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The concept of Region is one of the elements which has differentiated Regional Economics from other fields of Applied Economics. In spite of this, however, researchers in this field of economic analysis have not paid a great deal of attention to this concept. All too often, Regions have been identified with the politico-administrative units into which nationstates have divided their territory and for which statistical information is widely available. However, a Region can be defined in many different ways. Frameworks which define regions according to analytical/theoretical criteria provide greater scope for applied studies and permit a more complete interpretation of the results contained therein. In this research we have proposed a concept of Region which goes beyond the administrative division of territory. Our regional aggregation has been based on agglomeration economies, one of the fundamental concepts in the fields of Economic Geography and Urban and Regional Economics. In accordance with the work of Polèse et al. (2007), the territory has been classified into analytical regions which take into account the size of the population and the distance from the main urban areas. In doing so, we achieve an aggregation which corresponds with the differences in agglomeration economies across space. However, their robustness in comparison with the administrative units commonly used has - to date - not been evaluated.The objective of the first chapter of this thesis was to prove that the functional regions defined under such economic criteria provide better defined regions - in terms of greater compactness and separation - than the administrative ones commonly used to carry out labour market studies at sub-national level. Using micro data from the last available Spanish Census, the functional and administrative regions are evaluated using the Theil index and the Davies-Bouldin Validation index. Applied to employment (by gender, industry and level of qualification and occupation), both indexes show better results for the analytical regions than for any of the ordinary administrative ones (NUTS I, II or III regions). In other words, the analytical classification generates areas where the distribution of employment is more homogeneous within and more heterogeneous between the regions. Agglomeration economies and distance (to the metropolis) seem to be relevant for understanding the patterns of distribution of employment, either by gender, by industry or by level of qualification and occupation. In practice, this provides a clearer way for identifying local labour markets and explaining their differences and similarities. In light of the results from the first chapter, we suggest the use of this alternative classification -subject, of course, to the availability of data - when carrying out Labour Economics studies that include a spatial dimension. The following chapters have provided two applications of this analytical division of the territory to Labour Economics issues: the factors affecting the probability of being employed (Chapter 2) and the effects that labour mobility and commuting have on the central regions (Chapter 3). In the second chapter, we presented a spatial analysis of employment at local level where, among other factors, the demographic and geographical characteristics can and do affect the outcome. The empirical results support the hypothesis that size - in terms of population - and location - in terms of distance to a metropolis - are explanatory variables for the probability of being employed. In other words, employment depends not only on the personal characteristics of the individuals (level of education, age, sex, etc.) but also on the type of analytical region - as defined in Chapter 1 - where they live. Regarding the importance of location, our results show a significant gap in the chances of being employed between "central" and "peripheral" types of regions, i.e., the closer the region is to the metropolis, the higher the concentration of economic activity and therefore employment. Likewise, the types of regions, i.e., the closer the region is to the metropolis, the higher the concentration of economic activity and therefore employment. Likewise, theexpected negative relationship between employment and the size of the region where the individual lives is confirmed, and this seems to be stronger for non-skilled individuals than for people with university studies. In terms of employability, the largest Spanish metropolitan areas (MA1) seem to be enjoying the full benefits of agglomeration economies while the smaller metropolitan areas (MA2) seem to be suffering their negative effects. Likewise, for urban areas that cannot be considered "metropolitan areas" (UA1 and UA2), size does not seem to be as important as their central-peripheral location. In rural areas (less than 50,000 inhabitants), both size and distance seem to be relevant determinants of employability. In other words, regardless of the level of studies, there are fewer chances of being employed in rural areas as opposed to urban areas and in peripheral rural areas as opposed to central rural areas. Recognizing the importance of these spatially differentiated results should have a significant impact on current policy discussions, shifting the focus from general solutions to more spatially customized ones where size and location are considered. Just as differences in age, gender or industrial structure are taken into account in the design of employment policies (at national or local level), these results suggest that an additional spatial dimension that somehow includes the size and location of the local area where the person lives should be considered. Some important migration policy implications can also be derived when using these alternative functional regions to analyze the direct and indirect effects that the arrival of workers has in the core regions. Spain has experienced over the last two decades an intense arrival of both immigrants and in-migrants to its central regions, and as a consequence (though not exclusively) of these inflows, we can observe internal migrations and/or commuting to some areas that might be more attractive. Using the last available Census, the estimations for Spain of an input-output multi-regional model that includes the possibility of commuting show that the arrival of in- and im-migration to the core generates a set of effects induced by the redistribution of population among other regions. The arrival of workers from the periphery to the core provokes reallocations of residence in all cases (displacement effect).However, the intensity of these reallocations increases with size, which shows the existence of some agglomeration diseconomies associated with big cities. When the possibility of commuting is also considered, the arrival of workers from the periphery to the core generates the