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This paper studies an intermediated market for a homogeneous good with middlemen who hold inventories of the good. Using a directed search approach, I investigate a steady state equilibrium. Under market frictions and competition, the ask price of middlemen includes a retail premium for the immediacy service to buyers and the bid price includes a wholesale premium charged to sellers for guaranteed sale. It is shown that the middlemen enhance the economy-wide eciency, and that the bid-ask spread can be non-monotone in the middlemen’s inventory capacity. The simple model provided here has wide applicability and oers economic insights into many empirically relevant forms of middlemen, especially in the context of financial intermediaries, international trade and retail stores.

Distributional extensions of the benchmark AK endogenous growth model and of the Ramsey model are presented in this paper. The resulting geographic growth model - a forward-backward parabolic partial diferential equation (PDE) over a bounded spatial domain - is governed by two main driving forces: a spatial friction in the reallocation of physical capital, and a spatial arbitrage driving the reallocation of savings. The spatial AK model solution, starting from an unequal distribution of capital, displays convergence over time to a spatially homogeneous balanced growth path with positive growth rates. The spatial Ramsey model potentially contains both difusive and agglomerative spatial forces. If there are no agglomerative forces, the solution displays convergence to a spatially homogenous steady state, but if an agglomerative force exists, there is increasing spatial concentration of capital over time. This shows that convergence in the aggregate can be consistent with diferent distribution profles over locations. An additional contribution of the paper is to develop a distributive comparative dynamics analysis for a spatially heterogeneous productivity shock. It is shown that, although there is redistribution of consumption across locations, technological inequality is persistent info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Using data on the age, sex, ethnicity and criminal involvement of 14.3 million residents aged 10–89 residing in 4,007 neighborhoods in the Netherlands, this article tests if an individual’s criminal involvement is affected by the proportion of criminals living in their neighborhood of residence. We develop a binomial discrete choice model for criminal involvement and estimate it on individual data. We control for the endogeneity that may be related to the unobserved neighborhood characteristics and take into account possible biases that may result from sorting behavior. We find strongly significant social interaction effects and explore their implications for the presence of multiple equilibria and social multipliers.

Diese Dissertationsschrift befasst sich mit der ökonomischen Bedeutung von Regionen innerhalb Deutschlands. Regionen sind dabei aus zweierlei Sicht ein wichtiges Untersuchungsobjekt. Dies gilt zum Einen, da makroökonomische Schocks über Regionen Hinweg zu substantiell unterschiedlichen Effekten führen. Dringliche Themen wie die Robotisierung und die Verwendung künstlicher Intelligenz, der Brexit, oder US-amerikanische Zölle werden Würzburg anders Beeinflussen als Berlin und implizieren somit unterschiedliche Interessen bei der jeweiligen Bevölkerung, den jeweiligen Firmen und Politikern. Zum Anderen können regionale ökonomische Schocks wie Erfindungen, Insolvenzen, oder die Ansiedlung eines bedeutenden Betriebs durch Handel und „input-output“ Verbindungen zu Schocks von makroökonomischer Bedeutung anwachsen. Allerdings sind regionale Heterogenitäten innerhalb Deutschlands und die komplizierten Netzwerke verschiedenster Art zwischen Regionen weder gut dokumentiert noch ausreichenden verstanden. Dies gilt insbesondere auch für lokale Arbeitsmärkte welche ein Kerninteressen der Regionalpolitik darstellen und ebenfalls von bedeutenden Heterogenitäten geprägt sind. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert und quantifiziert das regionale Produktions- und Handelsnetzwerk innerhalb Deutschlands und untersucht welche Aspekte für die beobachteten breiten Unterschiede bei der Anpassung lokaler Arbeitsmärkte an ökonomische Schocks verantwortlich sind. Der erste Aufsatz, „How deep is your love? A quantitative spatial analysis of the transatlantic trade partnership“, setzt sich dabei mit der Prognose von Effekten eines konkreten Schocks in Form des vorgeschlagenen transatlantischen Freihandelsabkommens (TTIP) auseinander. Die Arbeit findet einerseits nur mäßige Wohlfahrtseffekte, sowohl für die Vereinigten Staaten als auch für die Europäische Union und Drittstaaten, andererseits zeigt sie, dass alle Landkreise in Deutschland Wohlfahrtsgewinne erzielen und es somit zumindest regional keine Verlierer des Abkommens geben würde. Der zweite Aufsatz, „RIOTs in Germany - Constructing an interregional input-output table for Germany“, nutzt einen einzigartigen Datensatz von Gütersendungen per LKW, Zug oder Schiff zwischen allen 402 deutschen Landkreisen im Jahr 2010 um, mit Hilfe weiterer Daten, eine interregionale input-output Tabelle für Deutschland zu erstellen und die Verflechtungen lokaler Märkte zu untersuchen. Der dritte Aufsatz, „On the Road (Again): Commuting and Local Employment Elasticities in Germany“, analysiert die Bedeutung des Pendelns für lokale Arbeitsmärkte. Es zeigt sich dabei, dass Pendelströme eine zentrale Marge bei der Anpassung an lokale Schocks darstellen und dass deutsche Arbeitsmärkte wesentlich flexibler und anpassungsfähiger sind als weitläufig angenommen. Der vierte Aufsatz, „Shocking Germany - A spatial analysis of German regional labor markets“, integriert Arbeitslosigkeit in die zur Prognose lokaler Schocks verwendeten quantitativen Modelle. Dadurch kann er den Effekte von durch Schocks ausgelöster Migration innerhalb Deutschland auf lokale Arbeitsmärkte quantifizieren. Es zeigt sich, dass die Änderung lokaler Arbeitslosigkeitsraten als Antwort auf lokale Produktivitätsschocks durch Migration im Durchschnitt um 70 Prozent gedämpft wird. Strukturelle Anpassung führen langfristig zu einer im Vergleich wesentliche geringeren Änderung dieser Raten., Economists (should) care about regions! On the one hand this is true because macroeconomic shocks have vastly different effects across regions. The pressing topics of robotization and artificial intelligence, Brexit, or U.S. tariffs will affect Würzburg differently than Berlin, implying varying interests among its population, firms and politicians. On the other hand, shocks in individual regions, such as inventions, bankruptcies or the attraction of a major plant can, through trade and input-output linkages, magnify to aggregate effects of macroe- conomic importance. Yet, regional heterogeneities in Germany and the complicated network of linkages that connect regions are still not well documented nor understood. A fact that is especially true for local labor markets that are of core interest to regional policy makers and that also feature substantial heterogeneity. This thesis provides a thorough quantification of such heterogeneities and an in-depth analysis of the sources and mechanisms that drive these differences.

