Search

We examine day-to-day fluctuations in worker-level output at two manufacturing sites located in different industrial towns in China. Ambient air pollution in both towns, as proxied alternatively by fine-particle (PM2.5) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels, is severe but significantly variable, in part due to exogenous atmospheric ventilation. Across sites, pollution proxies and estimators, and correcting for worker heterogeneity and seasonality, we find a precisely estimated zero response on daily worker output from concurrent (same-shift) variation in air pollution. This is consistent with the stated perceptions of managers during our visits to over 10 firms in four provinces. We then follow the epidemiological literature and allow worker outcomes to respond to day-to-day variation in pollution with up to 30 days of delay. We uncover statistically significant adverse output effects from more prolonged pollution exposure, but these effects are not large. The cumulative effect – scaled for a large +10 μg/m3 PM2.5 variation in exposure on the day of output and on each of the previous 25 days – amounts to -0.5 to -3% of mean daily output. Estimates using SO2 are similar. Consistent with a simple model, more productive workers tend to respond more to pollution.

Drawing on a new and comprehensive measure of logistics quality, our gravity model suggests logistics in the exporting and partner-country can have an important impact on bilateral exports. A one standard deviation improvement in the exporter’s logistics quality, which for example would improve Gabon to the level of Guinea, would raise exports by almost 60%. Landlocked countries’ exports depend on their neighbours’ logistics, but their own logistics quality is not as important as for other countries. We also find that logistics act to reduce the trade effects of distance, but without eliminating them.

Millennium development goal (MDG) of poverty reduction aims for halving of the head-count ratio over the period 1990-2015. Available studies draw attention to the gap between observed and required growth rates, the difficulties of sustaining the latter over time, and whether the policy stance of a government makes a difference to its overall performance. Trade-offs between growth and redistribution in achieving the MDG have also been examined. The present study builds on earlier work in several respects. A two-stage procedure is developed in which income per capita depends on agricultural GDP, a measure of openness of the economy, and regional characteristics in the first stage, and poverty depends on the (estimated) income per capita, a measure of income inequality, and regional characteristics in the second stage. Alternative estimation techniques – including a panel data method- have been employed to check the robustness of the results. The feasibility of halving poverty is examined at the global, regional and country levels. The gaps between required and observed growth rates of aggregate and agricultural income, and the trade-offs between growth and redistribution of income are assessed. While doubts persist about the feasibility of halving poverty in some regions, the results bring into sharper relief the potential of redistribution in achieving this goal.

Over the past decade the production of tight oil and shale gas significantly increased in the United States. This paper examines how this energy boom has affected regional crime rates throughout the country. We find positive effects on rates of various property and violent crimes in shale-rich counties. In 2013, the cost of the additional crimes in the average treatment county was roughly $2 million. These results are not easily explained by shifts in observed demographics like gender and age. There is however evidence that people with criminal records (registered sex offenders) moved disproportionally to shale-boom towns in North Dakota. We also document a rise in income inequality (a postulated determinant of criminal activity) that coincides with the timing of the energy boom. Policy makers in boom towns should anticipate these crime effects and invest in public infrastructure accordingly.

The US Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Program awards grants to redevelop contaminated lands known as brownfields. This paper estimates cleanup benefits by combining administrative records for a nationally representative sample of brownfields with high-resolution, high-frequency housing data. With cleanup, we find that property values increase by an average of 5.0% to 11.5%. For a welfare interpretation that does not rely on the intertemporal stability of the hedonic price function, a double-difference matching estimator finds even larger effects of up to 15.2%. Our various specifications lead to the consistent conclusion that Brownfields Program cleanups yield positive, statistically significant, but highly localized effects on housing prices.

Science and Technology Parks (STPs) has become fairly widespread through the world, although their effect on firms' innovation performance is still a very debated issue. A recent stream in the literature points to heterogeneity of tenants and of parks themselves being a key concept when assessing STPs effect on tenants' performance. An important source of STPs heterogeneity that has been disregarded so far is the degree of university involvement in these parks. At the extremes, there are parks that are owned and managed by universities, and parks with no formal links with a university. We use data from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for Spain and a survey of STP park managers to analyse how the degree of involvement of a university in the STP is related to innovation outputs of its tenants and their links with universities. We show that higher involvement of a university in the STP is positively related to the number of patent applications, but negatively related to tenant's innovation sales. In addition, we find no robust evidence that higher involvement of a university in the STP is positively related to the propensity for park firms to cooperate with a university or to purchase external R&D services from the university.

O artigo apresenta uma discussão sobre a dinâmica regional e o ordenamento do território brasileiro. Parte-se do princípio de que a região é um conceito que vai além de um recorte no território, refletindo indicadores naturais, sociais e econômicos. A partir dessa premissa, apresenta-se uma reflexão sobre a divisão político-administrativa brasileira e das diferentes formas institucionais de organização. Essa reflexão, associada á análise de indicadores territoriais, leva à discussão sobre as políticas territoriais e sua indissociabilidade das políticas urbanas.