reallocation of both jobs (economic activity) and residences. The larger cities are the ones pushing out more residents to other areas, while keeping most of the jobs. In other words, they are becoming attractive areas to work in, but not to live in (due to, among other reasons, high housing costs, congestion or other negative externalities). The oppposite is true for the smaller cities, which are attractive for residing in but for working in. The distributional pattern of residences proves to be different to the distributional pattern of jobs. These results highlight the idea that the effects of the arrival of population are not only felt by the recipient region/city but may generate comparatively far larger effects on other regions in the form of internal migration and commuting flows, something that policy makers should bear in mind. To conclude, surpassing the administrative division of the territory, this classification manages to have explanatory power in spatial Labour Economics topics while including relevant geo-economic characteristics such as location and agglomeration economies. The use of this classification has proved to offer a better understanding of the patterns of distribution of employment (by gender, by industry or by level of qualification and occupation), job opportunities, and of the probabilities of being employed depending on the level of qualification or the degree of attractiveness of a region for working or living purposes. Some other questions spatially related to the performance of regional labour markets remain unanswered. Future lines of research include the application of this classification to the study of labour economic issues such as the determinants of unemployment, inter-industrial labour mobility or the existence of overqualification taking into account spatial factors (i.e. the type of analytical region where the potential worker lives) which are usually ignored.Agglomeration economies and distance play an important role in the location of economic activity, and therefore should affect the labour outcomes once the worker has decided to live in certain type of region. Obviously, such a decision does not have to be permanent, and workers can move in order to improve their labour opportunities. Therefore, a further possible question of relevance is the internal migration decisions between and within analytical regions. That is, can certain regularities be observed? Are people moving from peripheral regions to central or metropolitan areas or the other way round? Are internal migrations better explained in terms of size, i.e. in terms as counter-urbanization or urbanization? Are these movements linked to job opportunity decisions? Can we observe any differences according to their level of qualification? Even more, workers can be employed in a certain type of region but live in another, i.e., we could observe migration on a daily basis (commuting). Is one type of analytical region attracting workers or attracting residents? Do people tend to live and work in the same type of region? Could the analytical division be improved in order to specifically include the commuting criteria used in the local labour markets literature? We believe that these questions provide a fascinating and important future research agenda.

Tesis con mención internacional, The primary aim of this work is to shed some light on the processes of population and employment growth taking place in Spain in the last two decades (1991-2001 and 2001-2011). Although several studies have addressed these issues before, an unfilled gap remains regarding the analysis of these subjects from a local perspective while considering the effects of the spatial structure of the whole country. This dissertation will deal with the topic of local population growth in the first place, and then it will engage in the study of employment growth, to end with an introductory analysis of local differential wages associated to the urban wage premium. The first part of this dissertation focuses on demographic processes, analyzing in the first chapter population growth with an emphasis on the influence of local factors and neighborhood effects along the decades 1991-2001 and 2001-2011. The objective is to identify local responses to socio-economic, geographical and environmental features, confronting global and local estimation methodologies. In this sense, the application of geographically weighted regressions (GWR) allows for the appreciation of differentiated local effects across the Spanish local labor markets when there exists significant variability in the impact of a certain factor. The implications of this exercise range from the academic interest on evaluating the degree and characteristics of spatial heterogeneity, to the importance of identifying particular aspects susceptible to regional policy intervention. As a complementary analysis, this section also includes an analogous study on the growth of ageing population in Spanish municipalities between 2001 and 2014. The aim here is to learn about the acute ageing process in terms of the convergence/divergence in the share of older population, and how municipal traits affect that process, with special attention to the effects of the relative location and the position in the urban hierarchy. Labor dynamics are explored in the second part of the thesis. Employment growth is dealt with in the third chapter, which seeks to explain the determinants behind the employment concentration in Spain and the relationship between the characteristics of the local labor markets, the characteristics of their neighbors, and their relative performance in terms of local employment. This part presents a spatial econometric analysis by means of a Durbin model that accounts for the spatial autocorrelation among regions, while showing the proximity links between them with respect to the explanatory factors included. The spatial structure is also reflected in reference to the complete urban hierarchy through the concept of incremental distances, a set of measures that correct the distance to a certain urban tier by the proximity of other locations. This empirical approach provides evidence on functioning of the Spanish labor market from a regional perspective during 1991-2001 and 2001-2011, and may help as a guide for labor policy instrumentation. The last chapter attempts to contribute to the scarce literature on local wages in Spain, by assessing the evolution of the urban wage premium in the country and the impact that the Great Recession in 2008 has on this notion. Correspondingly, data on aggregated wages indicates that their growth rate dropped considerably after the outbreak of the crisis, exhibiting even negative numbers in some sectors. The aim of this chapter is to analyze if the drop in wages translates into a change in the existing gap between the largest urban municipalities and the other areas by comparing the pre-crisis (2004-2008) and