The development level assessment and categorization of Croatian local and regional units is based on the value of the development index which is the main instrument of Croatian regional policy. The development index is a composite indicator calculated as a weighted average of five socio-economic indicators. The goal of this paper is to analyze the uncertainty and sensitivity of the development index that arise from the procedures and indicators used in its construction. This analysis is then used to propose useful guidelines for future impovements. The methodology of the Croatian regional development index has been critically reviewed, revealing problems of multicollinearity and the existence of outliers. An empirical and relatively more objective multivariate approach for weight selection has been proposed. The uncertainty and sensitivity analysis were conducted using Monte Carlo simulations and variance-based techniques. Instead of a unique point estimate for the development level of territorial units an alternative confidence interval approach was considered.

Territorial development is a central topic within the European Union's Cohesion Policy and an important pillar for its agenda for employment and growth. To this end, the EU deploys important resources, be it in the form of dedicated programs (e.g. urban development), be it through introducing a territorial dimension to many other areas of intervention (e.g. transport policy, environmental policy, energy policy etc.). Given the high diversity of approaches, developing an integrated territorial development model becomes crucial in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The aim of this paper is to have a closer look at various attempts to define the dimensions of an integrated territorial development model. Meanwhile, our study is meant to assess the level of integration in the use of structural funds 2007 - 2014 at the municipality level in Romania. We therefore operationalize the integrated approach as the capacity of a territory to attract funds from various programmes, as well as to involve various actors in this process. Using the number of projects attracted by public authorities, companies and NGOs from five operational programmes financed through stuctural funds 2007-2014, we developed an index that allows comparisons in the performances of Romanian municipalities. Conclusions are meant to highlight the benefits of integration and future prospects for the next programming period (2014 - 2020).

This paper addresses the question of a causal link between global warming and urban sprawl by focusing on the role local climate plays in determining household behavior regarding housing decisions. We introduce a theoretical model with a climatic amenity along urban economics lines, and consider the hypothesis that under a warmer climate, households will locate in larger plots, farther away from city centers. This hypothesis is tested empirically on household data,and by controlling for selection in simultaneous equations for housing size and distance to community center. We find evidence that housing decisions on plot size and distance to the city are related to climate differences. Global warming and urban sprawl strengthen each other in a vicious circle.

This chapter outlines an urban theory of ‘financial resilience’ that accounts for the fact that the concurrent processes of urbanization and financialization render the economic system at once resilient and unstable. The notion of financial resilience thus conceived helps to advance our understanding of the processes of globalized urbanization in an era of financialized capitalism. Rejecting the classical notion of ‘monetary neutrality’, such a theory of resilience highlights that the particular behavioral attributes of a capitalist economy evolve around the (spatial) impact of money, credit and finance upon system behavior. One of my central claims in this regard is that the resilience of the monetary-financial system is an enduring theme that characterizes the historical reality of the American metropolis. The position outlined here envisions establishing ‘financial resilience’ as an analytical concept for urban theory that captures the systemic behavior of capitalist development in terms of the historical and institutional co-evolution of the process of urbanization and the monetary-financial system as a whole. In relating financial resilience to modes of urban capitalist governance and regulation, the discussion of the spatial aspects of financial resilience is cast both in terms of an institutional view of resilience (the resilience of both micro- and macro-level entities) and, in terms of a functional view of resilience (the resilience of funding flows and asset flows).

There is a wealth of literature and academic writings in which the European Union member states are criticized for not speaking “with a single voice” with regards to its common foreign policies. Similarly, in this paper I analyzed the European Union approach towards Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of all-embracing Europeanization process of BiH from the angle of the EU's capabilities to affect domestic policy-making process. We came to conclusion that the EU is deeply divided, incoherent, and weak in terms of its Europeanizing policies in Bosnia thus further deepening political impasse in the country. This also proves that to some extent the EU itself is responsible for long-lasting status quo in the country since it is today having a role of international player from which Bosnian ordinary citizens have quite high expectations. This is a serious credibility gap for the EU since it could not assert and prove itself as an attractive and powerful actor that is capable of resolving cumbersome Bosnian enigma.

17 p.; We introduce an AK spatial growth model with a general geographical structure. The dynamics of the economy is described by a partial differential equation on a Riemannian manifold. The morphology interacts with the spatial dynamics of the capital and is one determinant of the qualitative behavior of the economy. We characterize the conditions on the geographical structure that guarantee convergence of the detrended capital across locations in the long run, and those inducing spatial capital agglomeration.

This paper analyzes the relationship between crime and agglomeration where the land, labor, product, and crime markets are endogenously determined. We show that in bigger cities there is relatively more crime, a standard stylized fact of most cities in the world. We also show that, in the short run when individuals are not mobile, a reduction in commuting costs (or a better access to jobs) decreases crime while, in the long run with free mobility, the effect is ambiguous. Finally, we show that the most efficient way of reducing total crime is to use both a transportation and a crime policy that decreases commuting costs and increases policy resources.

International audience; This article focuses on the determinants of tourism in French overseas departments and collectivities. An initial estimate of a panel model of annual data for Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion Island, French Poly-nesia, and New Caledonia (NC), over the period 1990-2012, shows that a 1% appreciation of the euro against the dollar reduces the number of tourists by 0.47%. The results also confirm the negative impact of distance/transport costs and the chikungunya crisis. Conversely, stronger growth in France or the United States and a higher level of wealth in the collectives promote tourism. A more detailed panel analysis, with monthly data for NC over the period 1995-2014, reveals that a 1% appreciation of the euro reduces tourism flows by 0.12%, and higher inflation in NC also penalizes tourism. However, distance and the economic situation of the country of origin do not significantly influence tourism flows to NC.; Cet article met l’accent sur les déterminants du tourisme dans les départements et les collectivités d’outre-mer Français. Une première estimation d’un modèle de données de panel annuelles pour la Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Ile de la Réunion, la Polynésie Française et la Nouvelle Calédonie (NC), sur la période 1990-2012, montre qu’une appréciation de 1% de l’euro face au dollar réduit le nombre de touristes de 0,47%. Les résultats confirment aussi l’impact négatif des frais de la distance (coût de transport) et de la crise du Chikungunya. A l’inverse, une croissance plus forte en France ou aux Etats-Unis et un niveau plus élevé dans les collectivités d’outre-mer ont tendance à promouvoir le tourisme. Une analyse plus détaillée en panel, avec des données mensuelles pour la NC sur la période 1995-2014, révèle qu’une appréciation de 1% de l’euro face au dollar réduit les flux touristiques de 0,12%, et une inflation plus élevée en Nouvelle Calédonie pénalise également le tourisme. Cependant, la distance et la situation économique du pays d’origine n’influencent pas significativement les flux touristiques vers la NC.

