Regional Disparities,Industry and Government Policy in Japan

This paper examines the time path of regional per capita income disparities in Japan during the last three decades, and analyses the determinants of this path, including government policies. Regional disparities have been quite common in most countries, and the problem has proven to be relatively intractable, though varying in intensity across time and across countries. The Japanese case is instructive in that the country has experienced several stages of the problem in a relatively brief period, and has managed to limit spatial polarization to a certain degree. This paper identifies links between broad growth policy orientations with resultant changes in regional income disparities, and suggests their policy implications for both mature and developing economies.     

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 Policy and the 'Regionalization' of University-Industry Links: A View from the English Regions

As several senior figures in UK Government have recently professed to want to promote the knowledge-driven economy across the nation, discussion of university-industry ties in less-favoured regions is particularly salient. This account documents how UK central government efforts to encourage greater university-industry links have increasingly taken on a regional dimension but then stresses that these efforts do not constitute a 'regional policy' (in the traditional sense of measures that seek to reduce interregional economic disparities). This activity is then set within the context of overall Government and European Union (EU) funding to universities which is also at odds with stated government aims of lessening regional economic disparities. The article goes on to highlight how mainstream regional policy, particularly that of the European Commission, has seen considerable support for university-industry activity in the regions but has faced an uncertain future due largely to the spectre of fund-draining EU expansion. The article concludes by asking what policies might be pursued for university-industry links to be increased in weaker regions. The underlying aim of the article is to contribute towards raising the profile of universities in debates about reducing interregional economic disparities (that must, in turn, be much higher on the public policy agenda).     

缓解发达地区省内区域经济差距的区域政策研究——以广东省为例

本文首先报告了作者对1990!2004年广东省区域经济差距的变动趋势和影响因素的前期研究,发现广东省内总体区域差距基本呈明显上升趋势,其中,三大地带间差距和珠江三角洲内部差距、第二产业差距和第三产业差距对全省总体差距的影响最大。文章继而详细论述了在市场经济条件下缓解广东省内日益扩大的区域差距的基本思路。在此基础上,本文给出了缩小广东省区域经济差距的区域政策建议。     

The single European market: Institutions and economic policies

The article analyzes the need for clarification of the competencies to be attributed to national or local authorities in Italy in the face of new protagonists for economic development. Analyzing the structural problems and the regional disparities between European countries, the territorial dimension of the economic development policy, the example of the German political and administrative system and the principles of the new community approach, it points out the importance of recognizing the regional level of industrial policy. In particular, the article underlines the fact that the present variation between the north and the south of the European Community is certainly the result of a plurality of conditions, whose presence presupposes a stable social and institutional reality, motivated towards development which cannot be guaranteed by the lack of an efficient local public system, endowed with adequate resources and competence to deal with new processes of development.     

Planning strategies and practices in non-core regions: a critical response

ABSTRACT

The development of non-core regions has attracted growing interest within the current debates of economic geography, regional studies and spatial planning. The divergence between economically successful core regions and less privileged non-core regions continues despite policy interventions aimed at tackling spatial disparities and income inequalities. While traditional growth-oriented policies raise concerns over their effectiveness and relevance beyond large cities and metropolitan regions, there is growing interest in exploring new research paths and policy options that are better able to address development challenges in non-core regions. Contributors to this special issue engage with these debates by reflecting on planning policies and practices in five European countries, paying special attention to identifying planning strategies for non-core regions. This paper argues that alternatives to growth-oriented models require additional conceptualization and analysis to translate values into policies and institutions.     

