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Consumer psychology refers to how people think and act within an economic role in market exchange. However, we know little about how consumers actually perceive these roles, or how they understand markets and economic activity more broadly. That is, we lack an understanding of the economic reasoning of non‐expert consumers, how it departs from formal economic reasoning, and why. The current paper is intended to address this gap. We provide an integrative review of research on lay economic reasoning that consistently reveals how differently lay consumers and economists think about markets. We propose a unifying mental model to explain these divergences. Suggest why it is reinforced by what lay consumers observe (and do not observe) through firsthand marketplace experience, and note its potential evolutionary basis. We then highlight how understanding lay economic reasoning can not only help explain a wide array of marketplace phenomena, but also provide a novel lens to help advance, generate, and better integrate theory across many active literatures within consumer psychology. Without markets, there are no consumers and there is no marketing. We therefore call for consumer psychologists to take ownership of the study of lay economic reasoning and make markets more central to marketing scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern cluster theory provides reasons for positive external effects that accrue from the interaction of spatially proximate firms operating in common and related fields of economic activity. In this paper, we examine the impact of R&D‐intensive clusters as a key factor of regional competitiveness on productivity growth. In relying on a hybrid approach of cluster identification, we examine effects of cluster specialization and diversity for a panel of German NUTS‐3 regions in 2003–2019. After controlling for regional characteristics and unobserved heterogeneity, a robust cluster strength effect (i.e., specialization) on productivity growth is found within the context of conditional convergence across German regions. With regard to the underlying mechanisms, we find that the presence of multiple R&D‐intensive clusters in specific technological fields is most strongly linked to higher levels of regional productivity growth. We also find that advantages from cluster specialization are strongest in key industrial sector such as automobile production, machinery, chemical and pharmaceutical products. Overall, our estimates particularly highlight the working of Marshallian externalities in productivity dynamics, while Jacobs‐type spillovers tend to be partially realized. These findings indicate that some but not all cluster‐based regional development strategies are promising policy tools to foster regional growth processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial interactions among regional units may influence the geographical distribution of economic activities. Many traditional measures of geographical concentration fail in capturing this aspect, being insensitive to permutations of the spatial position of regions. This paper proposes an approach to the measurement of geographical concentration of economic activities that accounts for spatial interactions among regions. The locational Gini is split into spatial and non‐spatial components, so that a new interpretation of the index is presented. The measure is applied to evaluate the geographical concentration of different economic sectors for 1,323 NUTS 3 regions in the European Union over the period 2001–2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantity of literature on the livelihoods of refugees is increasing, yet there is a lack of comparative analysis of their strategies in this regard vis‐à‐vis their host communities and living locations. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the city of Nairobi and Kakuma Camp in Kenya in 2016–17, this paper narrows the gap by presenting an examination of the economic activities in which refugees in different contexts engage, and highlighting some of the institutional factors that distinguish refugees' economic lives from those of members of the host community. The findings suggest that while some Kenyans are encumbered by challenges comparable to those faced by refugees, the myriad political, legal, and policy factors that characterise refugeehood are nonetheless particular in the ways that they influence livelihoods. By emphasising the multiple actors and aspects that shape refugees' economic strategies, this paper also reveals the political economy within which refugee livelihoods are embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessibility is one of the most important factors in a location choice decision of a firm. However, new and relocated establishments can value accessibility differently. Research papers differences of accessibility preferences between creations and relocations are scarce. In this paper, we examine these differences in an intraurban setting, the Lyon urban area. We rely on discrete choice models and data for more than 43,000 creations and 11,000 relocations during 2005–2011 from eight economic sectors. Results demonstrate that the effect of accessibility differs between creations and relocations of the same economic sector. This difference depends on the type of the economic activity of the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of urban spatial structure on urban employment growth in China by focusing on two dimensions, monocentricity, and compactness. Theoretically, the urban spatial structure affects urban employment through its effects on transportation costs, the concentration of economic activities, and urban amenities. Our empirical analysis verifies a nonlinear U‐shaped relationship between the monocentricity of a city and the growth rate of urban employment. Additionally, we find that a high level of compactness accelerates urban employment growth. Furthermore, cities that are more monocentric and more compact experienced more rapid urbanization during our sample period. We then use an instrumental variable approach to identify causal effects, and we obtain similar results. Our findings indicate that to accelerate the transfer of labor to urban sectors, governments in developing countries should pay attention to the planning of the urban spatial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to