Pub Date : 2020-11-01DOI: 10.1177/0160017619884108
Daidai Shen, J. Thill, Jiuwen Sun
In this article, the socioeconomic determinants on urban population in China are empirically investigated with a theoretical equilibrium model for city size. While much of the research on urban size focuses on the impact of agglomeration economies based on “optimal city size” theory, this model is eschewed in our research due to its theoretical paradox in the real world, and we turn instead toward an intermediate solution proposed by Camagni, Capello, and Caragliu. This equilibrium model is estimated on a sample of 111 prefectural cities in China with multiple regression and artificial neural networks. Empirical results have shown that the model explains the variance in the data very well, and all the determinants have significant impacts on Chinese city sizes. Although sample cities have reached their equilibrium sizes as a whole, there is substantially unbalanced distribution of population within the urban system, with a strong contingent of cities that are either squarely too large or too small.
{"title":"Are Chinese Cities Oversized?","authors":"Daidai Shen, J. Thill, Jiuwen Sun","doi":"10.1177/0160017619884108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017619884108","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, the socioeconomic determinants on urban population in China are empirically investigated with a theoretical equilibrium model for city size. While much of the research on urban size focuses on the impact of agglomeration economies based on “optimal city size” theory, this model is eschewed in our research due to its theoretical paradox in the real world, and we turn instead toward an intermediate solution proposed by Camagni, Capello, and Caragliu. This equilibrium model is estimated on a sample of 111 prefectural cities in China with multiple regression and artificial neural networks. Empirical results have shown that the model explains the variance in the data very well, and all the determinants have significant impacts on Chinese city sizes. Although sample cities have reached their equilibrium sizes as a whole, there is substantially unbalanced distribution of population within the urban system, with a strong contingent of cities that are either squarely too large or too small.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"43 1","pages":"632 - 654"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017619884108","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43029438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-08DOI: 10.1177/0160017620964849
Eunbi Kim
This study investigates the local labor market effects of automotive foreign direct investment (FDI) in Alabama in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Of particular interest is the effect of FDI originating from a nontraditional source country in comparison to investments by European and Japanese firms. Using 2005–2011 American Community Survey (ACS) data, we compare changes in employment rates and median weekly wages in three area types: areas with Korean FDI, areas with German and Japanese FDI and areas without FDI. Results show that Korean FDI leads to increased employment rates but decreased median weekly wages. We attribute these findings to price competitive strategies of Korean firms.
{"title":"The Local Labor Market Effects of Korean Automotive Investments in the United States","authors":"Eunbi Kim","doi":"10.1177/0160017620964849","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620964849","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the local labor market effects of automotive foreign direct investment (FDI) in Alabama in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Of particular interest is the effect of FDI originating from a nontraditional source country in comparison to investments by European and Japanese firms. Using 2005–2011 American Community Survey (ACS) data, we compare changes in employment rates and median weekly wages in three area types: areas with Korean FDI, areas with German and Japanese FDI and areas without FDI. Results show that Korean FDI leads to increased employment rates but decreased median weekly wages. We attribute these findings to price competitive strategies of Korean firms.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"619 - 646"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620964849","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46842836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-06DOI: 10.1177/0160017620964848
V. Monastiriotis, Angelo Martelli
The crisis in Greece led to one of the largest economic shocks in European history. Drawing on micro-data from the Greek Labour Force Survey, we utilize standard micro-econometric methods and non-linear decomposition techniques to measure the size of the shock exerted on the Greek regional and national labor markets and the compositional and price adjustments in response to this. We find elements of economic dynamism, with some sizeable price adjustments in the economy of the Greek capital, Athens; but overall our results show that compositional adjustments (in labor quality/characteristics) have been partial and limited, becoming stronger only in the more recent recovery. Our results suggest a significant metropolitan advantage with regard to economic resilience, coming predominantly from a more efficient functioning of the labor market in metropolitan areas vis-a-vis other regions. Our use of the decomposition techniques for the analysis of macro-level developments in the labor market offers a novel perspective to the application of the decomposition methodology.
