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Agglomeration economies explain why productivity increases as the size of agglomeration increases, and thereby partly explain the importance of location and space in economic development. Agglomeration economies are based on the distance between firms, labour and the market. Infrastructure investment can be a tool used by governments to affect this distance, where, in doing so, they induce agglomeration economies and increase economic growth. In this paper, we will discuss the importance of considering types of networks when analysing agglomeration economies using multiregional new economic geography (NEG)-based spatial general equilibrium models. These models typically use abstract bi-regional origin-destination networks to describe the cost of transporting or commuting between regions. These abstract networks are like tunnels between regions and do not take into account the actual roads in real infrastructure networks used for transport and traffic between destinations. In other words, in real infrastructure networks, which we label full networks, people and goods move from one region to another via actual roads and possibly via third regions. In the empirical economic literature, there is a significant difference between the economic effect of changes in a bi-regional origin-destination network and the economic effect of changes in a full network. To date, no systematic explanation has been given for this difference in the size of the effects. Lack of an explanation for this difference may lead to confusion among policy-makers who have to decide on infrastructure investment. In this methodological paper, we discuss the reason for this difference. We do not discuss the absolute size of the agglomeration effects, only the relative difference that exists when using different types of networks. In order to explain the difference, we introduce a methodology that translates the effects in a bi-regional origin-destination network into similar effects in a full network, making it possible to systematically compare the economic importance of all links (roads) in such a network. This is highly relevant to policy-makers, who can now interpret the model results on a real full infrastructure network. We will also show the mathematical relationship between the importance of agglomeration economies on a link in a full network and the importance of agglomeration economies on a link in a bi-regional origin-destination network. Finally, the methodology is illustrated with a case study from the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new economic geography ( NEG) has been tested to explain the spatial concentration of wages in developed countries, but it has not been evaluated for developing countries where the excessive spatial concentration seems to be related with negative consequences on the economic development. This paper covers this gap in the literature estimating by first time a NEG model for a developing country such as Chile, pursuing two research question: (1) Can the NEG explain the spatial distribution of wages in a developing country as Chile?; and (2) How can the NEG be used to infer information about the future level of spatial concentration of wages in Chile? The results suggest that the case of Chile is poorly explained by the NEG and even higher level of spatial concentration should be expected in the future. These results indicate that the empirical application of NEG is not trivial for developing countries, and some considerations such as inclusion of the first nature or analysis at micro data level must be incorporated by future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To grasp the critical role of socio-cultural factors for regional economic development, several concepts have been developed, including that of ‘social capital’. This notion usually refers to norms, values, networks, reciprocity or trust which are held in a community and can lead to positive social and economic outcomes. Despite its popularity as a fashionable concept in the literature, the exact meaning of social capital is far from clear. This paper criticises the dominant conceptions of social capital in economic geography and regional studies and aims to place the debate in a different perspective. It argues for an alternative understanding of social capital defined as resources embedded in social networks which can be accessed or are used for actions. The potential to overcome the current weaknesses in the literature is illustrated through discussing social capital of economic clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the changing geographies of production and industrial renewal in Sweden during the period 1978 to 2004. Conceptually, we build on the regional version of the technology shift cycle thesis. This is performed in two steps and by combinations of national and regional empirical evidence. First, we construct a taxonomic method that distinguishes between renewed, followers, transformed, induced, contracting, and obsolete industries in the national production system. These different kinds of industries have all had different roles in the dramatic transformation of Swedish manufacturing, and we empirically identify the groups of industries using new time series data. Second, the regional footprints of the transformation are investigated applying a systemic view of regional development. The results of our investigations provide a detailed picture of the anatomies of both sector and regional transformation of the Swedish economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]