analyse agrarian class relations in Sangli, a village in Rewari district, southern Haryana, in light of the linkages of agricultural households with non‐agricultural economic activities. I find that better‐off households that are primarily dependent on agriculture are the most likely to re‐invest in agriculture. Agricultural surpluses allow upper caste landowning households to diversify into businesses or formal employment; alternatively, landownership provides a failsafe against precarious daily wage work, which is the only type of work available to lower caste landless households who lack economic and social capital. This segmentation of diversification opportunities is understood as conjugated oppression resting on caste and land ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies cross‐border networks formed in firms' prior destinations in the context of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). An acquirer owns a subsidiary in a prior destination, and the subsidiary's domestic network forms the cross‐border network of the acquirer due to their ownership link. We focus on the subsidiary's network of neighboring firms in a location within the prior destination. Using rich data on cross‐border M&A, we show that knowledge spillovers from this cross‐border network have a positive impact on the acquirer's likelihood of entering a new destination. Our results highlight the global externalities of multinationals' international economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, scholars have highlighted the role of cities as incubators for start‐ups. Several studies identify the city of Barcelona as one of the major hubs in Europe for start‐up creation, especially in emergent industries. The present paper examines how local attributes, proximity to the elements of an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE), and to nearby economic activity, influence the location of ambitious start‐ups in Barcelona between 2012 and 2015. To do this, we use micro‐geographic data of Barcelona start‐ups provided by the Catalan Government (ACCIÓ) and open data on the socioeconomic composition of Barcelona neighbourhoods from the Statistics Department of the Council of Barcelona. By dealing with neighbouring effects and endogeneity, our results suggest that localisation economies and proximity to the elements of the EE are the key factors attracting start‐ups to Barcelona's neighbourhoods. These results are crucial in helping policymakers understand the locational factors of start‐ups within the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landfalling tropical cyclones are essentially unheard of in Tanzania. It has been suggested that Cyclone Kenneth, which occurred in 2019, was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Tanzania. This paper brings to light tropical cyclones that made landfall in Tanzania in 1872 and 1952. We draw on eyewitness accounts and meteorological observations to raise the profile of these seemingly forgotten tropical cyclones, which devastated lives and economic activities. The severe societal impacts, and potential link to climate change, of landfalling tropical cyclones in Tanzania encourages further investigation into the drivers of tropical cyclones in the southwest Indian Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a spatial agglomeration index (SPAG) of the economic activity for the point geo‐localizations of firms. It includes the effects of location, the distance between firms and the overlapping impact of the firms' size. The SPAG builds a new class of measures of the spatial density of the economic activity inside the region, based on the geometrical representation of firms with circles, without referring to the commonly used Ripley's K function. The SPAG measures the degree of divergence from the benchmark distribution, what detects different spatial distributions as clusters or borderline dispersion. We test SPAG with real point data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a multiproxy approach to the ancillary activities which supported the ancient Maya royal court of the center of La Corona (750–900 CE). This approach sampled both the plaster floors and their overlaying soil matrix from areas of the palace of La Corona, resulting in a data set comprised of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry geochemical, soil‐flotation derived microartifactual, and macrobotanical data. These data complemented the architectural and artifactual record, documenting elusive aspects of the economic, ancillary functions of the Northwest Group of the La Corona regal palace. Specifically, this approach revealed that distinct portions of this architectural group were regularly used for preparing foods and craft objects, carrying products and items, discarding ash, using and/or grinding cinnabar‐based pigments, and illuminating nighttime activities. These results not only revealed activity areas in patios, but also provided evidence regarding the functions of adjacent buildings. This paper significantly contributes to our understanding of the pragmatic economic functions of ancient Maya royal courts. In addition, the presented data sets are methodologically valuable for students of archaeological activity areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the impact of studies published in "Papers in Regional Science" on regional science. According to the author, the impact factor increased to 1.265 for 2008 which reflects that articles in the journal were being used in science. The author also talked about the special issue of the journal, which includes reports about economic systems, land use and economic geography.