Many different levels of the institutional framework influence processes of rural development. One funding-scheme for rural development is LEADER, which is a bottom-up-orientated approach funded by the EU. A key element is a Local Action Group (LAG) as a kind of a private-public partnership. The LAG collaborate on the basis of an integrated local development strategy. The LAG make decisions about the financial support for projects from an own budget. The patterns of such an element of rural governance on local level are embedded in a multi-level governance system. To analyse LEADER performances we develop a model of multi-level governance, which integrates governance arrangements at local level as well as regulation at European and German Federal State Level. In theory, under multi-level governance the role of the state shifts from one of control to one of co-ordination, using new mechanisms to guide a plurality of network actors. In general we use governance with a wide definition in an analytical sense (not focused on a normative perspective like in good governance concepts, not with a narrow definition as self-governance). So governance is seen as an umbrella term for regulation of collective actions with different modes of steering Crucial aspects for analysing LEADER are settings of the rural development programs and the LAGs own settings. However, only focusing on a formal system of the LAG's rules and regulations alone neglects the LAG's board's actual behaviour and processes. Therefore, in addition to the formal system, also an informal system of characteristics related to behaviours and attitudes should considered. Research questions are related to the observation of external induced changes (from the policy framework) as well as endogenous induced changes (from learning processes within the LAG). This contribution will be based on findings of an international research project with case-studies in France, Italy and Germany as well as the on the result of the LEADER evaluation in Germany (with written questionnaires for members of the LAG decision making bodies in ca. 100 regions with more than 3000 answers in 2009 and 2013). Incidentally research about the performance of LEADER becomes even more important, because there will be more LEADER-like implementations in the future: Not only new EU-countries could participate in the new funding period 2014+, but in addition the LEADER principles in theory are now usable for a 'Community-Led Local Development' for other structural funds.

Au-delà des modèles territoriaux d'innovation: la pertinence de l'approche territoriale, Regional Studies. Les travaux sur les Modèles territoriaux d'innovation (territorial innovation models – TIMs) ont eu des impacts considérables sur les études sur l'innovation dans de très nombreux domaines (économie politique, géographie, sociologie, sciences politiques et administratives, etc.). Dans cet article, on suggère qu'une approche plus large – l'économie territoriale – qui s'est largement structurée à partir de la recherche sur l'innovation, émerge. Elle peut apporter beaucoup à la compréhension d'enjeux sociaux contemporains (comme la mobilité, la financiarisation, etc.) et la réflexion théorique (plus précisément, elle peut améliorer notre compréhension du changement économique en mettant le temps et l'espace au centre des théories économiques). Beyond territorial innovation models: the pertinence of the territorial approach, Regional Studies. Research on territorial innovation models (TIMs) has had and still has a considerable impact on innovation studies in a broad range of fields (political economy, geography, sociology, administrative and political science, etc.). This paper suggests that a broader approach – territorial economy – which became structured to a considerable extent thanks to research on innovation, is emerging. It has much to give when applied to other current social issues (mobility, financialization, etc.) and to theoretical improvement (that is, it can upgrade one's understanding of economic change by putting space and time at the centre of economic theories). Jenseits der territorialen Innovationsmodelle: die Relevanz des territorialen Ansatzes, Regional Studies. Die Erforschung von territorialen Innovationsmodellen (TIM) wirkte und wirkt sich in einem breiten Spektrum von Feldern (politische Ökonomie, Geografie, Soziologie, Verwaltungs- und Politikwissenschaften usw.) beträchtlich auf Innovationsstudien aus. In diesem Beitrag wird die These aufgestellt, dass ein breiterer Ansatz – der der territorialen Ökonomie – im Entstehen begriffen ist, der sich in erheblichem Ausmaß aufgrund der Forschungsarbeit über Innovation strukturiert hat. Bei einer Anwendung auf andere aktuelle soziale Themen (Mobilität, Finanzialisierung usw.) und auf theoretische Verbesserungen hat dieser Ansatz viel zu bieten (d. h., er kann das Verständnis der wirtschaftlichen Veränderungen verbessern, indem er Raum und Zeit in den Mittelpunkt von Wirtschaftstheorien stellt). Más allá de los modelos de innovación territorial: la pertinencia del enfoque territorial, Regional Studies. Los trabajos sobre los modelos de innovación territorial han tenido, y todavía tienen, una notable repercusión en los estudios sobre innovación en numerosos ámbitos (político, económico, geográfico, sociológico, administrativo y de ciencias políticas, etc.). En este artículo sugerimos que está surgiendo un enfoque más amplio – la economía territorial – que está en gran medida estructurado a partir de los estudios sobre innovación. Tiene mucho que aportar cuando se aplica a otras cuestiones sociales contemporáneas (movilidad, financialización, etc.) y a la mejora teórica (es decir, puede mejorar nuestra comprensión del cambio económico al situar el espacio y tiempo en el centro de las teorías económicas).

This paper studies the effectiveness of building height limits as a policy to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It shows that building height limits lead to urban sprawl and higher emissions from commuting. On the other hand, aggregate housing consumption may decrease which reduces emissions from residential energy use. The paper uses numerical simulation to show that total GHG emissions may be lower under building height restrictions. It also studies the effect of endogenous transport technology and the urban heat island effect.

International audience; There is an abundant literature on innovative clusters but the incidence of cluster policies is hardly ever assessed. We assemble a panel of 94 French regions for 1997-2008 and use difference-in-differences regressions to evaluate the cluster policy that is being implemented in France since 2004-2005 in some of these regions. We obtain a positive, significant but rather small impact on patenting.