during-crisis (2009-2014) scenario, and which of the components of this urban wage premium (sorting, agglomeration, price, learning or coordination effect) are more sensitive to the shock. This study goes deeper into the local differences and regional interrelationships, giving some hints about the relative resilience of municipalities. Conclusions remark the importance of heterogeneity, both spatial and temporal, involved in almost every aspect of the analyzed phenomena. Factors that enhance growth in any or the regarded dimensions in one region, may have the contrary effect in other, or change the direction of their influence depending on the period observed. Hence, it is crucial to take into account the specific features of the area, its relationship with the urban structure, and the dynamic character of that relationship, in order to develop successful local policy measures. En castellano: El principal objetivo de esta tesis es arrojar luz sobre los procesos de crecimiento de población y empleo que han tenido lugar en España en las dos últimas décadas (1991-2001 y 2001-2011). Aunque varios estudios han abordado estas cuestiones antes, aún existe un amplio margen para el análisis de estos temas desde una perspectiva local, teniendo en cuenta los efectos de la estructura espacial del país en su conjunto. La primera parte de la tesis se focaliza sobre los procesos demográficos, analizando en el primer capítulo en el crecimiento poblacional, con énfasis en la influencia de los factores locales y los efectos de vecindad a lo largo de las décadas 1991-2001 y 2001-2011. El objetivo es identificar las respuestas locales a las características socioeconómicas, geográficas y ambientales, comparando metodologías de estimación globales y locales. En este sentido, la aplicación de Regresiones Geográficamente Ponderadas (GWR en inglés) permite analizar los diferentes efectos sobre los mercados locales de trabajo españoles cuando existe variabilidad significativa en el impacto de un determinado factor. Las implicaciones de este ejercicio van desde el interés académico en la evaluación del grado y las características de la heterogeneidad espacial, hasta la importancia de identificar aspectos particulares susceptibles de intervención en términos de política regional. Como análisis complementario, esta parte incluye también un estudio análogo sobre el crecimiento de la población envejecida en los municipios españoles entre 2001 y 2014. El objetivo aquí es explorar las circunstancias del marcado proceso de envejecimiento que actualmente vive el país, en términos de convergencia o divergencia en la proporción de población mayor, y cómo los rasgos municipales afectan ese proceso, prestando especial atención a los efectos de la ubicación relativa y la posición dentro de la jerarquía urbana española. Las dinámicas relacionadas con el ámbito laboral se analizan en la segunda parte de la tesis. El crecimiento del empleo se aborda en el tercer capítulo, con el objetivo de explicar los determinantes de la concentración del empleo en España y la relación entre las características de los mercados locales de trabajo, las características de sus respectivos vecinos, y su desempeño relativo en términos de empleo local. Esta sección presenta un análisis de econometría espacial instrumentado a través de un modelo Durbin que explica la autocorrelación espacial entre regiones, mostrando los vínculos de proximidad entre ellas con respecto a los factores explicativos incluidos. La estructura espacial también se refleja mediante el concepto de distancias incrementales, un conjunto de medidas que corrigen la distancia a un cierto nivel de la jerarquía urbana por la proximidad de otros lugares. Este enfoque empírico proporciona evidencia sobre el funcionamiento del mercado de trabajo español desde una perspectiva regional para las décadas de 1991-2001 y 2001-2011, y puede servir como guía para la confección de medidas de política laboral en un ámbito local. El último capítulo trata de contribuir a la escasa literatura sobre salarios locales en España, evaluando la evolución del premium salarial urbano y el impacto que la crisis ha tenido sobre este concepto desde su comienzo en 2008. Los datos sobre salarios agregados indican que su tasa de crecimiento cayó considerablemente tras el inicio de la crisis, presentando incluso cifras negativas en algunos sectores. El principal objetivo de este capítulo es analizar si esta caída de los salarios se traduce en un cambio en la brecha salarial existente entre las ciudades más grandes y las demás áreas del sistema urbano español, comparando el período anterior (2004-2007) y el período de crisis (2009-2013). Este estudio profundiza además en las diferencias locales y en las interrelaciones regionales, dando algunas pistas sobre la resiliencia relativa que ofrecen los municipios. Las conclusiones resaltan la importancia de la heterogeneidad, tanto espacial como temporal, presente en todos los fenómenos estudiados. Factores que pueden favorecer el crecimiento en una determinada en faceta en un territorio, pueden tener un efecto adverso en otro, o cambiar la dirección de su influencia entre períodos, lo que lleva a la importancia de tener en cuenta las características concretas de cada área, la relación de esta con su entorno espacial, y el carácter dinámico de estas interacciones, para tomar decisiones de política acertadas.

The objective of this work is to study employment growth in Spain at a local scale. We are interested in understanding the dynamics with a high degree of spatial disaggregation. Seeing as it is impossible to obtain data on GDP or similar variables when descending to a local scale, the analysis of employment growth may serve as a proxy of local growth and provide some hints about local economic development. Using the 2001 census database, we organize the information using the methodology to define Local Labour Markets. To introduce the influence of the position of each territory regarding the main metropolitan areas we use an Incremental Distances approach, calculating the distances from each territory to different sizes of cities. Other geographical characteristics are also taken into account. The rest of the variables that will be introduced are the usual ones in macroeconomic studies, but applied at a very local level: education, diversification and sectorial structure, among others. Finally, to consider the relevance of the economic features and behaviour of the closer territories, spatial auto-regressive methods are applied. Results show that geographical variables, especially size and distances, explain many of the differences among spatial units in employment and population growth. Urban and rural areas employment is explained by different variables. The behaviour of the closer territories has a great importance too. The variables that could be affected by policies are less capable to affect employment growth tendencies.