Are knowledge flows all alike? Evidence from European regions. Regional Studies. The paper investigates the impact of distance, contiguity and technological proximity on cross-regional knowledge flows by comparing the evidence concerning co-inventorship, applicant–inventor relationships and citation flows. Evidence is found of significant differences across these diverse kinds of knowledge flows for what concerns the role of distance, and the moderating role of contiguity and technological proximity. Moreover, it is shown that border effects may prove crucial in a twofold sense. On the one hand, contiguity between regions belonging to two different countries still plays a moderating role, although weaker as compared with that of within-country contiguity. On the other hand, regions sharing a frontier with a foreign country are more likely to exchange knowledge with this foreign country than other regions which are far from the border.

The economic effect of corruption in Italy: a regional panel analysis, Regional Studies. This paper provides a within-country analysis of the impact of corruption on economic growth using a panel of Italian regions from 1968 to 2011 through a robust measure of corruption. This measure is averaged over five-year periods to reduce short-run fluctuations and probable delayed effects. The results show a significant negative impact of corruption on long-term growth in all specifications, both on average and for each Italian region. As a consequence, a zero level of corruption is growth maximizing. This effect is non-linear such that the negative impact of corruption on growth becomes less intense as corruption increases.

Real estate is an important driver of the Chinese economy, which itself is vital for global growth. However, data limitations make it challenging to evaluate competing claims about the state of Chinese housing markets. This paper brings new data and analysis to the study of supply and demand conditions in nearly three dozen major cities. We first document the most accurate measures of land values, construction costs, and overall house prices. We then create and investigate a number of supply and demand metrics to see if price growth reasonably can be interpreted as reflecting local market fundamentals. Key results include the following: (1) Real house price growth has been high, averaging 10% per annum since 2006. However, there is substantial heterogeneity across markets, ranging from 2.8% (Jinan) to 19.8% (Beijing). House price growth is driven by rising land values, not by construction costs. Real land values have risen by 14.4% per annum on average. In Beijing, the increase has been by a remarkable 27.5% per year (or by 1036%) since 2004. (2) There is variation about the strong positive trend in house price and land value growth. Land values fell by nearly one-third at the beginning of the global financial crisis, but more than fully recovered amidst the 2009–2010 Chinese stimulus. More recent growth has been much more modest, with some markets beginning to decline. Quantities of land sales by local governments to private residential developers have dropped sharply since 2013. The most recent data show transactions volumes down by half or more. This should lead to a reduced supply of new housing units in coming years. (3) Market-level analysis of short- and longer-run changes in supply–demand balances finds important variation across markets. In the major East region markets of Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen which have experienced very high rates of real price growth, we estimate that the growth in households demanding housing units has outpaced new construction since the turn of the century. However, there are thirteen large markets, primarily in the interior of the country, in which new housing production has outpaced household growth by at least 30% and another eleven in which it did so by at least 10%. Regression results show that a one standard deviation increase in local market housing inventory is associated with a 0.45 standard deviation lower rate of real house price growth the following year. (4) There are no official data on residential vacancy rates in China, but some researchers have reported very high figures (17%+). We develop a new series at the provincial level which yields a much lower vacancy rate on average, but it has been rising—from 5.2% in 2009 to 7.8% in 2014. (5) The risk of housing even in markets such as Beijing which show no evidence of oversupply, is best evidenced by price-to-rent ratios. They are well above 50 in the capital city. Poterba's (1984) user cost model suggests these levels can be justified only if owners have sufficiently high expectations of future capital gains. Even a modest one percentage point drop in expected appreciation (or increase in interest rates) would result in a drop in prices of about one-third, absent an offsetting increase in rents.

We construct monthly economic activity indices for the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) beginning in 1990. Each index is derived from a dynamic factor model based on twelve underlying variables capturing various aspects of metro area economic activity. To accommodate mixed-frequency data and differences in data-publication lags, we estimate the dynamic factor model using a maximum-likelihood approach that allows for arbitrary patterns of missing data. Our indices highlight important similarities and differences in business cycles across MSAs. While a number of MSAs experience sizable recessions during the national recessions of the early 1990s and early 2000s, other MSAs escape recessions altogether during one or both of these periods. Nearly all MSAs suffer relatively deep recessions near the recent Great Recession, but we still find significant differences in the depth of recent metro recessions. We relate the severity of metro recessions to a variety of MSA characteristics and find that MSAs with less-educated populations and less elastic housing supplies experience significantly more severe recessions. After controlling for national economic activity, we also find significant evidence of dynamic spillover effects in economic activity across MSAs.