The paper highlights the link between the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) designation and the development of cultural tourism in Europe. Cultural tourism is the fastest growing segment of tourism in the world and is the desirable objective of new defined cultural policies in European cities. According to the European Commission (2012), it is estimated that cultural tourism accounts for around 40% of all European tourism. In general, the European Commission confirms the significant role of cultural tourism in the development of tourism in Europe and one of the most visible tools of this strategy is the designation of the ECoC. Cultural policy has also become an important tool of urban regeneration and in the rebranding of European cities.

Today more than half of the 7 billion inhabitants of the planet live in urban areas, with this share expected to keep rising. Whereas in developed countries urbanisation has been a long and slow process, in developing countries this process is now characterised by a really fast pace and a high degree of urban concentration, with urban population tending to concentrate in one or few large metropolitan areas of disproportionate size. While urbanisation has been long recognised as a fundamental element of the process of economic development, sustainable urbanisation has become one of the main and more pressing challenges for developing countries, where millions live lacking adequate access to basic services like electricity, clean water and sanitation. Building on previous evidence on urban concentration and economic growth, in this paper we analyse differentiated effects of urban concentration on national economic performance. In order to do so, we rely on panel data from 1960 to 2010 and perform several estimation techniques including System GMM and IV estimations (using rainfall data in the instrumentalisation strategy). We contribute to the literature by providing empirical evidence on how different characteristics of the urban environment - in particular the quality of urban infrastructure - strongly determine the growth-enhancing benefits of urban concentration (something that previous studies on urban concentration and economic growth have not considered empirically). We analyse several measures of urban infrastructure and look at different world regions, taking a special focus on Sub-Saharan African countries, where find that urban concentration has been in most cases associated with lower growth due to significant deficiencies in terms of urban infrastructure.

Proximity analyses have nowadays turned out to be a part of the toolbox of regional scientists and this notion recently became very popular in the position of politics, and private or public stakeholders. In parallel, the notion of proximity spread in the academic literature and is now commonly used by scholars in regional science, geography or spatial economics. Interest is affecting now the works dedicated to innovation process, links between science and industry, relations between users and producers or sub-contractors, national systems of innovation, innovative milieus, about also local labour markets or urban policies. But despite the substantial literature on proximity processes and relations, only a few academic works have been devoted to studying the link between regional development and proximity relations. We consider that the integration of the notion of proximity into the framework of regional development analysis provides interesting input due to its plasticity and ability to draw connections between spatial, economic and social dimensions; but also suggests ways of possible changes for regional and territorial policies. The main outline is to try to assess the importance of proximity relations (or obstacles led by proximity relations) in regional development processes, and discuss approaches of different disciplines. We aim to re-situate the analysis of proximity within the various theoretical approaches to the territory and, in particular, to highlight its place and the role it could play in the study of regional and territorial development processes, and possibly its contribution to public policies or collective action. It seems interesting to investigate the relation between proximity analyses and regional or local and territorial development; taking into account long distance relations and clusterisation processes has led to a renewal of development approaches. This investigation consists of three main axes of inquiry related to the ability to go beyond the sterile opposition between the local only and the decisive influence of distance relations. Are the themes addressed in these approaches wide and diverse enough to account for the mechanisms that reflect the diversity and complexity of the processes of local development (or are they, on the contrary, too specific to certain areas)? Are the (conceptual and analytical) tools, models and applied (qualitative and quantitative) studies based on an analysis of the phenomena of regional development through proximity sufficiently robust and objectifiable (and can they be used to generate valuable measures)? Can the results of proximity based analyses be translated into recommendations for decision-making and coordination between stakeholders, including in the field of public action or policies?

International audience; This article tackles one central issue in the regional science literature: the persistence of regional disparities in unemployment within national economies. Our approach is original as Okun's coefficients are estimated for each of the 22 administrative French regions over the period 1990-2008, taking into account cross-regional disparities in a panel data specification. Estimates show that the coefficients exhibit regional differences. Indeed, Okun's law is confirmed in fourteen regions, although it does not hold in the other eight regions. Finally, region-specific factors that explain the results that are not significant are identified, and policies to reduce unemployment in French regions are examined.

German metropolitan areas with more highly skilled workers became increasingly skilled between 1975 and 2003, and this has important implications for urban employment growth.Using for the first time German metropolitan areas instead of administrative regions we show that the share of college graduates affects growth by the same magnitude as it does in US MSAs. However, conventional estimators are biased upwards. Correcting for the endogeneity of initial employment and solving a common problem of under-identification shows that the effect is at least a third smaller and closer to 0.5% employment growth for a 10% increase in the concentration of skilled workers. The effect is robust to various controls across two data sets. We additionally question the view that aggregate productivity growth is solely due to college graduates. After distinguishing between six different skill levels we find positive growth effects of high school graduates with vocational training, especially if the local concentration of technical professionals is high. The concentration of non-technical university graduates becomes more important over time, but has less bearing on the marginal growth effects of other skill groups. City success may thus depend on the 'right' combination of skills as well as college graduates.Â

High mortality conditioned by both endogenous and exogenous causes is one of the challenges of today that will restrict the development of Russian regions and modernization of the economy. The paper presents the results of a multidimensional typological analysis of the subjects of the Russian Federation according to rural cause-of-death patterns. The role and influence of the social factors reducing mortality in different typological groups of Russian regions are examined. The need to apply a regionally differentiated approach in rural mortality reducing social policies is explained. It is shown in the paper that mortality rates and patterns are important indicators of public health mirroring the attitude of the state towards its citizens, the quality of life of the population, the values and social attitudes of different population strata, the rate of development of public health services, the availability of hi-tech medical services, the dominant stereotypes of social behavior and the spiritual condition of the society. Mortality rates and patterns both have social grounds: they alter as the society changes, influenced by these changes, and in turn affect the direction, rates and nature of these transformations. Interregional differences in mortality rates and cause-of-death patterns are to a large extent determined by the social conditions in which people live and work. It is explained why social and demographic policies should be integrated to reduce mortality in Russian regions. The regression equations run in this study are evaluated by using the data presented by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) in open access on its website. As a result of this study, the most important rural mortality reducing factors are singled out that cannot be ignored when drawing up regional strategies of rural social development and regional health-care modernization plans. This study is supported by the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (project # 12-06-00012).