This paper develops spatial network metrics that contribute to analysis of regional development. We use the sDNA software to derive longitudinal road network density and efficiency measures based on the network within a 1‐hr travel time buffer. We estimate this travel time itself from network shape and show it to be comparable to Google Maps travel time data. Economic analysis of 374 Local Administrative Units in the UK mainland shows cross‐sectional association between our network density and efficiency measures and Gross Value Added per capita (GVApc), whether measured in bivariate correlation or in multiple regression controlling for population, education, economic activity rate and rail stations. This is however both mediated and moderated by the proportion of knowledge‐based businesses; regions lacking a strong knowledge‐based sector show only weak correspondence between GVApc and accessibility. Looking at change over time, increase in network accessibility is linked to growth in the knowledge‐based sector, but inversely linked to economic performance during the 8‐year period studied, a finding which remains unexplained. Although further substantiation is needed, results suggest that the policy of transport investment as a driver of UK economic growth may be less effective in areas lacking potential to develop a strong knowledge‐based sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the asymmetric effects of sectoral shifts on economic performance under low and high uncertainty using US data. A sectoral shift is found to induce more depressed economic activity under high uncertainty relative to under low uncertainty. These effects are statistically different across the two uncertainty regimes and are not driven solely by recessions. A tractable two‐sector dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with sectoral shifts and stochastic volatility is able to qualitatively explain these empirical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant narratives of the economy, as well as policy discourses in Papua New Guinea (PNG), tend to separate the 'formal' from the 'informal' economy. Concurrently, there is a development policy emphasis on women's economic empowerment. In urban areas this has meant a policy focus on larger market places as sites where women need support for economic engagement. Within these policy discourses, one activity in urban areas usually relegated to the 'informal' economy is small home‐based market stalls, referred to in this paper as haus maket. Located at homes or on nearby roads, haus maket are prolific and available to the public, and as such provide a similar function to public market places as spaces to make money. This paper considers these public yet intimate spaces as sites where vendors, usually women, embody and lead contestations between money and moral value spheres. At a time when the policy emphasis is on the formal economy and larger market places in PNG, why do such small market places persist? The first aim of this paper is to establish the role of haus maket as a site where spheres of value intersect. Rather than being 'informal' and peripheral, I seek to foreground its centrality to the economy but also as a site where economic and social moral values conflate. The second aim of the paper is to examine the role of sharing as a form of transaction in its own right distinct from exchange as a transaction between two actors. Haus maket stalls are sites of sharing and of moral action and value where forms of value in the settlement are shaped and negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper applies the modern portfolio theory and stochastic frontier analysis to gross value added growth rates in Europe and presents evidence of convex growth‐instability frontiers. Using their national accounts by economic activity, numerical simulations of gross value added shares show that in 2011, industry portfolios were below Markowitz's efficient frontier and that rearranging the share of economic activities lead to efficiency gains in terms of lower output instability and higher growth rates. Gross value added in EU countries in general, and core countries in particular, should be contributed by the "service provider" and "financial activities" sectors, while optimal industry portfolios of periphery countries are more diversified. Stochastic frontier analysis confirms the convex growth‐instability frontiers and finds that technical inefficiencies are explained by differences in the growth rate of labour and the degree of industrial diversification. Getting more efficient is a combination of country characteristics and sector specifics, where efficiency gains are inversely related to industrial diversification during economic development. Reported results are robust to model specifications and data restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal benchmarking according to the least squares methods of Denton is widely used for official statistics. The purpose of Denton methods is to achieve consistency between high‐ and low‐frequency data, for example, quarterly and annual data. The high‐frequency data are adjusted to align with low‐frequency data, while preserving as much as possible the short‐term movements of the preliminary high‐frequency data. Theoretically, it is best to benchmark all available data for all periods at once. Practically, such a simultaneous approach is often not feasible, due to the impossibility of changing results that have already been published. Therefore, benchmarking is often applied according to a sequential approach. This paper demonstrates that a popular Denton method is not always appropriate for sequential benchmarking. Undesirable abrupt changes of benchmarking corrections can occur. This paper proposes solutions that better preserve the short‐term movements between sequentially benchmarked series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information‐technologies are essential for global capitalism to function at speed across scale, space and complexity. The importance of software and algorithms in the governance of these systems is reflected in the attention of scholars to the ways digital code and materiality (re)combine to create hybrid digital/material spaces of economic activity, movement and everyday life. This paper extends this work in two key ways: first by emphasising the relational aspect of these code/spaces, and second by showing how the digital algorithms of code/spaces are hackable rather than hegemonic. Using the case study of frequent flyer programmes we demonstrate how networked knowledge‐sharing reshapes code/spaces to provide unintended opportunities such as low‐cost travel and access to spaces normally only frequented by global elites. Although this case highlights vulnerabilities in the code of global capitalism, it is primarily only those with significant lifestyle privilege who are able to fully participate in these subversions. Moreover, while much of the value captured by “airline hackers” comes from airlines’ profit margins, the relationality of code/spaces can impact citizens and consumers not directly connected to or interested in airline travel. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that in contrast to characterisations of omnipresence and hegemony, the information networks and algorithms of global capitalism contain moments of uneven porousness and selective hackability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A more polycentric global development landscape has emerged over the past decade or so, rupturing the formerly dominant North–South axis of power and knowledge. This can be traced through more diversified development norms, institutions, imaginaries and actors. This paper looks at one trend within this turbulent field: namely, the ways in which ‘Northern’ donors appear to be increasingly adopting some of the narratives and practices associated with ‘Southern’ development partners. This direction of travel stands in sharp contrast to expectations in the early new millennium that the (so‐called) ‘traditional’ donors would ‘socialise’ the ‘rising powers’ to become ‘responsible donors’. After outlining important caveats about using such cardinal terms, the paper explores three aspects of this ‘North’ to ‘South’ movement. These are (i) the stronger and more explicit claim to ‘win‐win’ development ethics and outcomes; (ii) the (re)turn from ‘poverty reduction’ to ‘economic growth’ as the central analytic of development; and (iii) related to both, the explicit and deepening blurring and blending of development finances and agendas with trade and investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Regional industrial policy emphasizes the notion of building on existing concentrations of competitive firms. A range of measures to identify such concentrations has been put forward in the literature. These measures, however, do not identify substantial concentrations which have the best potential for further development, tend to concentrate on scale measured by employment, and are applied using data for pre‐specified administrative boundaries. This paper presents a new concentration index that identifies substantial concentrations and utilizes information on both the number and size of plants. It also proposes a method for generating relevant industry‐specific spatial units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small island developing states (SIDS) face unique developmental challenges, not least their often narrow economic structure and dependence on a narrow range of economic activities. In this regard migration, remittances, dependence on aid, tourism and state employment feature prominently. This paper explores the nature of Niue's economy and the degree to which its economy depends on tourism and government services, both of which are supported through aid programmes. The limited dependence on remittances places Niue, as a SIDS, into the relatively narrow band of TOURAB states (those dependent on aid, tourism and bureaucracy). Understanding the nature of Niue's economy helps clarify the challenges the country faces, its development needs and the considerations which donors need to focus on through their support. It also clarifies how Niue should position itself relative to market opportunities and what the focus of development strategies should be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we empirically investigate the role of stock market illiquidity shocks, stemming from Amihud's illiquidity measure, in explaining U.S. macroeconomic fluctuations from 1973 to 2018. We find that the impact of illiquidity shocks on economic activity is substantial, and historical decomposition analysis shows that cumulative illiquidity shocks were an essential contributor to the prolonged economic slump of the Great Recession. Moreover, our identified illiquidity shocks represent a distinct source of macroeconomic instability. This suggests that illiquidity shocks, measured by the stock price impacts, may contain more information than other types of shocks in recent studies, such as financial shocks and uncertainty shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the potential effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Canadian food processors. First, COVID‐19 may have an impact on food processing economic activities because of supply and demand shocks. Second, the impact of COVID‐19 on food processing may depend on the type of products and the size of the processors. The effects of measures taken by the government to flatten the epidemiological curve on the economic activities of the food processing sector are uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of coastal urban agglomerations in China has gained global attention since the 1980s. Recently, several regions in the Central China have also experienced rapid economic development. The objectives of this paper are to explore whether the spatial pattern of urban growth in Central China's urban agglomerations is the same as those costal ones and whether it is driven by anything other than external forces. Using the Changzhutan region as an example, this study analyses the economic transformation and spatial restructuring of the populations in urban agglomerations in Central China and explores the driving factors of urban growth using regression models. We find that most of the population is concentrated in prefecture‐level city districts and county seats, which is markedly different from the large‐scale regional population agglomerations found in the coastal urban agglomerations. Domestic investment, instead of foreign investment, and human capital, has become important factors driving the population migration. This finding sharply contrasts with the pattern found in coastal urban agglomerations, where regional concentrations of the population and economic activities are primarily driven by labour‐intensive and global economies. This case study may serve as a basis for future urban planning and management in Central China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the Great Recession, despite large and persistent slowdown in economic activity, the fall in inflation was modest. This is known as the missing deflation puzzle. In this paper, we develop and estimate a New Keynesian model to provide an explanation for the puzzle. The new model allows for time‐varying volatility in cross‐sectional idiosyncratic uncertainty and accounts for changes in intermediate input prices. We show that inflation did not fall much because intermediate