We present new evidence about the relationship between military conflict and city population growth in Europe from the fall of Charlemagne’s empire to the start of the Industrial Revolution. Military conflict was a main feature of European history. We argue that cities were safe harbors from conflict threats. To test this argument, we construct a novel database that geocodes the locations of 1,091 conflicts and 676 cities between 800 and 1799. We find a significant, positive, and robust relationship that runs from conflict exposure to city population growth. Our analysis suggests that military conflict played a key role in the rise of urban Europe.

Poor domestic transportation infrastructure in developing countries is often cited as an important impediment for accessing international markets. Yet, evidence on how transportation infrastructure improvements affect the volume and composition of exports is scarce. Drawing on the large-scale public investment in expressways undertaken in Turkey during the 2000s, this paper contributes to our understanding of how internal trade costs affect regional exports and specialization. Two results emerge. First, we estimate that this road infrastructure project accounts for 15 percent of the export increase from interior regions, generating a 10-year discounted stream of additional export revenues that amount to between 9 and 14 percent of the value of the investment. Second, while the exports of all industries within a given region increase in response to improvements in connectivity to the international gateways of the country, the magnitude of this increase is larger the more time sensitive an industry is. Accordingly, we also observe an increase in the regional employment and revenue shares of such industries. Our results support the hypothesis that internal trade costs can be a determinant of international specialization and comparative advantage.

Using the location of baroque opera houses as a natural experiment, Falck et al. (2011) claim to document a positive causal effect of the supply of cultural goods on today's regional distribution of talents. This paper raises serious doubts on the validity of the identification strategy underlying these estimates, though. While we are able to replicate the original results, we proceed to show that the same empirical strategy also assigns positive causal effects to the location of historical brothels and breweries. These estimated effects are similar in size and signifi cance to those of historical opera houses. We document that all these estimates reflect the importance of institutions for long-run economic growth, and that the effect of historical amenities on the contemporary local share of high skilled workers disappears upon controlling for regions' historical importance.

The aim of this paper is to explore the relation between the critical knowledge base of firms and how firms respond to incentives embedded in the institutional framework surrounding them. The analysis gives us a better understanding of the complex development of the food sector in Southern Sweden in the past decades. Theoretically, the paper combines concepts of path dependency and knowledge bases, and applies this framework to a set of development trajectories of firms in the Scanian food sector. Three development paths are identified—path extension, path renewal and new path creation. Findings illustrate that these are rooted in different knowledge base combinations of firms, which make them respond differently to similar place- and sector-specific institutional conditions.

How does economic science inform the study of sustainable development? In his new book, Jeffrey D. Sachs analyzes the challenges of achieving economic growth while protecting the environment and achieving an equitable distribution of resources. This review presents an overview of this ambitious book with special emphasis on the role of the objectives of local and national leaders and their incentives to pursue the sustainability agenda. Given the huge migration to cities now playing out in the developing world, special attention is paid to the role of urbanization as a cause of sustainability opportunities and challenges. (JEL Q01, Q54, Q56, R11)

The recent U.S. house price bubble and the subsequent deep financial crisis have renewed the interest in reliable identification methods for asset price bubbles. While there is a growing number of studies focussing on the detection of U.S. regional bubbles, estimations of the likely starting points in different local U.S. markets are still rare. Using regional data from 1990 to 2010 methods of Statistical Process Control (SPC) are used to test for house price bubbles in 17 major U.S. cities. Based on the EWMA control chart we also present estimations of the likely starting point of the regional bubbles. As a result, we find indications of house price bubbles in all 17 considered cities. Interestingly enough, the recent bubble was not a homogeneous event since regional starting points range from 1996 to 2002.

The aim of this study is twofold. First, despite the vast empirical literature on testing the neoclassical model of economic growth using cross-country data, very few studies exist at the sub-national level. We attempt to fill this gap by utilizing panel data over the 2002-2012 period, a modified neoclassical growth equation, and a dynamic panel estimator to investigate the effect of both health and education capital on economic growth and poverty at the district level in Indonesia. Secondly, whilst most existing cross-country studies tend to concentrate only on education as a measure of human capital, we expand the analysis and probe the effects of health capital as well. As far as we are aware, no study has done a direct and comprehensive examination of the impacts of health on growth and poverty at the sub-national level. Thus this study is a premier at the sub-national level, and our findings will be particularly relevant in understanding the role of both health and education capital in accelerating growth and poverty reduction efforts.

