Debunking the Myth of Localized Agglomerations: The Development of a Regionalized Service Economy in South-East England

The central argument of this paper is that localized clusters of economic activity, or 'agglomerations', have been overemphasized in economic geography since the mid-1980s. In particular, such analyses are too manufacturing-biased, and place too much weight on the importance of local supply, market and partnership linkages. We will re-emphasize the service-based nature of growth in the core region of the UK economy, and will explore how a broad band of producer service activity is emerging in the Western Arc, owing largely to common locational logics, including back-office decentralization and the new firm-formation process. Such growth is both stimulated and supported by the high demand levels of the regional economy, but evidence suggests that the linkages of such firms extend well beyond the 'local', to cover at least the 'Greater South-East'. Furthermore, the international element in service growth needs to be recognized, as highlighted by the concentration of US foreign direct investment in the software industry along the M4 corridor. When areas outside the South-East are considered (such as Edinburgh, Tyne and Wear, Cheshire), the evidence appears to support Allen's (1992) notion of a 'regionalized mode of service growth' in the South-East.     

Spatial Reach of Office Firms: Case Study in the Metropolitan CBD of Tel Aviv, Israel

This paper, using the CBD of metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel, as a case study, discloses the spatial range of linkages of office firms, situated in newly built office towers. The linkages explored, from the results of a sample of 120 office firms, are those held by office firms with clients, suppliers of goods and services, and with other service firms as partners or as subcontractors. The magnitude of the linkages is revealed in the context of Israel's recent entry into the post-industrial age and its rapid affiliation with the global economy, accompanied by functional restructuring of the service economy. It is also visible in the built environment of Tel Aviv, with large-scale construction of over thirty Class A office tower buildings. Complex spatial interrelationships are found, extending from their immediate metropolitan environment toward the world's leading economic centres. Future avenues of research are explored.     

Producer Services, Economic Geography, and Services Tradability

We investigate how the incorporation of producer services linkages affects the outcome of an economic geography model. We specify the production of manufactures such that a variety of producer services is needed to transform tradable unfinished goods into final consumption goods. We find that service linkages promote the concentration of economic activity in a single region, but whether full concentration is achieved depends on the costs and mode of services trade. Applying the model to a multiregion world shows that incorporating producer services may also give rise to regions that specialize in different economic activities.     

生态系统服务对区域经济增长的影响研究——以黑龙江省为例

以净初级生产力作为生态系统服务的综合测量指标,在经典柯布道格拉斯生产函数的基础上,运用协整与误差修正模型对1986-2010年黑龙江省生态系统服务对区域经济增长的影响进行了分析,并评估了净初级生产力的边际价格。结果表明,黑龙江省生态系统服务对区域经济增长具有明显的促进作用,净初级生产力每提高1%促进真实GDP增长0.0257%;在生态系统服务的影响下,黑龙江省经济系统以每年1.8%的速率将系统波动产生的非均衡状态向长期均衡状态调整,说明生态系统服务在促进经济增长的同时也保障了经济体系的稳定运行;在误差修正模型基础上得到的黑龙江省净初级生产力的边际价格为255.1元/106kgC(以1952年价格为基准),此价格主要受净初级生产力产出弹性的影响。     

Supplier linkages of foreign-owned manufacturing firms in the UK: the influence of entry mode,subsidiary autonomy and nationality

This article tests the hypothesis that the supplier linkages which subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies make with indigenous firms in the UK are influenced by entry mode, the amount of autonomy which is granted to the subsidiary which is established and the nationality of the parent company. Data were collected from foreign-owned firms in the UK and an ordered probit model with the change in supplier linkages as the dependent variable was devised and tested. The results provide support for the hypothesis in terms of entry mode and subsidiary autonomy, but not in terms of parent nationality. This study represents a new approach to the study of supplier linkages and integrates concepts and studies from both regional science and international business. Foreign-owned firms which entered the UK by means of a greenfield entry tend to have a relatively positive effect on the creation and growth of supplier linkages, whereas those which entered by way of a merger or acquisition tended to have a relatively negative effect on the growth of such linkages. This finding has important implications for academics and policy-makers alike. Although the potential impact which the creation of supplier linkages can make upon the host country's economy has long been recognised, little research has been undertaken to identify the key factors which affect such growth. With increased levels of globalisation it is important that governments are able to maximise the impact which foreign direct investment makes upon the economy of their countries.     