input prices were increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional development has evolved in response to shifting local and global priorities. These shifts have transformed both the way we think about regions, their role and how that shapes the outcomes and benefits that might occur from engaging in regional development. Key debates centre around the ability (or desirability) of regional development interventions to unsettle path dependence and "lock‐in" created by past approaches and to create opportunities for alternative development futures and to provide choices between sectoral‐based investments to support economic activity in contrast to a more place‐based approach to regional development. This paper overviews the dynamic nature of regional development to offer reasons for its recent resurgence by highlighting the key debates about the purpose and function of regions and what regional development can or should do. We then discuss the New Zealand context specifically and use the first year of Provincial Growth Fund investments to reflect on how the processes, objectives and goals reflect particular interpretations of the meaning and purpose of regional development. We conclude that a strong adherence to a growth imperative has the potential to reinforce path dependencies at the expense of alternative development pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes the case for the conceptual use of the everyday in economic geography. It does this by firstly demonstrating the explanatory potential that lies in attending to the lived experience of economic development and, secondly, the ability of the everyday to occupy a meso-level analytical position that is sensitive to the agency of economic agents without undermining the role of structural forces. As a result of the in-depth, and detailed nature of the everyday, the explanatory powers offered by this initial focus on the micro-scale is useful to those economic geographers wishing to pursue a more qualitative and holistic understanding of the economy and of economic processes. Therefore, this paper contributes to a much longer project in economic geography concerned with broadening how the economy is defined and therefore studied. Specifically, it compliments and builds on the work of economic geographers engaged in practice-orientated research before turning to the work of Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau in demonstrating the analytical richness of the everyday beyond a focus on social practice. In other words, the paper argues the need for economic geography to also attend to the lived experience of everyday life, the meanings and values ascribed to it, and not just socio-economic practices themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization has altered the appeal of each region to host economic activities. As firms are pushed to be more competitive, they develop outsourcing and relocation strategies, displacing some production activities to new emplacements. These changes have important impacts in some regions and are modifying the economic geography of Europe. This paper aims to present the impact that outsourcing and relocation strategies have across European regions and industries as well as to determine some of the characteristics of the more affected regions most affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of agrarian change have long debated the nature of capitalist transition in the countryside, including whether the deepened interlinking of local, national, and transnational economic activities make past trajectories of agrarian transformation unlikely to reoccur in the present. This essay makes the case that Giovanni Arrighi's work has much to add to our understanding of the agrarian question in global historical perspective. We focus in particular on Arrighi's research on trajectories of change in the Calabrian region of southern Italy, and his essay "Capitalist Development in Hostile Environments." In this piece, Arrighi and co‐author Fortunata Piselli develop two key insights. The first is that the pathways to capitalism are diverse, non‐linear, and historically contingent such that within one country—or, in the case of Italy, a single subnational region—multiple trajectories can be found. The second is that the outcomes of capitalist transition vary based on a country's position in the international hierarchy of wealth, meaning that agrarian transformation is compatible with both economic development and underdevelopment. We describe the three methodological principles that enabled Arrighi to develop his analysis of capitalist transition and explain how the papers collected in this special issue reflect and extend the Arrighian approach to agrarian political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the time of post‐industrialism, the increasing costs of life, scientific and technical development, an increase in the level of education and ecological barriers resulted in the decentralization of economic activity. One of the consequences of this is an increase in the locational attractiveness of the suburban zone. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the contemporary processes concerning location and concentration of industry in a post‐socialist city illustrated with an example of the city of Wrocław. The conducted research enabled us to determine the functional specialisation of gminas (municipalities), which served as the basis for the construction of a simplified model of the suburban zone in the post‐industrial period. In order to diagnose the extent of development and the level of spatial differentiation of the process of industrial activity concentration, the authors applied a location quotient (LQ) as well as a taxonomic method of linear ordering of distances from so‐called development pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines distance‐based effects of the introduction of a National Basketball Association (NBA) team on establishment‐level sales. Using a unique micro dataset with precise geographic location information and industry detail, we apply spatio‐temporal estimation strategies following Harger et al. and Ahlfeldt and Kavetsos. We build on the literature by focusing on sales activity, a broad measure of economic activity, for industries related to the NBA‐product. Our application considers the relocation of the NBA's Seattle franchise (Supersonics) to