Measuring Regional Cohesion Effects of Large-scale Transport Infrastructure Investments: An Accessibility Approach

Transport infrastructure is considered one of the main policy instruments to achieve the cohesion goal, although the inclusion of cohesion effects in assessment methodologies is scarce and uneven. Although most cohesion studies are constrained to the analysis of regional disparities in economic indicators, this approach can be broadened to include other regional performance indicators. One of these indicators could be accessibility measures, from the point of view that accessibility, representing a competitive advantage of locations, constitutes a “desirable good” closely related to the welfare of each region. This paper suggests using changes in the spatial distribution of accessibility as a proxy to assess regional cohesion effects of transport infrastructure investments. However, as the conclusions taken depend heavily on the formulation of the accessibility measure, we recommend computing a set of accessibility indicators and analysing their results in a complementary way. The proposed methodology is tested by assessing regional cohesion effects of the large-scale road and rail transport infrastructure investments carried out in Spain in the period 1992–2004. The results obtained show that cohesion has improved for the road mode, while regional disparities have increased for the rail mode. This paper identifies the main factors driving this final cohesion effect and explores the strengths and weaknesses of the different accessibility indicators that were considered. The approach suggested in this paper has the potential to be applied in transport planning processes, and may eventually complement existing strategic assessment methodologies.     

Polycentricity – one concept or many?

This paper aims to discuss polycentrism and its implications. Polycentricity plays a key role in EU Cohesion Policy and has done so since 1999 when the notion was included in the European Spatial Development Perspective. Politically, it emerged as a key tool because of its ability to fuse together the two primary and conflicting perceptions of spatial–economic development, cohesion and competitiveness. No agreed definition of polycentricity exists. Furthermore, different actors and disciplines define polycentrism differently. The absence of a concise and coherent definition makes it difficult to measure polycentricity. Moreover, several studies have concluded that it is difficult to identify empirical evidence to support the positive claims made in its name. Polycentrism is assumed toolbox to reduce regional disparities, but polycentric countries display higher regional disparities than monocentric countries. Polycentric countries do not perform better than monocentric countries with regard to competitiveness and GDP/cap. As such, this paper concludes that not only does the political meaning of polycentricity struggle over aims with the inherit dichotomy at its heart, it also struggles in terms of basic credibility.     

The economic impact of national competition policy on Australian regions

Over the past 7 years Australia has been undergoing substantial economic reform under a collaborative Federal and State government programme known as national competition policy. These reforms have increased the nation's productivity and international competitiveness, and are generally held responsible for Australia's increased growth rate in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita over the past decade. However, the reforms have been carried out against a background of increased interregional disparities, to which the reform programme may have partly contributed. In this study we examine a number of Australian studies that have used computable general equilibrium modelling to uncover the regional economic consequences of national competition policy.     

中国海洋经济发展空间差异分析

90年代后期,中国海洋经济增长迅速,但区域差异呈现增大的趋势。文章分别从海洋经济发展总体水平、发展速度、产业结构变化方面入手研究不同尺度的中国海洋经济空间差异。在研究中利用标准差、变异系数、加权变异系数以及塞尔指数等指标分析中国海洋经济的省际差异以及北、中、南三大地带内及地带间差异的演变趋势。绘制罗仑兹曲线来反映海洋产业的空间集聚扩散情况。并指出出现区域差异的原因主要是资源禀赋、产业空间集聚、国家政策和外商投资倾斜以及历史基础等方面,最后提出缩小海洋经济区域差异的建议。     

Determinants of the Uneven Regional Participation of Firms in European Technology Programmes. The 'Low R&D Trap'

Technology is of key importance to the growth of regional firms and economies. Research has shown the association between low technology development or take-up and regional disparities. Hence technology policy is moving closer to the heart of regional policies. European innovation programmes are intended to involve firms, large and small, in international technology research and development networks. The paper focuses on the involvement of Spanish firms in such programmes. Participation tends to be low if business R&D, presence of large firms, and the development of regional innovation systems are also low. Creation of R&D infrastructure through the Structural Funds has now to be prioritized at EU level and also define a new scheme of sectoral priorities in order to support R&D innovation activities in fields diverse from high-tech, if regions are to escape the 'low R&D trap'.     

