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Policymakers attempt to foster entrepreneurship within European regions yet firm interrelationships across European regions remain understudied. This paper analyses the extent to which past firm births and deaths influence future firm births and deaths across European NUTS 2 regions through the lens of competition, multiplier and Marshall effects. Using a novel multilevel mixed effects regression model, we find evidence for an immediate multiplier effect changing to a competition effect as time passes across European regions and countries. We also identify that significant variations in firm birth and death rates exist across European regions validating the importance of more decentralized regional entrepreneurial policies which has implications for policies like the European Regional Development Fund's (ERDF) Cohesion Plan and the Smart Specialization Strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual socio-demographic characteristics influence the composition of residential environments, employment considerations and transport-dedicated resources, all of which influence individual travel behaviours. To analyse these interrelationships, we employ generalised structural equation modelling using individual-level data from the 2016 Irish Census on workers across the Republic of Ireland alongside highly spatially disaggregated residential built and social environment data. This allows us to consider the non-linear relationships between multiple variables known to influence travel behaviours and provide direction for future policymaking. We find that regardless of socio-demographic compositions, increased developmental compactness and infrastructure quality are associated with increased public and active travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of urbanisation, concentration and diversification on firm births and firm deaths across European regions while uniquely accounting for the role of firm interrelationships, regional factors and national fixed effects. A 3SLS model on firm births and deaths is estimated across 196 regions and 16 European countries from 2008 to 2017. We find that density positively influences firm births and negatively influences firm deaths. Related variety positively impacts firm deaths and negatively affects firm births. Significant national variations are also observed. Multiplier effects are identified within and across regions as firm births positively influence future firm births and negatively influence future firm deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation is garnering increasing attention in business, academic and policy circles as a route to sustainable growth and development. Governments have introduced a range of policies to encourage and enable firms to introduce and expand their offerings of environmental friendly goods and services. While environmental regulation has been shown to be an important driver of green innovation, little is known about whether other types of polices, such as financial incentives, technical and marketing supports, and assistance with identifying potential markets, are important to firms of all sizes at different stages of the green innovation process (i.e., at product/service launch vs. product/service expansion). Using data from the European Commission, the results show that policy support to identify markets or customers is deemed important by firms of all sizes to introduce green goods and services. However, this support is no longer perceived as important to expand firms' green portfolio. This suggests firms capitalise by using their existing markets or customers. The results do not lend support to the view of small firms as the most resource constrained and hence needing the greatest policy supports. Overall, the results point to the need for a variety of policy supports targeted at (1) firms of different sizes and (2) by stage of the green innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study analyses how firms' internal financial resources impact their engagement in scientific research, development, and five innovation activities. Furthermore, we investigate how firm-size moderates the impact of firms' internal financial resources on scientific research, development, and innovation. Our approach provides novel insights regarding whether more money leads to more research and innovation, a topic that remains highly contested in the literature. Our analysis uses a novel unbalanced panel dataset of 1,446 firms in Ireland, over the period 2008–2016. Levels of internal financial resources are found to positively impact larger-sized firms' (50+ employees) engagement in scientific research, process innovation and product innovation. However, such resources tend to hinder small-sized firms' (less than 50 employees) engagement in service and organisational innovation. Our research refines innovation theory by reconciling contrasting views regarding the importance of financial resources for research and innovation, and offers novel insights for informing related public policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical patterns of land-use development across many countries in the Global North have generally been characterised by land-use segregation, low-density settlements, and limited transport accessibility. This can lead to inefficient regional developmental patterns and can increase the environmental degradation attributable to regional expansion. Numerous metrics and datasets have been employed to infer the sustainability and efficiency of these developments. Here, we quantify and visualise the relative entropy of land-use configurations across the Republic of Ireland using a novel dataset. Specifically, we combine the discipline-standard CORINE Land Cover 2018 dataset and OpenStreetMap data, which provides more thorough land-use classifications in urban areas. Spatial differences in relative entropy are visualised using a spatial typology distinguishing between areas exhibiting low and high levels of relative entropy. Our Main Map visualises the coverage of both CORINE and OpenStreetMap datasets, compares relative entropy estimates for both datasets, and illustrates the disparities in cross-dataset estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a novel firm-reported measure of the intensity of competition and two distinct forms of innovation (product and process) from the European Commission Flash Eurobarometer 433 dataset, this paper comprehensively identifies the impact of competitive pressure on firm innovation for four broad sectors of the economy. A logit model by innovation type is used to estimate the impact of the intensity of competition on the firm’s decision to innovate. Firm reported intensity of competition is found to have a positive impact on product innovation. Significant heterogeneities exist in the impact of minor and major degrees of competition across innovation types and sectors supporting Arrow’s (1962) perspective on this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population shrinkage has gained attention from academics and policymakers in recent years, due to the long-term implications the phenomenon has for public service delivery and the viability of urban and rural communities. We visualise the socio-temporal evolution of population shrinkage and growth, utilising a spatially rectified dataset containing population data from seven Census of Population covering the 1986–2016 period in the Republic of Ireland. Spatial changes in population distribution are visualised in a map that classifies small administrative units using a spatial typology distinguishing between those experiencing population growth or shrinkage, across the 30-year period. The temporal dimensions of these developments are considered in a sequence of inset maps that apply the same typology to identify the intercensal changes. Overall, the map facilitates the visual communication of long-run population trends, the identification of areas experiencing limited or no growth, and indicates the relative consistency of these trends over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial summarizes the papers published in issue 16(4) (2021). The first paper adopts a higher order spatial autoregressive model with endogenous spatial weight matrices. The second paper investigates the existence of the law of one price using regional observations over time. The third paper develops an economic-theoretical model that goes against the common belief that the most productive individuals and firms agglomerate at the core. The fourth paper provides empirical evidence that merger and acquisition deals are more likely to occur between firms in culturally than in geographically contiguous countries. The fifth paper develops a spatial econometric estimator based on the indirect inference principle. The sixth paper examines the investment behaviour of First Nation governments through joint ventures. The seventh paper employs a spatial econometric model with an endogenous spatial weight matrix to construct intraregional input-output models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automation is expected to have strong implications for labour-saving technologies. We calculate the proportion of jobs at high risk of automation across European regions using data from the 2018 Labour Force Survey (LFS). We examine the relationship between regional vulnerability to job automation, specialization, related (and unrelated) variety and agglomeration. The results indicate that regions at low vulnerability to job automation benefit from unrelated variety and high population density. Regions with higher proportions of clerical support workers, craft and related trade workers, and plant and machine operators and assemblers are likely to face greater disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use configurations are explicitly related to the outcomes of numerous economic, social, and environmental policies. From a regional development perspective, efficiency in the use of natural resources, such as space, can positively contribute to sustainability efforts in these realms. This Viewpoint measures the efficiency of land and infrastructure usage within Irish metropolitan areas using relative entropy (i.e., land-use mixing). We find that land-use developments across Irish metropolitan areas are characterised by inefficient land-use configurations. We discuss these findings in the context of decades of urban sprawl in Ireland and illustrate how these developmental trends have thwarted efforts to achieve sustainability in regional development as laid out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. • We use land-use mixing to gauge the efficiency and sustainability of land and infrastructure usage. • Land-use developments in Irish metropolitan areas inefficiently use space and land. • This inefficiency means land-use patterns may negatively contribute to sustainability efforts. • Inefficient land-use patterns may emerge due to restrictive zoning and misguided policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]