Oklahoma City (Thunder). The results reveal spatially differentiated impacts that would be obscured using data aggregated over space or industry. Specifically, food establishments exhibit increased sales and entertainment establishments exhibit decreased sales relative to establishments in the outer most ring of the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses transaction‐based data to provide new insights into the link between the geographic proximity of businesses and associated economic activity. It develops two new measures of, and a set of stylized facts about, the distances between observed transactions between customers and vendors for a research intensive sector. Spending on research inputs is more likely with businesses physically closer to universities than those further away. Firms supplying a university project in one year are more likely to subsequently open an establishment near that university. Vendors who have supplied a project, are subsequently more likely to be a vendor on the same or related project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the economic impact of the $14 billion preparatory infrastructure investments for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We use satellite data on night light luminosity at municipality and electoral district level as a proxy for economic activity, applying synthetic control methods for estimation. For the average World Cup municipality, we find significantly positive, short‐run effects before the tournament, corresponding to a reduction of unemployment by 1.3 percentage points. At the electoral district level, we reveal distinct effect heterogeneity, where especially investments in transport infrastructure are shown to have long‐lasting, positive effects, particularly in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing problems in national accounts and similar applications may be addressed by optimization methods that aim to maximize preservation of specific characteristics of the unadjusted data, for example, levels or time‐series movements. However, published methods do not always indicate the assumptions that underpin these methods, making it hard to identify when those assumptions might be violated or how to generalize them to complex cases. Previous authors have observed that least‐squares estimation methods correspond to maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) under normality assumptions. This paper explores this relationship in the context of published "movement preservation"/"level preservation" methods, showing how the MLE interpretation identifies implicit assumptions made by these methods and, hence, helps inform decisions about their use. It also notes a case where the MLE and "preservation" approaches diverge, and gives a framework for generalizing MLE approaches to complex scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how market-access strategies, via exports and FDI, respond to changes in the level of integration. Empirical evidence shows that both firm exports and multinational activity are affected by trade liberalization episodes. We account for the strong positive correlation between exports and FDI by developing a general-equilibrium model featuring firm heterogeneity, trade and FDI with final and intermediate products. Different geographical spaces are considered to quantify the effect of a preferential trade agreement ( PTA) on supply-mode decisions, for both partner and excluded countries. The model sheds new light on the mechanisms through which geography reshapes the concentration of economic activities both inside and outside the PTA area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to understand, from an international comparative perspective, how population growth in rural regions is affected by the relationship with their nearby urban centers. By means of a cross-sectional analysis on OECD small regions (Territorial Level 3), the paper distinguishes spread effects-positive spillovers arising from urban growth-from the net effect of distance to nonrural places. The results show that spread effects outweigh backwash effects, so that rural regions benefit from growth in urban places. A rural region's distance from urban and intermediate regions has a negative effect on its population growth rate. Nevertheless, both the strength of this effect and the growth spillovers decline with distance, and this occurs relatively faster in Europe. The results further suggest that proximity to large urban areas has a higher positive influence than proximity to intermediate areas, but only outside Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that feminisation is beginning to occur in the mining industry, a process associated with an expanded notion of mining as a livelihood in the radically changing political economy of extractive industries. It demonstrates that new gendered geographies are being created as grinding rural poverty pushes large numbers of women into informal mining (also known as artisanal and small-scale mining or ASM)-a fundamentally different type of economic activity from the capitalised, industrialised mining operated by large corporations. Further, it shows that a number of civil society initiatives, industry measures, policy processes and action-research with large-scale mining corporations are currently underway in response to an overall enhanced awareness of gender mainstreaming. It argues that these initiatives, ensued from women's struggles and feminist contributions, are helping to integrate gender more firmly in a wide range of extractive environments, and how these have enhanced the visibility of women and gender in mining. The paper ends by indicating the existing gaps in inquiry and possible directions for future research by feminist geographers into these gendered economic spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an assumption that marine activities, particularly seafood-based activities, are an important source of employment and income in poor coastal areas. Linking the 2010 Index of Multiple Deprivation ( IMD) for England with the 2010 Business Structure Dataset ( BSD), this paper examines whether employment in the marine sector is concentrated in areas of high deprivation as is assumed. Merging the IMD 2010 with the BSD allows us to examine rates of marine-based employment and their location both across (inter) and within (intra) regions. This