Regional Innovation Support Systems: Recent Trends in Germany and East Asia

Since the beginning of the 1990s, one can observe a clear shift in the aims of regional policy in industrialized countries from reducing regional inequalities to developing endogenous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and innovation in regions through regional innovation support systems. Innovation support systems are defined as a group of actively cooperating organizations that support the innovativeness of SMEs. An innovation support system consists of all agencies found in three support stages, namely the provision of general information, technological advice and joint R&D projects, between firms (of which technology-following SMEs are the main group), higher education institutes (HEIs) and public research establishments (PREs). Agencies found in these stages try to help to solve innovation problems mainly of technology-following SMEs by either giving them advice themselves or by referring them to other agencies in a further stage of support. The agencies can be mainly supra-nationally, nationally or regionally initiated. This paper aims at comparing these regional innovation support systems in Germany and East Asia, that is Japan and South Korea, both concerning the instruments used, their impact on regional economic development, their level of organizational embeddedness in regions and the ability of regions to coordinate innovation support policies. The main conclusions of the paper are that there are similarities between the regional innovation support systems found in the countries when it comes to policy instruments, but that the countries differ concerning their level of regional embeddedness and the abilities of regions to coordinate innovation support policies. The paper also tentatively concludes that in countries where regions have the ability to coordinate policies into integrative innovation support systems, the impact on regional economic development tend to be larger than in countries where these abilities are lacking, that is where dirigiste and grassroots support systems prevail. One important explanation for the different coordinating abilities lies in the different political-administrative systems found in the studied countries (centralized in South Korea versus federal in Germany). Other factors explaining differences are: a time lag of development policies between countries, differences between the history of supporting SMEs in regions, supra-national support frameworks, the commitment of the political leaders in regions, collective trust and the size of countries.     

我国东西部地区差异的实证研究与收敛性的R/S分析

本介绍了赫斯特指数(H)和分维值(DB)的计算方法,分析了我国改革开放以来的东西部人均GDP的差异,试图用分形理论中的R／S分析法分析1978--1999年我国基尼系数的收敛性约分形特征,得到赫斯特指数(H)和分维值(DB),进而分析这个时间序列的发展特性,并预测我国区域经济发展差异的未来变化趋势,提出政策建议,为国家的宏观调控政策提供理论上的依据。     

REGIONAL HETEROGENEITY IN WAGE DISTRIBUTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM SPAIN*

ABSTRACT Regional differences in real wages have been shown to be both large and persistent in the United States and the U.K., as well as in the economies of other countries. Empirical evidence suggests that wage differentials adjusted for the cost of living cannot only be explained by the unequal spatial distribution of characteristics determining earnings. Rather, average wage gap decomposition reveals the important contribution made by regional heterogeneity in the price assigned to these characteristics. This paper proposes a method for assessing regional disparities in the entire wage distribution and for decomposing the effect of differences across regions in the endowments and prices of the characteristics. The hypothesis forwarded is that the results from previous studies obtained by comparing average regional wages may be partial and nonrobust. Empirical evidence from a matched employer–employee dataset for Spain confirms marked differences in wage distributions between regions, which do not result from worker and firm characteristics but from the increasing role of regional differences in the return to human capital.     

Sectoral Versus Territorial Regional Planning and Development in Norway

New regional policies in Norway and many other countries try to empower their regions through creating a balance between central governing with emphasis on redistribution of activities and resources, and local mobilization with emphasis on self reliance, innovation and learning by doing. In Norway municipalities and counties have for a long period had this double function, but we now see that the vertical policy of implementing national welfare policy has grown and become dominant. As a consequence, the horizontal policy of social mobilization has been neglected, and has to some extent been taken over by inter-municipal and interregional organizations. Normally, these organizations are in practice organized as regional development agencies. They seem to be vulnerable political institutions that seek legitimacy from--and need acceptance and support from--both territorial and sectoral governments. The regional planning process is regarded as an important tool in their political institution building process. In this paper I want to explain how regional planning and institution building in Norway in practice have moved towards a two-parallel system.     

