movement for regional political and economic integration. The new money demonstrates that the initial customs union established by the Treaty of Rome has grown to such an extent that member states are willing to surrender control over their national central banks and currencies. Only three members of the EU have refused to join—Britain, Denmark and Sweden. Despite widespread scepticism, the euro so far has been a success. The new currency, while a dramatic innovation, is also congruent with financial dimensions that can be traced through the history of the European Community. The experience of inflation in the 1960s and 1970s was a powerful incentive to establish strong European central banking institutions. The euro is both derivative from and competitor with the US dollar, and American historical experience over the long term as well as foreign policies since the Second World War are germane to analysis. For Britain, remaining outside the euro zone so far has not brought negative consequences and may have been beneficial to the economy. For most member governments of the EU, the opportunity to pool resources through a regional currency understandably has been a persuasive incentive, especially given the enormous growth of private capital markets. The creation of the euro has been facilitated by the shifting nature of money. Currencies have changed from distinctive national components of the highly structured Bretton Woods system to relatively freely traded commodities, and the traditional distinctive characteristics of money have been blurred with the evolution of credit markets, financial instruments and technology. The fundamental test of the euro will occur when member states face differentiated political pressures to inflate economies in order to combat unemployment. To date, the European currency has been the latest confirmation of the insight of Jean Monnet and others to employ economic integration to reduce the likelihood of a resurgence of militarism and war.     

The Dynamics of Regional Disparities in Central and Eastern Europe during Transition

This paper examines the evolution of territorial imbalances in per capita income in the Central and Eastern Europe regions between 1990 and 2001. In order to overcome the limitations of conventional convergence analysis, we have combined a non-parametric approach that allows us to study the dynamics of the entire cross-section distribution, with a series of theoretical results and measures taken from the literature on personal income distribution. The results obtained show an overall reduction in regional inequality over the study period. This process has been compatible with the simultaneous presence of between-country convergence and within-country divergence. Likewise, we have observed a reduction in the development gap between the sample regions and Western Europe. In any event, the polarization of the distribution under consideration has decreased, while the registered level of intra-distribution mobility is relatively low. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the important role played in explaining the distribution dynamics by factors such as the national component, spatial location, productive structure, agglomeration economies and the percentage of gross domestic product devoted to investment.     

COMPARATIVE REGIONAL POLICY IMPACT ANALYSIS: EX POST EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND*

ABSTRACT. This paper addresses the issue of ex post impact analysis of regional policies in the European Community. The analysis is both methodological and applied in nature. After a concise overview of existing impact assessment methods, a two-step approach by means of an exploratory frequency method and an explanatory rational expectations-based model is proposed in order to provide an empirical framework for cross-regional comparative evaluation of the performance of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The seope and applicability of the method is illustrated by means of a case study for Dutch regions.     

关中天水经济区核心—边缘旅游空间结构解析

核心—边缘结构是区域旅游空间结构演化的重要解释模型,本文从复杂系统理论和分形理论切入重新解构旅游空间结构演变特征、动态过程和测度方法。以关天经济区为例实证分析并得出结论:核心—边缘旅游空间结构具有层次性、涌现性和分形的特征,演变过程分为核心集聚极化、边缘扩散溢出和空间动态平衡三个阶段;首位度、分形等方法能很好揭示旅游空间结构演化过程;关天经济区旅游空间属于典型的核心—边缘结构,目前处于核心集聚极化阶段后期,溢出效应逐步显现,次级核心基本形成,空间结构与等级结构紧密耦合,发展态势良好。     

Foreign direct investment and renewal of industries: framing the reciprocity between materiality and discourse

ABSTRACT

Informed by the evolutionary literature on economic geography, this paper develops a conceptual framework for analysing the complexity between foreign direct investment (FDI) and renewal of industries. Present contributions tend to explain the impact of FDI on regional industry evolution as a static, output-oriented phenomenon, that is, informed by an instrumental rationale in which the dynamism of FDI and regional industry development is linked to polarization of stagnation/decline vs. growth/development. Opposing this, we argue for an epistemological shift in approach to the reciprocity between FDI and renewal of industries as dynamism between material outcomes and discursive processes. To accomplish this, we build on key concepts and understandings from evolutionary economic geography; review the regional effects of FDI literature and build a framework sensitive to contextual dimensions of FDI. We focus on multinational companies’ practices and material outcomes in terms of regional spillovers and the discursive processes in terms of FDI narratives. This framework is exemplified by data from the salmon farming industry and the subsea industry in Hordaland and the oil and gas industry and the mining industry in Finnmark.     

中国区域发展战略演变与驱动因素研究

本文利用五年计划或规划资料分析中国区域发展战略的动态演变过程,并运用内容分析法和政策工具框架进行实证检验,在此基础上从空间效率和空间公平的角度分别进行政治、经济、社会、文化和生态层面的主导驱动因素分析。研究结果表明,中国区域发展战略经历了平衡发展、优先发展和协调发展三个发展阶段,不同阶段促进区域发展战略演变的动因存在差异:平衡发展阶段考虑巩固国防、开发资源、改善交通、建立现代化工业体系和提高内陆地区人力资本;优先发展阶段考虑国家财政经济实力、治国理念、科技创新、经济效益和环境效益对比以及增强劳动力流动性;协调发展阶段考虑经济体制改革、环境治理、协调地方政府利益以及公共服务均等化。     

The historical dimension of French geography

In France, the study of history behind regional geography has suffered a long decline since the late nineteenth century, but a new historical dimension is beginning to emerge. In the nineteenth century, historians showed how much regional character owed to remains from antiquity while historical geographers traced the history of exploration and discovery from ancient to modern times. Vidal de la Blache integrated historical reconstruction with social analysis in the study of regions. Vidal's followers not only characterized the distinctiveness of regional features but also demonstrated that differences in regional ways of life were more pronounced before industrialization and urbanization than later. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, historical investigations by geographers were neither sufficiently comprehensive nor sufficiently rigorous to explain spatial patterns. Historians of the Annales school obtained deeper understandings of social and economic changes and took a broader view of long-term psychological, cultural and geographical changes. Their interpretations of agrarian structures illuminated problems fundamental to the development of European civilization. In the 1970s, reacting against mechanistic analyses of spatial organization, young scholars again turned to historical geography to examine problems of social evolution. At the moment, this revival of historical interest among geographers has not attracted much attention from historians.     

福建省县域经济差异的时空格局演化分析

以人均GDP 作为测度指标,采用传统统计分析与ESDA相结合的方法,从时间、空间以及关联性三个方面对2005-2013 年福建省县域经济差异的时空格局演化进行了分析。研究结果显示：①福建省县域经济的绝对差异波动性增加,相对差异逐年缩小,其中福建省经济差异的最大贡献者是闽东南地区内部差异;②县域经济存在正的空间自相关性,但县域经济集聚性呈波动衰退状态,两级分化现象呈减弱趋势;③较发达县域沿四大交通线路呈“口”字型分布;④欠发达县域在部分省际接壤地区分布较为集中,出现经济落后走廊;⑤县域经济增长对全省区域经济差异的影响表现为收敛;⑥县域经济发展的空间关联效应较强,发展速度相对较快。