Agriculture may support the local nonagricultural economy in rural areas, though agricultural expansion may also crowd-out nonagricultural activity. On the United States Plains, areas over the Ogallala aquifer experienced windfall agricultural gains when post-WWII technologies increased farmers' access to groundwater. Comparing counties over the Ogallala with similar counties, nonagricultural sectors experienced only short-run relative benefits. Despite substantial and persistent agricultural gains, there was no long-run relative expansion of nonagricultural sectors in Ogallala counties. Agricultural development may still encourage regional or national nonagricultural development, but agriculture does not appear to generate local economic spillovers that differentially encourage local nonagricultural activity. (JEL Q12, Q15, Q18, Q25, R11)

The paper studies the role of incentives provided by local government units (LGUs) in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Poland’s Lodz province. The authors draw conclusions based on the results of a direct study using two types of questionnaires, one for foreign investors in the province and the other for LGUs. To ensure the accuracy of the study, the authors conducted an array of statistical surveys and tests. The eta correlation coefficient was among the most important measures, the authors say. It was used to assess the relationship between the inflow of FDI to Lodz province and the investment incentives offered by local government. The method helped verify a hypothesis concerning the significance of statistical relationships between the analyzed variables. The obtained results demonstrate that most LGUs were interested in attracting investors, both Polish and foreign, the authors note. Incentives targeted exclusively at foreign investors were rare, according to the authors. Financial incentives were offered by only 7% of the districts and counties. Tax relief and allowances in property fees and local charges were the most popular types of financial incentives. Many LGUs resorted to various promotional methods. The results of the study show that investment incentives were of secondary importance to the inflow of FDI to Lodz province, the authors conclude. Nor was this kind of support a key factor behind the decisions of foreign investors to continue operating in the region.

Die amtliche Statistik hat die Angaben zum Bruttoinlandsprodukt der ostdeutschen Flächenländer für die Jahre seit 2000 um jährlich rund 3% erhöht. In dieser Korrektur kommen auch konzeptionelle Erweiterungen des gesamtwirtschaftlichen Rechnungswesens zum Tragen. Insbesondere betrifft das Forschungs- und Entwicklungsleistungen, die jetzt wie eine Investition in ein Vermögensgut behandelt werden. Es zeigt sich, dass der Osten in diesem Zukunftsbereich gegenüber dem Westen stärker zurückliegt, als bisher beziffert worden ist.

Regional development policies became a current issue within a totally new scope with the increasing importance of local activities by the 1990s. During this period, states having a national perspective on development were replaced by 'regional development agencies' within the framework of newly emerging understanding of ‘governance’. Regional development policies in Turkey were transformed from centralization to decentralization with the process of membership to the European Union. The “Development Agencies” emerging from this process were established in 26 Level 2 Regions in Turkey, starting from 2006. In this context, this study is designed to examine the activities of Development Agencies, established within 26 Level 2 Regions in Turkey, based on their activity reports, and to identify the compliance of these activities with tasks and responsibilities of the Agencies. This study uses the ‘Call for Proposals’ mechanism as an activity of the agencies.

The article generalizes the factors influencing the formation of socio-economic development of rural areas and the development of the concept of such development. Some aspects of state regulation of social and economic development of rural areas and directions of forming regional systems of Rural Development. Systematized scientific approaches and the concept of rural development and the degree of differentiation of rural areas by various signs. Carried out SWOT analysis of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats for social and economic development of rural areas in the present conditions. Grounded the measures on the use of innovation activities in accelerating socio-economic development of rural areas, and proposed the concept of socio-economic development of rural areas, based on the accounting functions of rural areas in particular: residential, economic, industrial, recreational, accommodation, environmental, resource.

The economic fortunes of port-cities have evolved over time. Ports have been drivers of trade-related economic wealth in the past, but current economic benefits to their cities are more ambiguous. Port-cities and their evo-lutions have been categorised in various ways. This article aims to assess the applicability of these typologies by confronting two port-cities in the Mediter-ranean of similar size and similar dominance of port functions: Marseille in France and Mersin in Turkey. After an analysis of the different port develop-ment trajectories, the article assesses the economic impact of these two ports. Following a similar methodology, it provides calculations of port-related em-ployment, value added and inter-regional spill-overs. It compares the economic trajectories and possible future development paths. By confronting these differ-ent trajectories, the article attempts to assess the applicability of generic port-city typologies and models of port-city evolutions.

The article provides a review of international experience in the fi eld of electricity markets integration in Central American countries and European Power Exchange SPOT zone. The revision of earlier results for Nord Pool, North American Free Trade Agreement and MERCOSUR is given. Conclusions about common positive and negative factors affecting the process of integration are derived.

The dramatic increase in oil and gas production from shale formations has led to an intense interest in its impact on local area economies. Exploration, drilling and extraction are associated with direct increases in employment and income in the energy industry, but little is known about the impacts on other parts of local economies. Increased energy sector employment and income can have positive spillover effects through increased purchases of intermediate goods and induced local spending. Negative spillover effects can occur through rising local factor and goods prices and adverse effects on the local area quality of life. Therefore, this paper examines the net economic impacts of oil and gas production from shale formations for key shale oil and gas producing areas in Arkansas, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The synthetic control method (Abadie and Gardeazabal, 2003; Abadie et al., 2010) is used to establish a baseline projection for the local economies in the absence of increased energy development, allowing for estimation of the net regional economic effects of increased shale oil and gas production.