{"title":"Crisis, Adjustment and Resilience in the Greek Labor Market: An Unemployment Decomposition Approach","authors":"V. Monastiriotis, Angelo Martelli","doi":"10.1177/0160017620964848","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620964848","url":null,"abstract":"The crisis in Greece led to one of the largest economic shocks in European history. Drawing on micro-data from the Greek Labour Force Survey, we utilize standard micro-econometric methods and non-linear decomposition techniques to measure the size of the shock exerted on the Greek regional and national labor markets and the compositional and price adjustments in response to this. We find elements of economic dynamism, with some sizeable price adjustments in the economy of the Greek capital, Athens; but overall our results show that compositional adjustments (in labor quality/characteristics) have been partial and limited, becoming stronger only in the more recent recovery. Our results suggest a significant metropolitan advantage with regard to economic resilience, coming predominantly from a more efficient functioning of the labor market in metropolitan areas vis-a-vis other regions. Our use of the decomposition techniques for the analysis of macro-level developments in the labor market offers a novel perspective to the application of the decomposition methodology.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"85 - 112"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620964848","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45861828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-22DOI: 10.1177/0160017620959132
M. Beenstock, D. Felsenstein
Informed regional policy needs good regional data. As regional data series for key economic variables are generally absent whereas national-level time series data for the same variables are ubiquitous, we suggest an approach that leverages this advantage. We hypothesize the existence of a pervasive “common factor” represented by the national time series that affects regions differentially. We provide an empirical illustration in which national FDI is used in place of panel data for FDI, which are absent. The proposed methodology is tested empirically with respect to the determinants of regional demand for housing. We use a quasi-experimental approach to compare the results of a “common correlated effects” (CCE) estimator with a benchmark case when absent regional data are omitted. Using three common factors relating to national population, income and housing stock, we find mixed support for the common correlated effects hypothesis. We conclude by discussing how our experimental design may serve as a methodological prototype for further tests of CCE as a solution to the absent spatial data problem.
{"title":"A Solution for Absent Spatial Data: The Common Correlated Effects Estimator","authors":"M. Beenstock, D. Felsenstein","doi":"10.1177/0160017620959132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620959132","url":null,"abstract":"Informed regional policy needs good regional data. As regional data series for key economic variables are generally absent whereas national-level time series data for the same variables are ubiquitous, we suggest an approach that leverages this advantage. We hypothesize the existence of a pervasive “common factor” represented by the national time series that affects regions differentially. We provide an empirical illustration in which national FDI is used in place of panel data for FDI, which are absent. The proposed methodology is tested empirically with respect to the determinants of regional demand for housing. We use a quasi-experimental approach to compare the results of a “common correlated effects” (CCE) estimator with a benchmark case when absent regional data are omitted. Using three common factors relating to national population, income and housing stock, we find mixed support for the common correlated effects hypothesis. We conclude by discussing how our experimental design may serve as a methodological prototype for further tests of CCE as a solution to the absent spatial data problem.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"466 - 484"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620959132","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43828592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-03DOI: 10.1177/0160017620946082
N. Kaza, K. Nesse
Categorizing places based on their network connections to other places in the region reveals not only population concentration but also economic dynamics that are missed in other typologies. The US Office of Management and Budget categorization of counties into metropolitan/micropolitan and central/outlying is widely seen as insufficient for many analytic purposes. In this article, we use a coreness index from network analysis to identify labor market centrality of a county. We use county-to-county commute flows, including internal commuting, to identify regional hierarchies. Indicators broken down by this typology reveal counterintuitive results in many cases. Not all strong core counties have large populations or high levels of urbanization. Employment in these strong core counties grew faster in the postrecession (2008–2015) than in other types of counties. This economic dimension is missed by other typologies, suggesting that our categorization may be useful for regional analysis and policy.