analysis provides the first empirical evidence that employment in the marine sector, particularly fishing and seafood processing, are located in areas with higher than average deprivation, even if the overall regional rate of deprivation is relatively low (the South East and the South West of England). Methodologically, this analysis indicates that an index such as the IMD based on a wide range of social and economic data can be used to understand the socioeconomic impacts of a sector within an area. Whilst most importantly this paper further demonstrates that intra-regional analysis is more insightful in exploring the geographical socioeconomic impact of the marine sector than inter-regional level analysis. With regard to the academic contribution, this paper also aims to conceptualise marine activity as a core economic activity located both in peripheral and non-peripheral areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to an expanding body of research that has analysed the interactional foundations of economic activity, and price determination, by quantifying the financial implications of different micro-interactional practices. Drawing on video recordings of naturalistic interaction the paper analyses a simple consumer choice, whether to pay one of two prices, the lower 'standard' price (£8.00) or the higher 'gift aid' (£8.80) price, to enter an arts institution. Utilizing resources from conversation analysis, the paper analyses different ways of posing this choice. It describes how, as interactional constraints tighten, standard prices become less socially desirable and customers increasingly 'volunteer' to pay the higher price. The paper contributes to sociological understandings of economic activity, demonstrating how simple one-off choices, and prices, are accountably responsive to micro-interactional structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeast Asia is a development success story. By 2025, it is forecast that extreme poverty in the region will have been ‘eradicated’. Does this mean that the challenges so evident in the 1960s when the countries of the region began to pursue development have been met, and the objectives achieved? The paper makes a case for thinking afresh about development and the poverty project, recognising that development is never neatly achieved but, rather, re‐worked, re‐engineered and re‐imagined over time. This is done through identifying different categories of ‘poor’, each produced through different poverty‐making processes, measured and viewed in different ways, and their poverty addressed using different approaches and policies. With specific reference to the cases of Laos and Thailand, and drawing on longitudinal research in the latter country, it is argued that while economic growth does trickle down, it trickles down in quite discrete and often contingent ways. Furthermore, there is always development work to be done, because development creates its own work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes a novel dynamic propensity score matching approach for multiple cohorts of U.S. counties between 1989 and 1999 to examine local economy resilience to rare natural disasters. Affected counties are sorted based on disaster intensity and are carefully matched to similar counties that did not experience a disaster. A difference-in-difference estimator compares trends of affected counties' postdisaster business establishments, employment, and payroll to counterfactual trends in the matched counties. All affected counties experienced short-run drops in economic activity that was particularly noticeable in higher-intensity disasters. In the longer run, less distressed counties returned to their estimated counterfactual trends, but countieswith lower predisaster socioeconomic conditions still lagged in growth, particularly in cases of lowerintensity disasters. Policymakers can use this information to better prepare responses to future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Changing economic activities bring significant cultural, epidemiological, and nutritional transitions. Infancy represents a critical period when rapid growth and metabolic programming occur, making infants particularly vulnerable to long-lasting biological changes due to such transitions. This paper examines the relationship between residence in distinct economic production zones (urban, herding, and dairy) and early growth in a highland district of Peru. Methods The length, weight, body mass index, and triceps skinfold of 93 infants (55 boys and 38 girls, aged 2 to 24 months) from 3 economic zones were measured at two time points 6 months apart. Z-scores were calculated based on the WHO Growth Reference for children under 5 years of age. Comparisons were made to the reference group and between economic zones to examine the impacts of different economic activities on infant growth. Results Female infants had significantly higher height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) than males ( P < 0.05). Across zones, dairying infants had the highest HAZ scores and the lowest prevalence of stunting. There was a significant association between zone and HAZ at baseline. While these associations were attenuated in measurements, taken 6 months later, longitudinal growth monitoring revealed differential patterns of weight gain and adiposity deposition across the zones with herding infants showing consistent high adiposity and urban infants gaining both weight and adiposity between rounds. Discussion Changes in economic activity are bringing about nutritional and epidemiological transitions in the Nuñoa district. Economic activity is a key factor influencing early growth with distinct longitudinal growth patterns in each economic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a special issue addressing the relationship between innovations and geographical contexts. The content, role, and sourcing of knowledge and how this relates to production systems and particular innovation projects is addressed. It includes a discussion about how firm strategies and organizational arrangements such as sourcing strategies, brokering arrangements, and project bundling effects the position of clusters as a knowledge source. Part of this discussion refers to the content of the three papers that follows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to illustrate the trajectories of innovation biographies