Zur Mitte des Jahres 2015 hat sich die Dynamik am sächsischen und am ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt abgeschwächt. Sowohl die Beschäftigung als auch die Arbeitslosenquote stagnierten saisonbereinigt auf ihren Frühjahrsniveaus. Auch für die kommenden Monate deuten die Frühindikatoren auf eine eher gedämpfte Dynamik am sächsischen und ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt hin.

The aim of this article was to define, quantify and compare the significant attributes of business risk for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the selected regions of Slovakia. The data was collected through a questionnaire. The whole research was conducted in the Bratislava region on a sample of 102 SMEs, in the region of Trencin on a sample of 105 SMEs and in the Zilina region on a sample of 168 SMEs. Thus we compared important factors of business risk in the most economically developed region of the Slovak capital to the average regions of Trencin and Zilina. On the basis of the results of our research, we can conclude that the most important business risk is market risk in all regions. The average value of perceived market risk was higher than 50%. For this reason entrepreneurs have indicated the existence of negative trends in performance and profitability of their companies.

Accelerating industrialization increased negative consequences related with resources and ecosystem which in turn increased importance of sustainable development strategies depending on regional dynamicsand local resources. Slow City (Cittaslow) movement serves a collaborative sustainable development model that focuses on both protection of local values and local economy including all stakeholders in the process while supporting social transformations in its own global local network. This study examines the changes in Seferihisar’s – Slow capital city of Turkey – local economy after the membership of Slow City movement in terms of economic and social changes. In this study, purposive sampling was used and the data was collected with interview method from the team of Seferihisar Municipality which actively engaged in Cittaslow activities. The data was analyzed with content analysis method. At the end of the study, it was found that Seferihisar’s local economy is changed in domains of status in global network, local production and consumption and social situation. The unique value of this study is discussing about negative aspects of changes which are not elaborated before and interaction between economic and social transformations.

The authors wonted to demonstrated the management of Istrian touristic management resources emphasizing current conditions and development prospects. The main idea was an hypothesis: if the touristic management and the resources management is organized and strategicly planned, positive synergy effects can be expected in each level of touristic management, and through the years,the positive impact to all destination will be a fact. That is also truth for Istrian undeveloped areas, such as middle istrian villages. Although Istria boasts reputation of a region with positive potentials, one must emphasize there are still undeveloped areas, a high number of uneducated population, shortage of staff in educational institutions, all which requires a more professional approach to the issue of management. Middle istrian villages can also become an interesting touristic micro – destinations. This research, first of its kind int he County of Istria, has attempted to gain a realistic insight into the condition oft he Istrian County territory. The research has been conducted by means oft he Delphy method in two intervals, the theory analysis method, observation and intervju on a sample consisting of 34 local self – government units (municipalities and cities). Questions were replied by heads and municipal prefects of local self – government units and others in charge of management. The research objective was to determine the type of help and who provided it as well as the type of management required for a more quality development and touristic management. Though the Istrian region has been recognized as a quality tourist destination for years, its possibility for a bigger and better step forward must be pointed out in terms of managing the destination itself. To achieve optimal solutions, professional management modules and innovative guidelines set by tourism trends and new european programmes must be followed in order to adjust them to destination needs and requirements.

This paper shows an analysis of tourism activity in the Mexican Republic States, where the most visited tourism destinations are located. The intention is to identify the economic structure related to tourism activity, employment specialization and the productivity index. We used the tourist statistics derivative from the Mexican Economic Census (2003 and 2008) and estimated a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the Normalized Employment Specialization Index and the Employment Coefficient, for nine Mexican States where tourist employment is more than 20% of total employment and for each section of the tourism sector, according to the North America Industry Classification System (NAICS). The results show a heterogeneous behavior in the establishments, employment and characteristics of the tourism sector. These results contribute to design of the promotional and development public policies for tourism.

Cities are one of the most important key in regional development. Creative and innovative cities are considered a competitive pole, by stimulating economic activities and inclusive growth. Those cities which understood the implications for sustainable development are prosperous and competitive at a global level, for example Silicon Valley which is well known as the city were Apple Industry started. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the best practice of creative and innovative cities at global level and extract the most important aspects, which could be applied on Romanian cities. In Romania, there are few cities which may be included in this category, as smart cities. In order to improve the existing literature, this paper aims to explain the benefits of stimulating the cities development and elaborate a list of recommendations for Romanian authorities.

Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to analyze the recent past trends and patterns of urbanization, urban economic growth, and urban equity measured by urban poverty and inequality in India. Methodology: In addition, it reviews the different urban development policies and programme which are undertaken in different Plan Periods in India. Findings: The analysis shows that higher rate of urbanization is associated with higher economic growth, lower level of poverty and higher extent of inequality in urban India. Recommendations: The findings suggest that Indian government needs to speed up the urbanization rate as it contributes higher share of national GDP by reducing urban poverty and inequality.