根据与区域内其他地方的网络联系对地方进行分类,不仅揭示了人口集中,还揭示了其他类型学所遗漏的经济动态。美国管理和预算办公室(Office of Management and Budget)将县分为大都市/小城市和中心/边远地区,这被广泛认为不足以用于许多分析目的。在本文中,我们使用网络分析的密集度指数来确定一个县的劳动力市场中心性。我们使用县与县之间的通勤流,包括内部通勤,来确定区域层次。按这种类型分解的指标在许多情况下揭示了违反直觉的结果。并不是所有强大的核心县都有大量人口或高水平的城市化。在经济衰退后(2008-2015年),这些强劲的核心县的就业增长速度快于其他类型的县。这一经济维度被其他类型所忽略,这表明我们的分类可能对区域分析和政策有用。
{"title":"Characterizing the Regional Structure in the United States: A County-based Analysis of Labor Market Centrality","authors":"N. Kaza, K. Nesse","doi":"10.1177/0160017620946082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620946082","url":null,"abstract":"Categorizing places based on their network connections to other places in the region reveals not only population concentration but also economic dynamics that are missed in other typologies. The US Office of Management and Budget categorization of counties into metropolitan/micropolitan and central/outlying is widely seen as insufficient for many analytic purposes. In this article, we use a coreness index from network analysis to identify labor market centrality of a county. We use county-to-county commute flows, including internal commuting, to identify regional hierarchies. Indicators broken down by this typology reveal counterintuitive results in many cases. Not all strong core counties have large populations or high levels of urbanization. Employment in these strong core counties grew faster in the postrecession (2008–2015) than in other types of counties. This economic dimension is missed by other typologies, suggesting that our categorization may be useful for regional analysis and policy.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"55 S2","pages":"560 - 581"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620946082","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41268611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-03DOI: 10.1177/0160017620946095
Dani Broitman, D. Czamanski
In this article we explore the claim that spatial interactions among cities are significant drivers of their growth. We assert that reallocation of ideas among cities is a source of improved allocation of resources. We propose a closed economy, agent-based model that is in constant flux. It is populated by autonomous agents that compete and adjust constantly their behavior in reaction to the conditions they perceive. The economy is a dynamic, self-organizing system. We focus on the intensity of globalization as the critical economic process that explains differences in convergence and divergence in the system. The means by which the extent of globalization affects the long-run performance of economies is the geographic reach of new ideas and their conversion into innovations. The question that plays out in our model is the relative influence of globalization and the localized entrepreneurial ecology on innovation. When the globalization is weak, new firms are limited by the market value of their own city. As the globalization strengthens, more and more new firms belong to the global playground. We demonstrate that in line with empirical literature, the gross domestic product of our urban system increases greatly with the increase in globalization level.
{"title":"Endogenous Growth in a Spatial Economy: The Impact of Globalization on Innovations and Convergence","authors":"Dani Broitman, D. Czamanski","doi":"10.1177/0160017620946095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620946095","url":null,"abstract":"In this article we explore the claim that spatial interactions among cities are significant drivers of their growth. We assert that reallocation of ideas among cities is a source of improved allocation of resources. We propose a closed economy, agent-based model that is in constant flux. It is populated by autonomous agents that compete and adjust constantly their behavior in reaction to the conditions they perceive. The economy is a dynamic, self-organizing system. We focus on the intensity of globalization as the critical economic process that explains differences in convergence and divergence in the system. The means by which the extent of globalization affects the long-run performance of economies is the geographic reach of new ideas and their conversion into innovations. The question that plays out in our model is the relative influence of globalization and the localized entrepreneurial ecology on innovation. When the globalization is weak, new firms are limited by the market value of their own city. As the globalization strengthens, more and more new firms belong to the global playground. We demonstrate that in line with empirical literature, the gross domestic product of our urban system increases greatly with the increase in globalization level.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"385 - 399"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620946095","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47728492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-03DOI: 10.1177/0160017620942812
Laura J. Medwid, Elizabeth A. Mack
Rising infrastructure costs for water providers and the rising cost of water for households pose several challenges for water providers, policy makers, and the research community. Consumers may utilize several strategies for coping with rising water costs including reduced water use or spending reductions on other household goods and services. To provide a first glance at the link between rising water bills and consumer spending, this study analyzes data from a household survey in the United States to understand how consumers may change spending behavior given various water bill increase scenarios. Results of this analysis provide insights into the demographics of households likely to be affected, the industries that could be affected, and at what bill increase levels these trends are most pronounced. While additional research on this topic is needed, these results suggest a stronger emphasis on long-term water management planning and allocation of resources to building and maintaining water infrastructure may be required. For utilities, this means a consideration of nonrevenue sources of funds to pay for rising water costs and strategies for making water more affordable for customers without deferring infrastructure improvements.