An extensive economics and regional science literature has discussed the importance of social capital for economic growth and development. Yet, what social capital is and how it is formed are elusive issues, which require further investigation. Here, we refer to social capital in terms of “civic” capital and “good culture,” as rephrased by Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales and Tabellini. The accumulation of this kind of capital allows the emerging of regional informal institutions, which may help explaining differences in regional development. In this article, we take a regional perspective and use exploratory space and space–time methods to assess whether geography, via proximity, contributes to the formation of social capital across European regions. In particular, we investigate whether generalized trust, a fundamental constituent of civic capital and an ingredient of economic development, tends to be clustered in space and over time. From the policy standpoint, the spatial “path dependence” of regional trust may contribute to the formation of “spatial traps” of social capital and act as a further barrier to regional economic development and convergence.

In economic literature, the quality of life (QoL) in a city is usually assessed through the standard revealed-preference approach, which defines a QoL index as the monetary value of urban amenities. This paper proposes an innovative methodology to measure urban QoL when equity concerns arise. The standard approach is extended by introducing preferences for even accessibility to amenities throughout the city into the QoL assessment. The QoL index is then reformulated to account for the unequal availability of amenities across neighbourhoods. The more unbalanced the distribution of amenities across neighbourhoods, the lower the assessment based on the new index. This methodology is applied to derive a QoL index for the city of Milan. The results show that the unequal distribution of amenities across neighbourhoods significantly affects the assessment of QoL for that city. © 2013 Urban Studies Journal Limited.

There is much evidence against the so-called "too big to fail" hypothesis in the case of bailouts to subnational governments. We look at a model where districts of different size provide local public goods with positive spillovers. Matching grants of a central government can induce so-cially-efficient provision, but districts can still exploit the intervening central government by induc-ing direct financing. We show that the ability and willingness of a district to induce a bailout and district size are negatively correlated. We also discuss the effect economies of scale in local public goods provision has on the bailout policies and argue that these policies can be subgame perfect equilibrium strategies.

International audience; In this paper we study how wastewater management, targeted at reducing residential water pollution, may impact on the urban form, hence on urban sprawl and greenhouse gaz (GHG) emissions from commuting. To do so, we propose an urban economics model of a monocentric city with two different residential areas : sewer-serviced suburbia, with typically small residential lot size, and exurbia where wastewater management is individual and on-site and residential lots are larger to accomodate sanitary requirements. Within this simplified framework, where development is contiguous, we analyse how wastewater management costs impact on residential location choice, hence water quality, sprawl and GHG emissions. Sewer entails variable costs function of consumption while septic entails only fixed costs. We derive how the sewer and septic cost parameters impact the repartition of population between suburbia and exurbia, by analyzing the spatial equilibrium. Agents are subject to a budget constraint that depends on their place of residence and they enjoy a quasi-linear utility from consuming a residential lot size and a composite good. Any increase in one type of cost induces more agents to settle in the area where the other system prevails. Then we look at how these costs impact on three environmental variables - water quality, sprawl and GHG emissions - both directly and through their effect on the suburbia/exurbia population repartition. While the impacts on sprawl and GHG emissions from commuting are non ambiguous (increasing septic costs reducing both), the aggregate impact on water quality is less clear-cut. Indeed, there are three effects at play : a consumption effect, since any increase in costs tightens the budget constraint, hence reduces consumption and pollution emitted; a suburbia and an exurbia effect that channel through the change of repartition of the population between exurbia and suburbia. These effects can be signed and are non ambiguous. The aggregate effect, though, depends on the relative abatement efficiencies of the septic/sewer systems. Assuming that sewer is always more efficient than septic, we show that there may be situations where increasing septic costs may not have the expected impact of reducing surface water pollution. We illuminate three polar cases of wastewater management related to its impacts on the three environmental variables of interest. In the rest of the paper, we turn to optimal policy- design with water quality as the only damage accounted for by a local policy maker, and undertake the first steps of assessing the impact of such a policy on the other variables. We derive an optimal tax/subsidy scheme on wastewater costs to manage water quality, and discuss the resulting impact on the other environmental variables. We consider a lump-sum tax/subsidy on septic and a variable scheme in the case of sewer. According to the abatement efficiency gap between sewer and septic technologies, improving water quality may be achieved at the expense of higher sprawl and commuting. This paper calls for extensions to account for the polycentric nature of cities and to provide a more detailed depiction of upstream/downstream interactions in water pollution within a polycentric metropolis.

This paper analyses the importance of decisions to interact nationally and internationally on the likelihood of process and product innovation for a sample of Irish firms. The key contribution is to provide an empirical test of the relative importance of geographically proximate versus distant interaction, using a two-step procedure to remove potential endogeneity in interaction decisions. In doing so it finds that only national and only international interaction have the expected positive effects on the probability of innovation, while engaging in both national and international interaction has no effect. The findings support hypotheses on the importance of both geographically proximate and distant interaction for innovation, though the lack of significance for both national and international interaction means there is no evidence to support the proposition that these forms of interaction are complementary.

Entrepreneurship has clearly evolved as a critical element in the organization and restructuring of modern economies. It has been further fostered by the deregulation and privatization process in many Western countries. In addition, governments have acknowledged and started promoting the role of entrepreneurship in stimulating economic growth and development. In recent decades, we witness an increasing importance of migrant (or ethnic) entrepreneurs, in particular in big cities in the Western world. The aim of the present study is to provide both a contextual and empirical framework for assessing the business performance of migrant entrepreneurs in major cities in the Netherlands. The study is organized as follows. After an exposition of entrepreneurship and migrant entrepreneurship, the urban orientation of this new form of entrepreneurship is highlighted. Then the database and the methodology are presented. Next, the statistical findings are provided, followed by a concluding section.

Financialization is a major trend in Western economies. This paper shows, on the one hand, how it changes the management criteria and, on the other hand, the limits to financialization in the property sector. Between 1992 and 2004, about 15% of Swiss pension funds’ wealth was invested in property. As far as their investment policy is concerned, pension funds have two choices. First, they can directly own, and have management responsibility for, the properties in their portfolios. Alternatively, they can buy shares in mainly Zurich-based investment vehicles. In the first case, pension funds require staff with the relevant expertise along with the knowledge of property markets. Investments have a regional focus and are assessed internally by the funds. In the second case, pension funds are merely investors and investment appraisals and comparisons are made on the basis of market criteria such as yield, diversification in relation to risk and liquidity. In this case, property investments focus solely on the country’s main urban areas.