China's Demographic and Urban Trends for the 21st Century

This paper assesses remarkable and far-reaching changes under way as China enters the 21st century. Among the most significant are the rapid decline in fertility and birth rates, leading to a slowdown in the rate of population growth and a reduction in the growth rate of the labor force. This occurs against the backdrop of continuing structural shift in the economy from a rural-based economy to one increasingly urban-based with growing employment in manufacturing and services. Oshima's conceptual framework for the demographic and industrial transition in Asia is invoked to help explain conditions of change in China. Urbanization proceeds in parallel with these economic changes, and a key feature of transition will be the growth of cities and towns of all sizes. The regional pattern of urbanization will proceed at different rates, with coastal regions advancing most rapidly owing to stronger linkages to the global economy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: J11, O10, O18. 3 figures, 6 tables, 36 references.     

The Role of Economic Sectors in the Formation of Regional Production Complexes

A variety of approaches used in Soviet economic geography to define and measure the productive specialization of an economic region are reviewed. In the author's view, a regional activity qualifies as regional specialization if it helps shape the basic character of the regional economy. It is not sufficient for a regional activity merely to represent a major portion of a particular national sector of the economy. For example, the asbestos industry in the Urals represents the major portion of Soviet asbestos output, but asbestos does not shape the basic character of the Urals economy and is therefore not a principal specialization sector. Regional specialization derives from relationships among the various sectors of the regional economy, not from the significance of any particular commodity. A classification of economic sectors is proposed as an aid in analyzing the functioning of a regional economy: (1) the principal specialization sectors; (2) basic raw-material sectors; (3) associated sectors using the wastes and by-products of the principal sectors; (4) complementary specialization sectors, such as asbestos in the Urals; (5) auxiliary sectors, such as metallurgical fluxes for the iron and steel industry; (6) service sectors, including utilities, transportation, construction, trade; (7) local sectors, working for local consumption.     

1980～2050年的中国现代化进程:回顾与前瞻--一个经济学家的视角

按照"三步走"实现现代化的战略部署,我国已经实现了前两步,进入21世纪开始走第三步,2001～2020年的发展目标是全面建设小康社会.我国对全面建设小康社会的规划是:2020年国内生产总值比2000年翻两番;经济发展的基本走向为工业化、城市化、开放型经济;增进全体人民的福利;推进制度创新.中国的现代化要实现三个根本性的转交:经济体制的根本性转变,经济增长方式的根本性转变,从二元经济结构到现代社会经济结构的根本性转变.中国的现代化不仅是发展社会生产力,还包括精神文明建设和政治文明建设等各方面制度的改革和健全.中国经济具备持续增长的诸多有利条件,2020年以后,中国将按照适合国情的发展道路,逐步地从小康社会走向现代化.     

中国城市信息服务业发展影响因素研究——基于中国191个城市的空间横截面数据分析

采用空间统计和空间计量经济学原理和方法对2005-2010年间中国191个城市信息服务业发展的影响因素进行了实证研究。结果表明:城市信息化水平和人力资本对信息服务业的发展具有显著的正向作用;对外开放水平对信息服务业的发展影响不明显;城市间的产业关联对信息服务业发展没有通过显著性水平检验,这表明城市间物质层面的相互交换并没有对信息服务业的发展产生应有的正效应,而相反城市间的信息流动和知识溢出对信息服务业的发展具有显著的促进作用。     

Productive Relations in the Northeast and the Rest‐of‐Brazil Regions in 1995: Decomposition and Synergy in Input‐Output Systems

Using a set of interregional input‐output tables built by Guilhoto (1998) for 1995 for two Brazilian regions (Northeast and rest of the economy), the methodology developed by Sonis, Hewings, and Miyazawa (1997) is applied in the construction of a series of linkages such that it is possible to examine, through the nature of the internal and external interdependencies, the structure of trading relationships between the two regions. The methodology uses a partitioned input‐output system and exploits techniques that produce left and right matrix multipliers of the Leontief Inverse. This procedure facilitates the classification of the types of synergetic interactions within a preset pairwise hierarchy of economic linkages subsystems. In general, the results show that the Northeast region has a greater dependence on the rest of the economy region than the rest of the economy has on the Northeast region, and at the same time the rest of the economy region seems to be more developed as it presents a more complex productive structure than the Northeast region.     