{"title":"A Scenario-based Approach for Understanding Changes in Consumer Spending Behavior in Response to Rising Water Bills","authors":"Laura J. Medwid, Elizabeth A. Mack","doi":"10.1177/0160017620942812","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620942812","url":null,"abstract":"Rising infrastructure costs for water providers and the rising cost of water for households pose several challenges for water providers, policy makers, and the research community. Consumers may utilize several strategies for coping with rising water costs including reduced water use or spending reductions on other household goods and services. To provide a first glance at the link between rising water bills and consumer spending, this study analyzes data from a household survey in the United States to understand how consumers may change spending behavior given various water bill increase scenarios. Results of this analysis provide insights into the demographics of households likely to be affected, the industries that could be affected, and at what bill increase levels these trends are most pronounced. While additional research on this topic is needed, these results suggest a stronger emphasis on long-term water management planning and allocation of resources to building and maintaining water infrastructure may be required. For utilities, this means a consideration of nonrevenue sources of funds to pay for rising water costs and strategies for making water more affordable for customers without deferring infrastructure improvements.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"487 - 514"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620942812","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48700709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-03DOI: 10.1177/0160017620942815
Julio López‐Laborda, Jaime Vallés-Giménez, Anabel Zárate-Marco
This article quantifies personal income tax compliance by regions for the first time in Spain and identifies the factors explaining differences in tax compliance between regions, an aspect that has scarcely been analyzed in the literature. To this end, and in addition to the dynamic and spatial components considered by Alm and Yunus, this article considers the variables included in the classical tax evasion model of Allingham and Sandmo, as well as tax morale and political-institutional variables, including those linked to the country’s fiscal decentralization. The results obtained confirm, on one hand, those reached in the very extensive literature studying tax evasion from the individual perspective (including the importance of the dynamic element) and, on the other, the relevance of the spatial component in explaining tax compliance, so that greater or lesser tax compliance is partly explained by factors such as the tax behavior of neighbors or how those neighbors are treated by the public sector.
{"title":"Personal Income Tax Compliance at the Regional Level: The Role of Persistence, Neighborhood, and Decentralization","authors":"Julio López‐Laborda, Jaime Vallés-Giménez, Anabel Zárate-Marco","doi":"10.1177/0160017620942815","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620942815","url":null,"abstract":"This article quantifies personal income tax compliance by regions for the first time in Spain and identifies the factors explaining differences in tax compliance between regions, an aspect that has scarcely been analyzed in the literature. To this end, and in addition to the dynamic and spatial components considered by Alm and Yunus, this article considers the variables included in the classical tax evasion model of Allingham and Sandmo, as well as tax morale and political-institutional variables, including those linked to the country’s fiscal decentralization. The results obtained confirm, on one hand, those reached in the very extensive literature studying tax evasion from the individual perspective (including the importance of the dynamic element) and, on the other, the relevance of the spatial component in explaining tax compliance, so that greater or lesser tax compliance is partly explained by factors such as the tax behavior of neighbors or how those neighbors are treated by the public sector.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"289 - 317"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620942815","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43078232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-05DOI: 10.1177/0160017620959823
Zhihua Ma, Yishu Xue, Guanyu Hu
The geographically weighted regression (GWR) is a well-known statistical approach to explore spatial non-stationarity of the regression relationship in spatial data analysis. In this paper, we discuss a Bayesian recourse of GWR. Bayesian variable selection based on spike-and-slab prior, bandwidth selection based on range prior, and model assessment using a modified deviance information criterion and a modified logarithm of pseudo-marginal likelihood are fully discussed in this paper. Usage of the graph distance in modeling areal data is also introduced. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to examine the empirical performance of the proposed methods with both small and large number of location scenarios, and comparison with the classical frequentist GWR is made. The performance of variable selection and estimation of the proposed methodology under different circumstances are satisfactory. We further apply the proposed methodology in analysis of a province-level macroeconomic data of thirty selected provinces in China. The estimation and variable selection results reveal insights about China’s economy that are convincing and agree with previous studies and facts.
