Agglomeration and Trade: Some Additional Perspectives (original) (raw)

Agglomeration and Trade Revisited*

International Economic Review, 2002

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we present an alternative model of agglomeration and trade that displays the main features of the recent economic geography literature while allowing for the derivation of analytical results by means of simple algebra. Second, we show how this framework can be used to permit (i) a welfare analysis of the agglomeration process, (ii) a fullfledged forward-looking analysis of the role of history and expectations in the emergence of economic clusters, and (iii) a simple analysis of the impact of urban costs on the spatial distribution of economic activities. *

On the Ubiquitous Nature of Agglomeration Economies and Their Diverse Determinants: Some Notes

Contributions to Economics, 2002

This highly preliminary work attempts to srudy the multiple drivers of agglomeration phenomena 1n contemporary economics and proposes a tentative taxonomy where the conditions of knowledge accumulation. often specific-to specific locations and specific sectors, playa paramount role. We discuss the achievemems and limitations of current theorizing on spatial localion of economic activities, and we propose a simple model, which is estimated on Ttalian data, highlighting the rich lntersectoral diversity of agglomeration forces, together with, in a few cases, also lack of them.

Empirical Studies on the Sources of Agglomeration Economies

2015

2 previous empirical studies. It performs an empirical examination of the model with regional panel data of the manufacturing sector in Japan. A city level panel data constructed mainly from the Census of Manufacturers for the 1996−2006 is used for empirical analysis. The revenue function including parameters for the transportation costs of each industry is estimated. The results support the existence of positive transportation costs, and show the estimated transportation costs for the manufacturing sector are higher than those for the primary sector and lower than those for the service sector. Chapter 3 Plant Productivity Dynamics and Private and Public R&D Spillovers: Technological, Geographic and Relational Proximity Chapter 3 investigates the knowledge spillovers and examines the effects of R&D spillovers on total factor productivity (TFP) with a large panel of Japanese manufacturing plants matched with R&D survey data (1987–2007). This chapter simultaneously examines the role o...

An Overview of Investigations Concerning Agglomerations in Regional Economy

Èkonomika Regiona, 2022

The concentration of organisations in a city or region allows companies to receive benefits without additional costs and increase their productivity. It has been empirically proven that urbanisation and localisation effects of agglomerations contribute to economic growth and development, and therefore should be taken into account in regional and urban policies. The article considers the factors of agglomeration formation, their specific development and impact on the economy of regions and cities. The paper examines studies on the territorial distribution of companies and the population, including creative capital, showing the connection with innovative systems and knowledge capital. The research demonstrates how international trade, market competition, the transport system development and many other factors affect agglomerations. The study of agglomeration processes intersects with other fields of science, such as evolutionary economics, cluster organisation, specialisation and diversification, demography of firms. To cover the topic, works in the field of agglomeration processes were systematised by using time-domain, terminological and geographical analysis, as well by studying definitions and typology, based on data obtained from Google Scholar and Web of Science for 1959-2018. It is revealed that agglomerations are considered in such scientific fields as economics, geography, regional urban planning, urban studies, management and regional studies. The key terms are agglomeration economy (economics), localisation, urbanisation, agglomeration forces, agglomerative and deglomerative factors. These works are geographically distributed, and most of them are conducted in the USA (mainly at the

Agglomeration Economies and Trading Activity of Firms

2009

Firms benefit from proximity to other firms due to the existence of several externalities such as technology spillovers, labour market pooling or suppliercustomer relationships. Thus, firms in more spatially concentrated areas are more likely to enjoy relevant externalities. This paper analyses the productivity premium of firms that stems from operating in agglomerated regions. We first confirm the existence of such premium, in line with a vast body of literature. We argue that certain firms shall benefit more externalities. Given the prevalence of evidence suggesting how firms active in international trade are different from non-traders in terms of using inputs or capital as well as in terms of performance, we focus on the effect of agglomeration economies on international traders. Using Hungarian manufacturing data from 1992-2003, we find that international traders are more productive in agglomerations than not trading firms. Within estimations find that, while non-traders are 6% ...

The magnitude and causes of agglomeration economies

Firms and workers are much more productive in large and dense urban environments. There is substantial evidence of such agglomeration economies based on three aproaches. First, on a clustering of production beyond what can be explained by chance or comparative advantage. Second, on spatial patterns in wages and rents. Third, on systematic variations in productivity with the urban environment. However, more needs to be learned about the causes of agglomeration economies. We have good models of agglomeration through sharing and matching, but not a deep enough understanding of learning in cities. Despite recent progress, more work is needed to distinguish empirically between alternative causes.

Competitors, Complementors, Parents and Places: Explaining Regional Agglomeration in the U.S. Auto Industry

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013

Taking the early U.S. automobile industry as an example, we evaluate four competing hypotheses on regional industry agglomeration: intra-industry local externalities, inter-industry local externalities, employee spinouts, and location fixed-effects. Our findings suggest that inter-industry spillovers, particularly the development of the carriage and wagon industry, play an important role. Spinouts play a secondary role and only contribute to agglomeration at later stages of industry evolution. The presence of other firms in the same industry has a negligible (or maybe even negative) effect on agglomeration. Finally, location fixed-effects account for some agglomeration, though to a lesser extent than inter-industry spillovers and spinouts.

Types of agglomeration economies: effects on business innovation

Contemporary Economics, 2016

A review of the literature does not provide conclusive results about the effects caused by firm agglomeration on innovation. In order to shed light on this issue, this paper draws a distinction among three kinds of agglomeration economies and empirically tests their respective impact on business innovation. The advantage that external knowledge generated through concentration can bring to each company depends on its absorptive capacity. Hence, it is posited that this dynamic capability acts as a mediator in the relationship between agglomeration and innovation. Using data from a survey conducted in 2013 by the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC), an analysis of these ideas was performed using a sample of 2,906 high and medium-high technology companies. The results obtained indicate that several types of agglomeration economies exist and that the net effect each one of them has on innovation is different. More specifically, only urbanization economies favor innovation. Additionally, all of our findings reveal that firms increase their greater absorptive capacity in the context of agglomeration. brough, 2003). Although access to external knowledge may prove difficult, the physical proximity of firms favors their mutual interactions as does the existence of a set of common standards and values that enable the exchange and transfer of (tacit) knowledge. The latter is linked to the agglomeration of firms and institutions in a geographical area, i.e., agglomeration economies (Marshall, 1920). In this sense, a line of research forecasts a positive effect of localization in agglomerations on firm innovation and performance.