Decentralized Industrial Policies in Practice: The Case of Austria and Styria

Unlike other European countries, most industrial policy in Austria still takes place at the Federal level. With recent open access to European funding programmes on the one hand and increasing regional engagement in industrial policy questions on the other, we see ongoing changes in this structure. As a result, industrial policy strategies for Austria are more and more designed in close complementarity with both international and regional strategies. The recent shift toward technology policy observeable in nearly all industrialized countries has also taken place in Austria and has favoured major urban areas. Nevertheless, a consensus-oriented tradition in stabilization and social policy have had remarkable negative effects on laggard regions up to now. The plan of this paper is documenting the actual situation as well as recent chances in Austrian industrial and technology policy. Furthermore, philosophy, principal targets and instruments of new industrial policy at the Lander level (Styria) are examined to offer a closer view on advantages and possible disadvantages of regional industrial policy.     

Impact of Polycentric Urban Systems on Intra-regional Disparities: A Micro-regional Approach

From the normative perspective of EU regional policy, polycentric spatial development has been seen as an effective tool to overcome regional disparities since the adoption of the European Spatial Development Perspective. However, the impact of a polycentric spatial structure on equal spatial development is ambiguous and still waits for its clarification. This paper examines the relationship by focusing on the local scale, where medium-sized towns play a crucial role as local centres in everyday human lives. Using functional regions of the Czech Republic, this paper defines polycentric urban systems at the micro-regional scale. Subsequently, the level of mono/polycentricity is compared with intra-regional disparities. Based on the results of the analysis, it can be argued that the connection of polycentricity with balanced spatial development is strongly determined by selected indicators. However, the findings do not provide evidence about the strictly positive impact of polycentricity on intra-regional disparities. In a light of these results, the conclusion is rather sceptical about the unique role of polycentricity in spatial development and due to the lack of similar studies, further research is recommended.     

Scales of regional income disparities in the USA, 1955 2003

This article examines multiple dimensions of regional per capitaincome disparities in the USA between 1955 and 2003 with a particularfocus on scalar effects. It combines various exploratory analyticaltools of spatial disparities, including inequality indices,mobility indices, kernel density estimation, spatial autocorrelationstatistics and scale variances, to analyse regional averageper capita income distributions at multiple spatial scales,ranging from counties to multi-state regions. The analysis revealspreviously unrecognised systematic patterns of cross-scalardynamics, whereby spatial income disparities are increasinglymore pronounced at smaller scales in the last few decades.     

Spatial Disparities and Economic Development in China, 1953-92: A Comparative Study

It seems to be widely accepted that China's interior development during the Maoist period was based on ‘equality’ considerations, which narrowed Chinese regional disparities. By contrast, the recent coastal development during Deng's reform era has been coined as ‘uneven’ and ‘undesirable’, because it has created tremendous inequalities across the country. However, the findings of this study suggest that the question may not be that simple. This article examines the spatial disparities of economic development in China between 1953 and 1992, focusing on a time-series comparison between the development policies of Mao and Deng, their outcomes and the resulting changes. By using provincial and regional economic and investment data, the article elaborates why Mao's interior development did not lead to a more equitable outcome than Deng's uneven strategy of’ east coastal development’. The findings provide an insight into some of the unexpected outcomes of more than forty years of socialist development, in the realm of economic growth and disparity.     

Regional paths towards Europe 2020 targets: a spatial approach

Europe 2020 is a 10-year EU strategy, promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Despite ambitious goals, its spatially blinded approach might seriously threaten its success. Actually, large territorial disparities still affect the EU, being the basis for a strong EU-wide cohesion policy and suggesting a general re-framing of sectoral policies on a regional basis. In this respect, the paper tackles the issue of regional disparities in achieving Europe 2020 Strategy targets. As the Strategy involves different targets, principal component analysis is applied to disentangle Europe 2020 domains and to describe major differences in EU-27 NUTS 2 regional performances. In particular, two components are returned: high-employment inclusive growth and smart growth. Territorial patterns of both components are analysed, by jointly considering some geographical features that may affect them. Both a rural and a spatial effect occur: rural and remote regions show poor performances whilst the presence of spatial autocorrelation may actually lock-in negative outcomes. When considering urban rural divides, also within-regions disparities matter. Results strengthen the idea that Europe 2020, as other sectoral policies, should be translated into a regional setting according to a place-based approach: although requiring large efforts, this represents the only way to fully achieve its own targets.