Export of Services of Servicing Exports?

Information and communications technology has ensured that many producer services, as well as more ‘basic’ services such as transportation or insurance, are now more tradable than ever. All the indications are that this trade will increase. This has raised the international profile of service and altered governments to their potential as sources of export revenue. This is seen as one way of enhancing national (or regional) economic performance. But should this be assumed to be a panacea for improving national economic growth and restructuring? The general pattern and structure of international trade in services is examined to show that, while valuable, the direct contribution of services to national exports is actually growing relatively slowly and the pattern of trade is highly concentrated. It may actually be important to recognize and nurture the indirect contribution of services to overall national export activity. Goods production and distribution is increasingly dependent on service knowledge and skill; its export competitiveness is a function of the expertise and intellectual knowledge (mainly services) incorporated in the products, the ‘value’ of those products to consumers, and the ways in which they reach out to their markets.     

The service sector,regional specialization,and economic growth in the Victorian economy

During the Victorian period there were substantial regional variations in employment in the service industries. Explanations of economic growth in this period have been dominated by the notion that it was industry-led. If that were so, service growth would be a function of industrial growth. Testing of this thesis by econometric methods suggested that industry provided a poor explanation for variations in services, and that the main explanation was provided by variations in income. This raised other questions, since income per head in the industrial areas was generally much lower than in the less industrialized and service-oriented south of England. There is an abundance of evidence to suggest that this service-oriented regional growth was not derived from industrial development but from international trade and finance together with the consumer spending of a wealthy landed society. There was thus a substantial element of economic and spatial dualism in the Victorian economy. The role of heavy industry in Victorian growth thus needs to be revised considerably downward, and the importance of services and the South East region in particular revised considerably upward. Indeed it is by no means sure that the industrial regions provided the principal stimulus to Victorian growth: the evidence of this study would suggest otherwise.     

新世纪初以色列的地缘经济战略刍议

二十世纪后期以来的经济全球化、区域集团化的发展趋势表明,世界经济已经开始向地缘经济时代迈进。本文从双边合作和多边合作的角度分析了以色列与周缘国家开展地缘经济合作的现状,并在此基础上提出了以色列发展地缘经济合作的政治、经济和社会目标,最后探讨了其地缘经济合作战略的三层次模式:项目合作、次区域合作和核心扩散合作。     

Services in Russia: past,present, and future

In spite of ambitious modernization plans of the government, structural change in Russia is not proceeding in the direction of highly developed economies. Part of the lag in the tertiarization process can be explained by the fact that, as during the Soviet period, the role of services in the economy is still ignored, particularly regarding innovation. This paper aims to contribute to the analysis of the evolution of services in Russia since the mid-1990s and its future prospects by compiling data from the World Bank, the International Labor Organization, Rosstat, and the World Input–Output Database. Two complementary and novel perspectives are adopted: a production system perspective and a spatial perspective. Regarding services in the Russian production system, comparison of interindustry linkages reveals that, in addition to traditional relevant activities like wholesale/retail trade and transport and communications, business services are acquiring great importance as production process inputs. Concerning the spatial perspective, we observe a greater presence of non-market services in less densely populated federal districts, while strategic service activities are highly concentrated in the most dynamic ones. Analysis of major Russian cities confirmed the trend of business services concentrating in densely populated and highly innovative cities. In brief, services, and in particular business services, can be a means to boost innovation and growth in Russia, but more attention from political leaders is necessary for these activities. The modernization process should abandon its current “high-technology industry myopia” and take into consideration the innovative, and especially, the knowledge-diffuser role, that services can exert.     

New approaches to economic development in peripheral rural regions

This paper explores new approaches to economic development in peripheral regions in the context of constraints on public expenditure, declining employment in traditional natural resource based industries, and globalisation of the economy. Three conceptual pairs ‐resource mobility and immobility; tangible and intangible factors; and global‐local interrelations — underpin three ideas about these new approaches, and their impact on differential economic performance observed in otherwise similar localities and regions. A case study is given to illustrate the role played by less mobile cultural, social and environmental assets in these strategies. However, a key feature of the cases is the importance of both local and extra‐local linkages, often at international level, whether this has to do with market or non‐market activity. The conclusions raise questions for research about the root causes of differences in economic performance between rural localities, whether local initiatives will suffice to counter further likely declines in public subventions and natural resource based employment and also about the focus of policy in such regions.     