The construction of formal models that deal with space observed a huge increase since the late 1980s. As Fujita et al. (1999) stress, the field of regional economics experienced a revival with the emergence of new analytical tools such as the diffusion of imperfect competition models, networks and mathematical programming. One of the most powerful tools within social science in general and economics in particular is game theory. This methodology allows for the formal analysis of the interactions among economic agents and, therefore, it is particularly useful for the study of economic decisions regarding spatial issues such as the location choices of firms and households; infrastructures, transports and communications; regional and urban policy; innovation and regional development; and regional labour markets. For this reason, a concrete, quantitative systematization of the use of this tool on regional economics research seems to be a relevant topic in the agenda concerned with progress in regional science. In this paper we study research in regional economics and provide a quantitative retrospective of the use of game theory in this field. Our main goal is twofold. First, we intend to categorize the contributions in the use of this analytical tool - by main research subjects, by authors' affiliations, by journal, etc. - using a bibliometric approach. Second, by analysing co-authoring and using Social Network Analysis, we want to test the existence of structures upon which distinct co-authorship emerges. In broader terms, the results of this research will provide a framework for analyzing the potential use of game theory in regional economics, suggesting new future research directions.

This paper uses district-level data from India for the Census period 1991-2001 to investigate the nexus between agricultural sector development and service delivery in education, health, transportation, and communication. It asks whether local differences in public service provision cause some districts to fare better in terms of agricultural and ultimately rural development than others. In order to control for regional heterogeneities in agro-ecological conditions and consequent heterogeneities in agricultural potential and development, district agricultural sector performance is approximated with the yield level of district-specific commercial and field crops. The evidence from visualization and standard regression techniques shows that district dissimilarities in crop yield and ultimately agricultural development are not attributable to district differences in the endowment with infrastructure facilities. That is, the number of infrastructure facilities does not explain agricultural development. What seems to be more important instead is the quality of rural services. This paper concludes that progress in agricultural and ultimately rural sector performance does not require more infrastructure facilities, but the effective utilization of existing ones. To this end, the supply side of service delivery needs to be investigated in greater detail, especially with respect to the governance challenges of public service provision and the difficulties arising from, for instance, complex administrative structures or manpower, financial, political, and capacity constraints.

MARQUES, B.P. (2011) "Territorial Strategic Planning as a support instrument for Regional and Local Development: a comparative analysis between Lisbon and Barcelona Metropolitan Areas", in Atas do 17.º Congresso da APDR, do 5.º Congresso de Gestão e Conservação da Natureza e do Congresso Internacional da APDR/AECR, Bragança e Zamora, pp. 1265-1272, ISBN 978-989-96353-2-6. The present work has the purpose of making a comparative analysis of local development processes at a metropolitan scale, territories whose administrative and institutional limits do not always match with their political and economic identity and are inserted in global processes of socioeconomic transformation. The main purpose of this work is to analyze and understand the competitive advantages that the local and metropolitan political powers have over the Central State in what may concern the creation of favorable measures for companies’ productivity and competitiveness; analyze new forms of democratic political participation, namely around the so-called Territorial Governance. In terms of Territorial Strategic Planning, the focus has been, frequently, in the realization of great cultural and sport events and in urban rehabilitation. In this sense, the perspective will be more centered in the analysis of processes that lead to Local Development Initiatives in the fields of Education, Professional Formation or support for Entrepreneurship, rather then more “traditionalist” analysis. Given the nature of the present work, a Master Degree Project Work, the practical component will be postponed for future Doctoral studies. Nevertheless, we have the intention of testing some hypothesis, more in Lisbon Metropolitan Area, then Barcelona Metropolitan Area, namely throughout statistical data analysis and interviews to local actors.

Following last decade’s programmatic papers on Evolutionary Economic Geography, we report on recent empirical advances and how this empirical work can be positioned vis-a`-vis other strands of research in economic geography. First, we review studies on the path dependent nature of clustering, and how the evolutionary perspective relates to that of New Economic Geography. Second, we discuss research on agglomeration externalities in Regional Science, and how Evolutionary Economic Geography contributed to this literature with the concepts of cognitive proximity and related variety. Third, we go into the role of institutions in Evolutionary Economic Geography, and we relate this to the way Institutional Economic Geography tends to view institutions. From this discussion, a number of new research challenges are derived.

En esta ponencia se analiza la evolución del sistema urbano industrial de ciudades en Colombia, y los cambios que presenta entre 1975 y 1991. En particular, se hace un análisis de la forma cómo el sistema urbano colombiano se ha comportado frente a la crisis y la reconversión de la industria en la década de los ochenta y, del impacto que sobre el progreso técnico tiene este proceso y los ajustes espaciales que se han generado.

MARQUES, B.P. e CARVALHO, R. (2010) "Local Development Initiatives in Metropolitan Areas' Suburban Municipalities: a comparative case-study between Amadora (Lisbon-PT) and Diadema (São Paulo-BR)", in Actas do 16.º Congresso da APDR, Funchal, pp. 1053-1083, ISBN 978-989-96353-1-9. Amadora and Diadema are two small-sized but densely populated suburban municipalities, territorially contiguous to the metropolises of Lisbon (PT) and São Paulo (BR). In spite of their geographic and socio-economic specificities they both present common and important social exclusion (e.g. housing, unemployment) problems. This paper critically compares the local development initiatives put into practice in these two contexts, evaluating how multiple territorial actors (e.g. political institutions, financial and business associations, NGO’s, civic movements) interact and establish partnerships directed to minimize some of the previously identified issues thus promoting these municipalities’ populations socio-economic development.

A new economic geography of finance is emerging, and the current "financialization" of contemporary economies has contributed greatly to the reshaping of the economic landscape. How can these changes be understood and interpreted, especially from a territorial point of view? There are two contradictory economic theories regarding the tangible effects of the rise of the finance industry. According to neoclassical financial theorists, the finance industry's success is based on its positive effects on the real economy through its capacity to allocate financial resources efficiently. An alternative approach, adopted here, posits that finance does not merely mirror the real economy and that the financial economy, far from being a simple instrument for the allocation of capital, has its own autonomy, its own logic of development and expansion. A series of complex, and sometimes contradictory, connections link financial markets and the real economy, and there are some tensions between them, calling into question the coherence of the regional and national economies that follow from them. Moreover, the territorial approach shows how the mobility/liquidity of capital and the changing dimensions of new regions and countries are central to the finance industry's functioning. This article builds an understanding of the financial system through the lens of pension funds and highlights the impact of such a system on the real economy and its geography.