A tanulmány azt vizsgálja, hogy a nagyobb távolságokra elérő tudáshálózatok képesek-e ellensúlyozni az innováció lokális forrásainak hiányosságait Kelet-Közép- Európa lemaradó régióiban. Az EU-keretprogramok hálózatát alapul véve, a Romer-féle tudástermelési függvénnyel az információtechnológiai iparra vizsgálja a régiók hálózatának minősége és a regionális szabadalmi tevékenység kapcsolatát. Két részmintára - az 1. célkitűzéshez (az európai ipar tudományos és technológiai bázisának szélesítése) tartozó 51 kelet-közép-európai régió, valamint 211, az 1. célkitűzéshez nem tartozó kelet-közép-európai régió és más EU-tagországok régiói - végez öko nomet riai elemzést. A keretprogram-hálózatokból elérhető tudást az ENQ indexszel méri, a lokális tudásáramlásra pedig szisztematikus térbeli panel öko no metriai módszereket alkalmaz. A tanulmány fontos különbségeket mutat meg a két részminta között: míg a kelet-közép-európai régiókban a hálózati együttműködésekből kinyerhető tudás pozitívan hat a régiók szabadalmi tevékenységére, addig a másik részmintában ez a tudás nem szignifikáns a szabadalmi tevékenység inputjai között.* Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) kód: C23, O30, R11., The paper investigates whether knowledge networks reaching over long distances can compensate for missing local resources of innovation in Central East European (CEE) regions. Building on the Romer-type knowledge production function, the authors use networks of cooperation under EU framework programmes to evaluate the relation between the quality of inter-regional knowledge networks and regional patenting activity in the information technology industry. Econometric analysis is carried out on two sub-samples: the Objective 1 regions of CEE countries (51 regions) and the non-Objective regions plus the regions of other EU countries (211 regions). Knowledge from the Framework Programme collaboration networks is measured by the ENQ index, while local knowledge transfer is accounted for by systematic spatial-panel econometric methods. The paper reveals important differences between the two sub-samples: while in the CEE regions network cooperation has a positive influence on regional patenting activity, this knowledge does not seem to be a significant input for innovation activity in Western European regions.

Este trabajo realiza un estudio retrospectivo sobre la relocalización de firmas en Colombia. Para ello, se evalúa la incidencia de variables financieras, tributarias, territoriales y de accesibilidad en la relocalización de empresas, utilizando un modelo de regresión logística y una muestra de 36.235 compañías en el periodo 1995-2012. Se encuentra que la tributación es un factor neurálgico para las decisiones de localización. In this paper, we retrospectively study the relocation of firms in Colombia. By using a logistic regression model and a sample of 36,235 companies in the period 1995-2012, we evaluate the incidence of financial, territorial, tax- and accessibility-related variables on the relocation of companies. We find that taxation is a critical factor in relocation decisions Cet article fournit une étude rétrospective concernant la délocalisation des entreprises en Colombie. Pour ce faire, nous évaluons l'incidence des différentes variables financières, les impôts, les variables d'accessibilité territoriale et la variable concernant les délocalisations des entreprises. Nous estimons un modèle de régression logistique à partir d'un échantillon comprenant 36.235 entreprises dans la période 1995-2012. Nous concluons la fiscalité est un facteur décisif dans les décisions de délocalisation des entreprises.

The progressive ageing process concerns both Poland and other Member States of the European Union. In recent years, the share of workers of non-mobile and post-productive age in the total population has been rising, and according to forecasts, in 2035 people aged 45 years and over will represent two-thirds of our society. Since the year 2012, announced the Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations by the European Commission, more and more attention has been paid in the Polish public space to the issues of an ageing society, including its impact on the health of the economy. The article notes that the ageing process does not occur uniformly across all Polish regions, i.e. at the same pace and with the same intensity. The results of studies indicating the regions being most vulnerable to the ageing of the regional community and the negative consequences of this process in the next two decades are presented.

The aim of this research is to analyze macroeconomic performance and discuss transition indicators in Azerbaijan economy for 1991-2012. After regaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan implemented economic transition process toward market economy. In the first years of independence, serious economic recession was observed. However, after 1995, the restructuring of the economy started. In this sense, signing the "Contract of the Century" was a turning point toward oil based high speed economic growth or oil boom period. Thus, by opening "Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan" pipeline in 2005, Azerbaijan's macroeconomic indicators experienced considerable growth for the following years. On the other hand, Azerbaijan officially declared the end of economic transition process in its economy in 2009. In this paper, the authors discuss the political-economic and economic process in the whole period as well as analyze the macroeconomic performance with and without oil & gas contribution. In addition, the authors question what would happen if economic transition period ended in Azerbaijan's economy. It is concluded that oil & gas production has a serious impact over macroeconomic indicators and transition indicators, and for Azerbaijan it implies only a partly end of economic transition, though not completely.