The brave new world of services-led growth

Two important trends will strongly influence growth in emerging economies: one is the increasing role of services as drivers displacing manufacturing that has hitherto been the principal engine of growth in advanced and developing economies alike; the second is the parallel rise of trade in services both directly and embodied in products. The paper shows how the competitiveness and profitability of firms is becoming closely linked to the quality and innovativeness of services, and how the bundling of services with manufactures is the key to earning high returns over the longer term. Between 25 and 40 percent of value added in manufacturing is now in the form of services with high-end manufacturing becoming increasingly services-intensive. The future therefore, seems to lie in the cultivation of product-services systems that harness the full potential of manufacturing and associated pre- and post-production services such as design, R&D, marketing, and post-sale maintenance, especially of sophisticated equipment. The policy implications for emerging economies such as Russia, India, and China are manifold; e.g. for workforce skill development; for innovation systems (the nature of innovation and the orientation of R&D); for the contribution of capital to growth in a services-centered economy; for the maximizing of productivity gains from tradable and non-tradable services, which have been productivity laggards in the past; and for the creation of a facilitating institutional environment.     

Geographical Perspectives on Producer Service Industry Research in Australia

In contrast to the situation in North America and Europe, producer services research in Australia has largely focused on their international role rather than their domestic one. The growing internationalisation of the Australian economy in the last decade has been closely interrelated with the progressive internationalisation of producer service industries. International banking and finance as well as trade-related services have had significant urban impacts in major cities. Australia's growing linkages with East Asia are having impacts on the geography of service industries. However, little is known about the urban and regional implications of economic restructuring in these industries. There are important urban and regional implications resulting from the externalisation of services from manufacturing, as well as from the shedding of labour on the part of large service industry organisations. Similarly, little attention has been given to urban and regional implications of producer services by policy makers either at a federal or state government level.     

The early Byzantine economy in context: aristocratic property and economic growth reconsidered

This article responds to recent primitivist claims with respect to the late antique economy of the early Byzantine period. It examines the archaeological and documentary evidence for economic sophistication in early Byzantine Egypt, and addresses the issue of economic growth in late antiquity as a whole by placing the evidence for early Byzantine economic expansion in a broader medieval context. In particular, the epiphenomena of economic growth in late antiquity are compared to the epiphenomena of statistically demonstrable economic growth in Anglo‐Norman England.     

The Location and Concentration of Businesses in Britain: Business Clusters, Business Services, Market Coverage and Local Economic Development

An important debate has recently developed around the significance of business clusters for the development of the economy. This paper assesses the extent to which concentrated clusters of businesses exist in Britain, using the fine spatial mesh of postcode districts. It identifies the major clusters using a development of the methodology to define local labour market areas. The paper demonstrates the high degree of localization and uneven development of businesses in Britain. It also shows that business service firms are even more highly localized and clustered than other businesses. Moreover, the larger the business centre, the more localized and clustered the firms. The pattern suggests that there is a strong influence of increasing returns of scale, and that, as well as local clusters, much of the British economy is covered by one metacluster. Implications from these results are drawn for the likely future development of the economy, the location of business service suppliers in order to develop their market coverage, and local economic development policy.     

东北三省城市经济弹性空间分异及其影响因素研究

为促进东北三省城市经济的复苏与可持续发展，构建城市经济弹性评价指标体系，运用熵值法和多指标综合评价法，对东北三省城市经济弹性水平及其吸收能力、恢复能力和转换能力等构成要素进行评价，运用灰色关联分析法对城市经济弹性影响因素进行研究。结果表明：①从城市经济弹性水平来看，除了大连、长春和哈尔滨处于中等水平外，其余城市均处在较低水平和低度水平；②从城市经济弹性的空间分异来看，呈现显著的“集聚化”分异特征；③从城市经济吸收、恢复和转换能力来看，各城市水平与经济弹性水平基本一致，且空间分异特征也基本一致；④影响城市经济弹性的主要因素分别是经济结构、经济规模、环境状况、人力资源和经济密度。