Theories on corporate governance have developed in line with the development of the financial markets and the increasing power of institutional investors. Indeed, the financial markets' power can be measured by the ability of shareholders, and of institutional investors in particular, to influence businesses and their managers. A number of reforms have been implemented in several countries, Switzerland included, in order to strengthen shareholders' powers. Making specific reference to Swiss case studies, this paper aims to create a better understanding of the role of institutional investors in corporate governance. Indeed, Switzerland is paradoxical in that it is generally considered Rhenish, with banks and families taking a leading role in controlling big business (David et al. 2004; Windolf & Nollert 2001), whilst developing a pension fund system which, since the mid-1980s, has attracted considerable funds and is still experiencing strong growth. How do these two approaches, traditionally at opposite ends of the spectrum as far as the subject's literature is concerned, reconcile themselves in the Swiss market?

We study how the city system is affected by the possibility for the members of the same cultural diaspora to interact across different cities. In so doing, we propose a simple two- city model with two mobile cultural groups. A localized externality fosters the productivity of individuals when groups interact in a city. At the same time, such interaction dilutes cultural identities and reduces the consumption of culture-specific goods and services. We show that the two groups segregate in different cities when diaspora members find it hard to communicate at distance whereas they integrate in multicultural cities when communication is easy. The model generates situations in which segregation is an equilibrium but is Pareto dominated by integration.

It has long been recognized that the forces that lead to the agglomeration of economic activity and to aggregate growth are similar. Unfortunately, few formal frameworks have been advanced to explore this link. We critically discuss the literature and present a simple framework that can circumvent some of the main obstacles we identify.We discuss the main characteristics of an equilibrium allocation in this dynamic spatial framework, present a numerical example to illustrate the forces at work, and provide some supporting empirical evidence. European Community's Seventh Framework Program Financial support from the Comunidad de Madrid (PROCIUDAD-CM), the Spanish Ministry of Science (ECO2008-01300) and the European Commission (EFIGE grant 225343) Publicado

Cultural resources are today the object of considerable attention in regional economics. Ground for new forms of innovation these resources have given rise to numerous works aiming at understanding the emergence and organisation of culture based economic activities and at identifying the role of these activities in regional development and urban planning. The objective of this article is to explore the way in which resources, and in particular cultural resources, are incorporated into production processes on the one hand, and the consequences on the resources of doing so on the other hand. Becoming an economic resource, a cultural “object” (symbol, image, cultural heritage, traditional know-how, etc.) becomes embedded within commercial relationships. The question we address here is what are the causes and consequences of this commodification of culture for the production systems, the customers and for the local communities which put a certain number of their constitutive elements into play.

[En] This paper describes a dynamic systems model which links the private and public functions of agriculture with the territorial development of rural regions and quality of life of rural residents. Among the key results are the quantification of a set of economic, social and environmental outcomes which follow from a set of EU policy scenarios for the period 2013. [It] L’articolo descrive un modello dinamico di sistema che lega le funzioni private e pubbliche dell’agricoltura con lo sviluppo territoriale delle regioni rurali e con la qualità della vita dei residenti. Tra i risultati principali vi è la quantificazione degli effetti economici, sociali e ambientali generati da un insieme di scenari di politiche comunitarie per il 2013. [Fr] L’article décrit un modèle dynamique de système qui lie les fonctions privées et publiques de l'agriculture avec le développement territorial des régions rurales et avec la qualité de la vie des résidants. Parmi les résultats principaux on a la quantification des effets sociaux, environnementaux et économiques générés par un ensemble de scénarios de politiques pour le 2013.

The aim of this paper is to measure technological spillovers between banking activities and non financial activities and in particular market services related to finance. The econometric estimations are realized within a dynamic framework due to Feder (1982). For that purpose, we use data for Luxembourg. Due to its very small-size and to the importance of its international banking center, this country suits well for analyzing spatially-mediated externalities. The empirical estimations show significant technological externalities from the financial services industry to non-financial market services and in particular to Computer Activities and Business Services.

International audience; People reason about real-estate prices both in terms of general rules and in terms of analogies to similar cases. We propose to empirically test which mode of reasoning fits the data better. To this end, we develop the statistical techniques required for the estimation of the case-based model. It is hypothesized that case-based reasoning will have relatively more explanatory power in databases of rental apartments, whereas rule-based reasoning will have a relative advantage in sales data. We motivate this hypothesis on theoretical grounds, and find empirical support for it by comparing the two statistical techniques (rule-based and case-based) on two databases (rentals and sales).

RESUMEN El propósito de este trabajo es analizar los efectos de las reformas de la regulación en los sistemas eléctricos insulares y extrapeninsulares españoles (SE IE), más concretamente, para el caso de las Islas Canarias. Teniendo en cuenta los diferentes modelos de regulación y funcionamiento del sector, así como las particularidades de los sistemas eléctricos aislados, hemos estudiado los posibles efectos del desarrollo de la Ley del Sector Eléctrico de 1997 y las leyes de ámbito autonómico en Canarias. La principal conclusión es la existencia de un modelo de integración y organización del sector que presenta problemas para que funcione eficientemente un mercado liberalizado de electricidad, pero que podría ser mejorado con algunas medidas complementarias. ABSTRACT In this paper we carry out a study of the effects of electricity regulatory reforms for the territories outside the Spanish Peninsula (SEIE), and specially, for the Canary Islands. Taking into account the different models of regulation and functioning of this industry, as well as the peculiarities of the isolated electrical systems, we have studied the possible effects of the development of the Law of the Electrical Sector 97 and the laws of regional level in Canaries. The principal conclusion is the existence of a model of integration and organisation that presents problems to allow an efficient functioning of the liberalized market of electricity but that might be improved by complementary measurements.

JEL Classification: F3, R30, R12, O33; Although economic historians consider technical change as being a significant factor explaining the evolution of the spatial organization of an economy, economic geography still fails to address this important issue. By developing a simple two-region general equilibrium model under monopolistic competition, we show that agglomeration is triggered by technological progress shifting production towards more skill intensive techniques.