in the service economy utilising the geographic heuristics of physical and relational distances. Drawing on the theoretical literature on the significance of proximity and distance to economic activities, the paper examines three case studies in the law sector. The analysis focuses on the role of the term 'innovation' within law businesses and on the interplay of proximities and distances in the case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the last decade a new economic paradigm has emerged that emphasizes the variability in economic strategies the pre‐Hispanic Maya employed. Among the most important developments is the discovery of marketplaces at several Classic Maya (250–900 CE) sites. Investigations into them and into market systems continue to fuel research, but invite broader consideration of what the presence of marketplaces might mean for regional systems of provision and control. The settlement densities revealed by new lidar data add urgency to this quest. Researchers should also consider the role of merchants, which is looming larger in our views of the pre‐Hispanic Maya world. This article examines the implications of the preliminary identification of a marketplace at the city of Maax Na for economic activities, actors, and market systems in the Three Rivers Region of Guatemala and Belize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical studies on the evolution of concentration, specialization or localization of economic activity have provided ambiguous results that strongly depend on the researcher's choice of the reference. This paper develops a decomposition method for Theil indices of localization that clarifies where this ambiguity originates from. The method allows expressing the difference between absolute and relative Theil indices of localization in terms of Theil indices that are subject to straightforward interpretation. Illustrations show that the divergence of absolute from relative localization in the EU-15 and in UK manufacturing is largely a statistical artifact inherited from the peculiarities of the industry classifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the endogenous development ( ED) approach has gained influence within the rhetoric of European rural development policies ( RP). This paper provides a fundamental critique of the approach and shows that neither the economic elements of RP in general nor ED in particular are targeted towards the specific economic needs and capabilities of rural areas. The second part of this paper consists of the search for possible alternative concepts for a more targeted and effective RP. Based on a synopsis of existing theories, an integrated approach is proposed that builds upon the different coordination mechanisms for economic activity suggested by different theories. The new, integrated perspective enables an economic characterisation of rural areas and indicates that the successful support of local coordination of economic activity is determined by specific local conditions. It also makes evident that localised approaches usually cannot compensate rural areas for the lack of agglomeration advantages. Therefore, programmes for the economic development of rural areas which support the local coordination of economic activity remain a second-best policy. As such, they do not free the state from policies of spatial redistribution if the political aim is the creation of comparable living conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how territorial economic governance is discursively constituted in a globalising and neoliberalising world. It acknowledges both the increasingly recognised formative role of spatial imaginaries in economic interventions and the workings of co-constitutive political projects that link particular imaginaries with political ambitions and policy strategies. Embracing recent calls for comparative ethnographic urban research at the local-global interface, it explores currently dominant spatial imaginaries across the four Australasian cities of Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Based on multiple qualitative methods, this study claims that a considerable number of actor's spatial associations and reference points can be related to particular city-specific governmental projects; Auckland's Super-City, Sydney's Global and Green City, Melbourne's Liveable City, and Perth's Vibrant City. It is demonstrated how discursive governance techniques such as 'story-telling', benchmarking, and policy transfer have been pivotal in the activation, circulation, and performance of those spatial imaginaries and their transformation into temporarily dominant visions for strategic urban interventions aimed at repositioning urban actors, spaces, and activities. While spatial imaginaries can be related to differently framed global aspirations, the effects of spatial political projects on urban governance and investment trajectories differ significantly across space. Theoretically, the paper stresses the importance of particular conceptions of territorial relations and time- and place-specific institutional mediation in shaping context-dependent discursive material governance alignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the debate continues in economic geography regarding the theoretical, methodological, and empirical need to abstract out from the complexity of real-world economic activity versus the need to examine the multiplicity and specificity of actually existing economies, this article revisits an object the ontology of which sits at the heart of such debates, that is, value. For a sub-discipline that has long-battled to be taken seriously as a social 'science,' the subject of value in economic geographies has become a battle royal between those who are willing to essentialise and those who are not, with many scholars justify their opposing positions on the grounds of theoretical salience and/or methodological rigour. In this article, I position value as the exemplar of these arguments, contrasting Roger Lee's (, ) relational understanding of value to the essentialising tendencies of Marx and neoclassicism. The paper posits that far from the openness of a relational approach being theoretically 'weak,' its strength in being able to deal with real-world complexity allows economic geographers to better explore some of societies' most important questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]