国外区域经济研究的一个新趋势——区域经济网络研究

现代区域经济发展呈现出网络化的趋势。国外区域经济学者将复杂网络理论和方法引入到区域经济学中,逐渐开拓出区域经济网络研究这个新领域,形成了解释区域经济现象和揭示区域经济规律的网络分析路径。目前,国外的研究工作主要是运用复杂网络理论和分析方法,对区域经济中的各类网络进行规范的定义和描述,研究这些网络的形成与演化,揭示区域经济增长和发展中的网络效应,分析知识、技术等要素在网络中的流动和扩散。

A NEW TREND IN REGIONAL ECONOMICS: RESEARCH ON REGIONAL ECONOMIC NETWORKS

Overseas scholars of Regional Economics introduce complex network theories and methods into the analysis of regional economy, open up regional economic network research in this new field and develop a network analysis path to explain regional economic phenomena and to reveal new economic laws. Currently, the economic network research mainly focus on four areas:exploiting complex network theories and methods to define and describe networks; studying the formation and evolution process of networks; revealing network effects in regional economic growth and development; analyzing the flow and diffusion of knowledge, technology and other production factors. Complex network theories provide a series of analytical tools for regional economic network analysis. Moreover, the network also exists between the co evolutions or in the evolution process of mutual influence. The existing regional economic theory emphasizes the role of scale economy in the regional economic growth. The scale economy also exist in network, mainly along with increase in the number of nodes and the network density, network productivity will double. Under certain conditions, the network effects can also be negative and lock-in effects will appear. In the analysis of network and diffusion of production factor, besides distance, network structure and relations play important roles in the diffusion of production factors, especially, knowledge and information. The small world network structure is proved to be the most efficient in the diffusion process of production factors. Generally speaking,the research of regional economic networks will reveal new sources for the regional economic growth and development and give new explanations to the imbalanced development. Also network research emphasizes the importance of network structure and network effects, which are good complementariness for regional economic research.