In this paper we point out that the theoretical predictions concern-ing Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) are not fully confirmed by empirical evidence in Italy, a strict EPL country in the nine-ties, according to OECD indexes. In particular, worker and job flow rates are remarkably high, also in comparison with the other Euro-pean countries. Furthermore, the differences in regional worker flow rates -computed on both the social security database and the LFS- are relevant, no matter which measure of worker flows is considered. While EPL is the same across regions, the highest worker flow rates are observed in the South, an area generally recognised as the least dynamic of the country, followed by the Northeast, the Centre and the Northwest. For possible alternative explanations of regional differences investigation focuses on economic structural composi-tion, the black labour market, non-standard contracts, the public sector and self-employment incidence, labour productivity and firm seniority. Using Logit estimates we find that none of these factors can fully explain these differences. Moreover, the predicted nega-tive relation between worker flows and unemployment duration does not seem to hold in the case of Italy.

International audience; We study how density (dis)economies in interregional transportation influence location patterns in a standard new economic geography model. Density economies may well delay the occurrence of agglomeration when compared to the case without such economies, while agglomeration is both more likely and more gradual under density diseconomies than under density economies.

Globalization and strengthening of integration processes have, among other things, also influenced some solutions relating to monetary sovereignty of particular countries. A great number of transition countries as well as some other underdeveloped countries are facing both inefficiency in their real sectors and problems in their financial sectors. This primarily refers to the instability of the exchange rate of their national currencies, frequent and high devaluations, mistrust of the users in domestic currency, inflation, and the like. Under such circumstances, some countries decide to give up their monetary sovereignty. Prior to such a decision, it is certainly essential to find answers to the following four key questions: a) what does the country win and what does it lose, b) what are the expenses of such activity and for whom is such change acceptable, and c) which form of abandoning monetary sovereignty should be chosen? Problems can also be significant regarding the possibility that the phases of economic development do not match. Hence, the measures of monetary policy adjusted to the economic cycles of the country whose currency has been chosen as reserve currency need not correspond with the phase of development of the economy in the country using that currency. In the case of Euro as the legal means of payment, the production of Euro coins will begin two years before they are officially put into circulation. In that period (of two years), each year the appropriate quantity of coins will be produced, with a value structure allowing normal functioning of the monetary market in the moment when Euros are put into circulation, which is very important in currency conversion. With respect to the long Croatian monetary history, but also to the recent issuing activity in the segment of circulation coinage, commemorative circulation coinage and numismatic coinage, all these activities should continue in the future as well. Commemorative coins are, as a rule, identical to regular circulation coins in all details, including the material of which they are made, with differences only in some details (indicating the occasion on which the coins are issued)or in their value in comparison to circulation coinage. At the moment, such coins are accepted as exclusive legal means of payment but only in the country that has issued them. Correspondingly, the amount of this money is determined by the ECB in keeping with its issuing policy. This money is a part of the monetary mass of the issuing country. Issuing policy of the EU member countries that have accepted the common currency and those countries that are not EU members but have their legal currency denominated in Euros regardless of the sort of coinage indicate: - the possibility to diversify the offer of all sorts of coinage following the said criteria, or introducing new criteria for their differentiation or their combinations, - currency denominated in Euros and Eurocents in each issuing country becomes, in a large part, the object of interest and collecting in other countries with the currency of the same name (and with one common/same side of the coins – reverse) because these are the coins with at least one common characteristic. - The selection of motifs at the national side of the coins (head) can itself be the reason for choosing this currency as the object of collecting, or it can become an additional reason for collecting in combination with the above section. - Collecting of these coins will in the future certainly be a part of a much wider process, so that later it will be very difficult if not impossible to secure certain coins at the quality level of coinage that have not been in circulation.-Despite the short issuing activity relating to the currency denominated in Euros and Eurocents, the trends in this field so far strongly suggest some regularity, such as: - There is strong interest for circulation coins of Euros and Eurocents as objects of collecting even among people whose motivation is not primarily numismatic. Even the most optimistic expectations regarding the new common currency have been absolutely surpassed (not only in the countries that have introduced Euro as their currency, but much wider). - As soon as Euros and Eurocents have appeared in circulation, a part of these coins were hoarded and became objects of trade at the numismatic market reaching very high prices. The object of collection has namely become much wider because in addition to national reasons for collecting, there are now other motives as well, since the Euro and Eurocent coins have one side (reverse) in common. - Speculative reasons for treasuring up these coins result from the above mentioned grounds but also from the fact that the beginning of circulation of these coins provides the opportunity to right at the start secure a certain quantity of the coins satisfying strict numismatic standards regarding the state of these coins (preferred quality is that of non-circulated coins). - Issuing commemorative circulation coins and numismatic coins additionally point at great interest for these monetary forms significantly broadening the field of numismatic interest. Croatia should therefore quickly design its own issuing policy in the segments of circulation and commemorative circulation coins, and especially in the segment of commemorative circulation coins and commemorative coins.

Regional unemployment rates in the European Union (EU-15) reveal a core-periphery structure. Large ?core? regions in the middle of the continent have low unemployment rates, whereas excessive mass unemployment is predominantly found in the peripheral regions at the outside borders of EU-15. This geographical pattern of unemployment rates follows the pattern of GDP per capita. That is, the regions with low (high) unemployment rates on average have comparatively high (low) real income levels. In this paper we try to understand this stylised fact with the help of a theoretical model that builds on two strings in the literature: the recent trade and location theories (like the ´new economic geography´) and the ´wage curve´. Standard models of the new location theories deal with regional disparities in production and income, but they usually assume full employment and are thus ill-equipped to study spatial unemployment disparities. The wage curve-approach, which explicitly shows how disparities in real wages and unemployment rates are interrelated, can not endogenously explain the origin of these asymmetries. In this paper, we combine these previously unrelated strings and develop a unified theoretical framework. We show that a core-periphery in real wages is associated and magnified by regional unemployment disparities. This wage curve relation is stable over time with an increasing returns technology. That is, the wage curve does not vanish as workers move from the periphery to the core, but it is rather reinforced by migration. These theoretical predictions of our model are in line with the empirical evidence.

A rural country in the 1950's, Italy is now a large industrial economy. In this paper we show through a joint analysis of spatial autocorrelation and concentration of employment that this development has not been driven by centre-periphery mechanisms.