The paper focuses on the analyses of the Europe 2020 Strategy’s indicators and on the economic growth trend. The analysis is built on three steps: regression under ANOVA approach, two-step cluster analysis based on Euclidean distance and forecasting under ARIMA procedure. The main conclusions of the paper are connected to the increasing of the socio-economic disparities between the Balkan economies and between them and EU average during 2014-2020

The tourist leisure plays an important role in the development of a tourist destination. The tourist liveliness, a component of tourist leisure, may determine the enhance of tourists’ interest on a place, representing at the same time a diversification of recreation and advertising possibilities. Mamaia place is on the first place in the top of the largest places on the Romanian sea shore, being at the same time the oldest place of Romania. The development of tourist infrastructure and aggressive advertising of Mamaia place may re-launch this destination abroad. The advertising of events and the European fame on the accomplished advertising facilities may establish impact factors on the great tour-operators all over the world, interested in the offer of Mamaia Place.

Les ports de commerce sont des lieux stratégiques de transit et de transformation des énergies fossiles. Des facteurs géostratégiques, écono-miques et environnementaux conduisent depuis quelques années l'Union européenne à adapter sa politique énergétique. La transition énergétique qui en découle vise à réduire la dépendance de l'Union européenne aux énergies fossiles, à améliorer l'efficacité énergétique et à accroître la production d'énergies renouvelables. Cette orientation est porteuse d'une certaine évolution du rôle des ports de commerce. A petite échelle géographique (interface monde / territoire régional) il apparaît que les ports doivent continuer à valoriser les atouts qui sont les leurs et qui sont fondés sur leur position d'interface entre les territoires et les marchés internationaux. A grande échelle géographique (interface zone industrialo-portuaire / métropole) il apparaît que les autorités portuaires doivent faciliter les échanges d'énergie au sein de la zone industrialo-portuaire et avec la ville-port. Selon les filières énergétiques considérées les ports doivent ainsi conforter leur savoir-faire traditionnel centré sur les services au navire et à la marchandise, et développer leur compétence d'aménageur au sein de la ville-port.

A central question in strategic management is why some firms perform better than others. One approach to addressing this question empirically is to decompose the variance in firm-level profitability into firm, industry, location, and year components. Although it is well established that data sparseness in variance decomposition studies can lead to overestimating particular variance components, little attention has been paid to sample size requirements in strategic management studies that have examined the nature of differences in firm profitability. We conduct a meta-regression and variance decomposition study and conclude that the variation in the results from previous studies is driven—to a considerable extent—by the number of observations per group within a component. Based on these findings, we draw conclusions regarding the validity and reliability of previous variance decomposition studies and provide implications for current debates in the strategic management literature.

Market is a complex mechanism; a regulator which, using the logic of competition and price, balances the supply and demand for products and services. In quantitative terms, the price is an expression of a seller’s willingness to trade goods or services for their cash equivalent, and at the same time a customer’s willingness to pay this amount of money in exchange for acceptable goods or services. The economic importance of the price of a product is not the same for all products. The prices of some products are more important for the functioning of the entire economy than the prices of other products. Such are the prices of crude oil and petroleum products because they have a strong and direct impact on the pricing of other products and services, because petroleum products are inputs in almost every manufacturing process. This paper attempts to establish the correlation between changes in the prices of oil and petroleum products and the prices of consumer goods. The main hypothesis is that an increase, or a decrease, in crude oil and petroleum product prices directly and automatically increases, or decreases, the prices of consumer goods. The paper explores the regularity and patterns that appear between changes in the prices of petroleum products and the prices of consumer goods in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period from 2008 to 2014.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been increasingly promoted as a key solution for comprehensive development, poverty eradication and the empowerment of historically disadvantaged groups, such as women and minorities in the South Asia. ICT is a significant area of concern for women empowerment and growth of a country. This paper studied the status of ICT and women empowerment in South Asian countries. Based on empirical research this paper found that ICT has a positive impact on women empowerment.

In the context of internationalization and globalization of the world economy, regional competitiveness is thoroughly debated by politicians and policy makers, emphasizing measurable differences between development regions, without any clear political or conceptual framework. Romania’s accession to the European Union in 2007 provided an opportunity to recover in terms of regional performance and economic growth, namely structural funds as a form of nonrefundable European financial help to disadvantaged regions of member states. Our research is thus focused on analyzing the impact of structural funds’ absorption upon regional competitiveness in Romania, using extensive data over a period of seven years. Results show that EU funds critically influence the competitiveness of Romanian regions, providing reliable data for policy decision makers.