{"title":"Geographically Weighted Regression Analysis for Spatial Economics Data: A Bayesian Recourse","authors":"Zhihua Ma, Yishu Xue, Guanyu Hu","doi":"10.1177/0160017620959823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620959823","url":null,"abstract":"The geographically weighted regression (GWR) is a well-known statistical approach to explore spatial non-stationarity of the regression relationship in spatial data analysis. In this paper, we discuss a Bayesian recourse of GWR. Bayesian variable selection based on spike-and-slab prior, bandwidth selection based on range prior, and model assessment using a modified deviance information criterion and a modified logarithm of pseudo-marginal likelihood are fully discussed in this paper. Usage of the graph distance in modeling areal data is also introduced. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to examine the empirical performance of the proposed methods with both small and large number of location scenarios, and comparison with the classical frequentist GWR is made. The performance of variable selection and estimation of the proposed methodology under different circumstances are satisfactory. We further apply the proposed methodology in analysis of a province-level macroeconomic data of thirty selected provinces in China. The estimation and variable selection results reveal insights about China’s economy that are convincing and agree with previous studies and facts.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"582 - 604"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620959823","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42309051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-02DOI: 10.1177/0160017620934177
José Miguel Giner-Pérez, María Jesús Santa-María
The food industry is the most important industrial activity in Spain in terms of production and employment; its spatial concentration is considerable. However, there is a lack of quantitative research on its agglomerations, especially at high levels of spatial and sectorial disaggregation. With the study presented, this deficit is addressed, using systematic and quantitative methods to examine the spatial agglomeration in the subsectors that the food industry is specialized. Spanish food industry clusters have been identified by applying a top-down quantitative methodological approach—the cluster index—and following a high level of territorial and sectorial disaggregation. Clusters were identified at the three- and four-digit sectorial disaggregation. The number of four-digit-level relevant clusters was higher than three-digit disaggregation. This evidence was verified using nonparametric statistical tests (Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Furthermore, the analysis of four significant three-digit subsectors allows us to advance two alternative explanations for the divergent results at the different levels of the analysis (three digits vs. four digits). This partly explains the potential competitiveness of Spain in the food industry and shows the possibility of establishing policies for the development of clusters.
{"title":"Spatial Agglomerations in the Spanish Food Industry: Does Sectorial Disaggregation Matter?","authors":"José Miguel Giner-Pérez, María Jesús Santa-María","doi":"10.1177/0160017620934177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017620934177","url":null,"abstract":"The food industry is the most important industrial activity in Spain in terms of production and employment; its spatial concentration is considerable. However, there is a lack of quantitative research on its agglomerations, especially at high levels of spatial and sectorial disaggregation. With the study presented, this deficit is addressed, using systematic and quantitative methods to examine the spatial agglomeration in the subsectors that the food industry is specialized. Spanish food industry clusters have been identified by applying a top-down quantitative methodological approach—the cluster index—and following a high level of territorial and sectorial disaggregation. Clusters were identified at the three- and four-digit sectorial disaggregation. The number of four-digit-level relevant clusters was higher than three-digit disaggregation. This evidence was verified using nonparametric statistical tests (Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Furthermore, the analysis of four significant three-digit subsectors allows us to advance two alternative explanations for the divergent results at the different levels of the analysis (three digits vs. four digits). This partly explains the potential competitiveness of Spain in the food industry and shows the possibility of establishing policies for the development of clusters.","PeriodicalId":51507,"journal":{"name":"International Regional Science Review","volume":"44 1","pages":"515 - 559"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0160017620934177","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42579875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}