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Taking bus and subway into account, an asymmetric polycentric urban system equilibrium model is constructed to explore the impacts of rail transit on the distribution of residents and labor force in a linear polycentric urban system. By comparing the urban system equilibria before and after the introduction of rail transit, the influence of rail transit on urban performance is analyzed. The results show that the introduction of rail transit makes the advantaged center more attractive for the labor force, and further widens the economic level gap between the two business centers. Specifically, larger distance between the two commercial centers and the higher subway travel cost would strengthen the polarization effect caused by rail transit investment. Since the improvement of transportation makes it easier for residents to accept long-distance commuting and they are more willing to choose the jobs in the advanced center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Export performance is a highly debated topic in the literature, with no consensus on how to measure it or what factors determine it. Most studies divide these factors into internal and external determinants, with a focus on internal determinants. This study, however, focuses on external determinants, namely agglomeration economies such as localization and urbanization economies and export spillovers, and their impact on a firm's export intensity. Based on a large sample of Portuguese manufacturing SMEs over the period 2010 to 2018 (191,920 firm/year observations), the estimation results through the two-stage least squares method with fixed effects strongly indicate the existence of a positive relationship between agglomeration economies, particularly localization economies and export spillovers, and export performance. These findings suggest that firms located in areas with a high concentration of other firms in the same industry and other exporting firms tend to have better export performance, which has important implications for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impact of highways on the distribution of economic activities between urban agglomerations and peripheral regions in the European Union. In doing so, I use an empirical strategy based on the land use theory employing disaggregated economic and infrastructure data. To address endogeneity, I apply an IV strategy exploiting non-local highway construction as a source of exogenous variation. I find that highways contribute to the diffusion of urban economic activities into surrounding areas, reducing the income gap between European agglomerations and peripheries. Reduced-form estimations suggest that the gap would have been nearly 3% higher in 2020 if the highway networks of European countries had remained at the level of 1990. The study concludes that transportation infrastructure policies can alleviate regional income disparities, increasing economic convergence between urbanised and less urbanised areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have grown rapidly in recent years and are a major part of foreign direct investment (FDI). However, M&A distribution is highly skewed, with most of the activity concentrated in certain countries and even in certain cities. The fact that only a handful of cities account for most M&As raises a research question as to what city attributes attract foreign investment. Unlike many previous studies that have relied on a gravity model approach using the bilateral volume of FDI, this study examines the determinants of cross-border M&As by applying an FDI gravity model to inter-city investment flows. The results based on panel data of M&A flow across 44 major cities in the world from 2010 to 2017, reveal that the gravity model fits well for even the inter-city data, and show that besides the basic attributes used in conventional gravity models, such as market size and distance between origin city and destination city, and urban-specific attributes such as the agglomeration of the world's top-ranked firms and international accessibility are positively associated with cross-border inward M&As. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of urban forests in carbon capture and sequestration has been reviewed in a global context. An interpretive analysis was carried out using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and allometric relationships in 5 cities of India, viz. Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Leh and Delhi, to evaluate the economic importance of urban green spaces in sequestrating carbon emissions and mitigating severe climatic impacts. NDVI maps were prepared using data from Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite sensors. Bengaluru showed highest carbon sequestration (141.83 MT), and carbon sequestration in the city of Leh was comparatively very low (1.51 MT) as it is a cold desert with a very low urban forest cover. The valuation of urban green spaces in the selected cities was done by using market price method (MPM), value transfer method (VTM), and social cost of carbon method (SCC). The carbon sequestration valuation ranged from 55 to 5164 million$ for estimation using MPM and from 69.69 to 6537.15 million $ for SCC, whereas for VTM it ranged from 1575.06 to 147,736.94 million INR. The SCC approach used for valuation showed the highest cost of CO2 sequestered, while the MPM provided with the lowest value for all the five cities. Highest carbon sequestration and valuation values were observed in Bengaluru followed by Delhi. This study also points to the need of developing region-specific allometric relationships for better accuracy in quantifying carbon sequestration potential and associated economic value of urban forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on creative industries and the role played by the existing spatial distribution and agglomeration economies of these activities in relation to their entry decisions. We rely on employment and firm-level data in the creative industries (provided by INSEE) and compare the location of new establishments in the creative and non-creative industries between 2009 and 2013 in French departments (NUTS 3 regions). We use count data models and spatial econometrics to show that location determinants are rather similar in creative and non-creative industries and that specialisation in creative industries positively influences the entry of all other industries. The French case provides new insights to understand the geographical patterns of creative industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]