El presente trabajo pretende hacer un análisis de la actividad turística en los estados de la República Mexicana donde se localizan los destinos más visitados, con el propósito de identificar la estructura económica regional asociada al sector, la especialización en el empleo y los índices de productividad. Para ello, a partir de información de las Estadísticas Turísticas de los Censos Económicos para 2003 y 2008, se estima un Análisis Envolvente de Datos (DEA), el Indice de Especialización de Empleo Normalizado y el Coeficiente de Empleo a nivel de ramas para las nueve entidades federativas cuya ocupación del empleo en el sector turístico es mayor al 20% del total de la ocupación estatal. Los resultados documentan la ausencia de un comportamiento homogéneo en el número de establecimientos y empleos, así como en relación a las ramas de actividad, éstos pueden coadyuvar al diseño de políticas públicas orientadas hacia la promoción del desarrollo del turismo con mayor eficiencia en el sector.

The objective of this study is to explore the Europe 2020 development strategy, from Romania, trough qualitative methods and the corelation analysis trough quantitative methods of the European Funds present in Romania in the period 2007-2010 with the strategy's indicators. From the indicators presented by the European Uniun for the Europe 2020 development strategy,t the following indicators were chosen: "Total expenses for Research and Development as % of GDP)", "Renewable energy share of the total energy consumption", "Early school leavers rate" and an alaysis of the correlation with the "Total available allocated budget of the European Union financed projects, arithmetic mean per project" indicator, using Pearson's correlation coefficient and determining also the algebraic average, range, absolute deviation, mean absolute deviation, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis.

It is widely accepted that firms in peripheral regions benefit to a lesser extent from local knowledge spillovers than firms located in agglomerations or industrial clusters. This paper investigates the extent to which innovative firms in peripheral regions compensate for the lack of access to local knowledge spillovers by collaborating at other geographical scales. So far, the literature predominantly suggests that collaborations complement rather than compensate for local knowledge spillovers. Using data on the collaboration patterns of innovative firms in Sweden, this paper provides evidence that firms with low access to local knowledge spillovers tend to collaborate more. This effect, however, depends on firm size and in-house capabilities. Our findings suggest that firms with strong in-house capabilities do indeed compensate for a lack of local knowledge spillovers with collaborations while firms with weaker in-house capabilities depend more on the regional knowledge infrastructure.

The focus of this paper is the political economy of integration in the framework of the Customs Union and Single Economic Space. Clearly, Russia is a dominant power in this project, and her political interests may outweigh economic ones. However, neither Belarus nor Kazakhstan is forcefully pushed into the Customs Union and Single Economic Space. From the economic viewpoint, they join because Russia is the biggest and most accessible market for their exports, and is also rich in natural resources, which is particularly important for Belarus. There is likely to be both trade creation and trade diversion within the Customs Union and Single Economic Space, and it will concern mainly manufactures, which are now predominantly imported from the outside world. Increased demand for local manufactured goods, in turn, should lead to more employment opportunities in manufacture and agriculture sectors, and better social security for the workers of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. On the political side, though, this will inevitably play in the hands of the increasingly undemocratic political regimes.

In this paper, we put forth the view that the potential for urbanization economies increases with interaction opportunities. From that premise follow three fundamental properties that an agglomeration index should possess: (1) to increase with the concentration of population and conform to the Pigou–Dalton transfer principle; (2) to increase with the absolute size of constituent population interaction zones; and (3) to be consistent in aggregation. Limiting our attention to pairwise interactions, and invoking the space-analytic foundations of local labor market area (LLMA) delineation, we develop an index of agglomeration based on the number of interaction opportunities per capita in a geographical area. This leads to Arriaga’s mean city-population size, which is the mathematical expectation of the size of the LLMA in which a randomly chosen individual lives. The index has other important properties. It does not require an arbitrary population threshold to separate urban from non-urban areas. It is easily adapted to situations where an LLMA lies partly outside the geographical area for which agglomeration is measured. Finally, it can be satisfactorily approximated when data is truncated or aggregated into size-classes. We apply the index to the Spanish NUTS III regions, and evaluate its performance by examining its correlation with the location quotients of several knowledge intensive business services known to be highly sensitive to urbanization economies. The Arriaga index’s correlations are clearly stronger than those of either the classical degree of urbanization or the Hirshman–Herfindahl concentration index.

This paper computes and analyses, for the first time, environmental efficiencies in waste generation of 116 European regions in NUTS 2 level in five European countries over the period of 2008–2010. For this reason, different data envelopment analysis (DEA) model formulations are used for modeling the pollutant in the form of waste generation as a regular output and as a regular input. In the latter case, we also use the notion of eco-efficiency. The empirical findings reveal environmental inefficiencies among the regions, indicating the lack of a uniform regional environmental policy among the European countries. This finding is observed not only for regions between different countries but also among the regions within countries, implying the need for implementation of unified appropriate municipal environmental policies in waste management.