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Economic Geography and Regional Policy

Economic Geography and Regional Policy. Albert van der Horst Steven Brakman, Harry Garretsen Joeri Gorter, Marc Schramm. Outline. Observation: the economic geography of Europe is local and stable patchwork of core regions linked with sparse surrounding regions Explanation:

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Economic Geography and Regional Policy

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  1. Economic GeographyandRegional Policy Albert van der Horst Steven Brakman, Harry Garretsen Joeri Gorter, Marc Schramm

  2. Outline • Observation: the economic geography of Europe is local and stable • patchwork of core regions linked with sparse surrounding regions • Explanation: the advantage for location in the core regions are huge • Implication: the scope of regional policy is limited

  3. Doubts about the efficacy of regional policy: Eastern Germany

  4. Doubts about the efficacy of regional policy: North-Netherlands

  5. Doubts about the efficacy of regional policy: ineffective structural funds

  6. New Economic Geography (NEG): imperfect competition mill price zero profit profitmargin profit maximisation average cost marginal cost total demand marginal revenue production of the representative firm in region 1

  7. NEG: circular causality • Firms’ location decision is based on the balance of costs and benefits • Costs and benefits depend on the presence of other firms • Firms want to be where other firms are; Firms want to go where other firms go to • Circular causality → agglomeration

  8. NEG: linkages between regions Linkages between firms + Trade costs + Mobility of production factors = Linkages between regions • NEG investigate systems of regions

  9. NEG: location in the core is profitablefor firms and workersat short distance Wage surplus in the core relative to proximate peripheral regions The core is not attractive: economic activity spreads ?

  10. ? • Only at is economic activity malleable! • At short distance comes circular causality into play, such that production and employment concentrate in a core region is the break point of NEG is the quest of this study • At what distance do regions interact? ? ?

  11. Two statistics • Moran’s I: interaction between proximate regions • measures spatial autocorrelation • density of employment (per square km.) • takes distance into account • calculated for European Nuts3 regions (provinces) • Theil: dispersion of economic activity • distribution of employment (per km2) over regions • decomposable in within and between index • calculated for European Nuts0 - Nuts3 regions

  12. Core-periphery systems are local ...

  13. … local, and stable

  14. Equation 1: spatial wage structure • Are wages higher in dense regions? • Wage in region r = F(Y: output in all regions Drs: distance between r and s)

  15. Spatial wage structure visualised:Shock to income in NRW

  16. Equation 2: equilibrium wage of NEG • Central in almost all NEG-models production of goods (wage costs) = demand for goods (labor income) • W: nominal wage in region r • Y: value added in region s • I: price index in region r (proxy) • ø: freeness of trade • T: iceberg transport costs • D: distance between region r and s

  17. Equation 2: equilibrium wage of NEG • Central in almost all NEG-models production of goods (wage costs) = demand for goods (labor income)

  18. Theory with numbers Strong interaction with Paris ‘Periphery of Paris Outside Paris’ influence

  19. .. and stable • Brakman et al. (2004): the majority of West-German cities returned to their pre-war levels • cf. Davis and Weinstein (2002): similar observation for Japan

  20. Regional Policy • The European economic geography consists of a network of local and stable core periphery systems. • Factor remuneration tends to be relatively high in the core. • The scope of regional policy in reducing regional disparities by enticing business activity to the periphery is limited. • policy should take the core-periphery structure at NUTS 2&3 level as given

  21. Regional policy: infrastructure • Infrastructure improves the interaction between regions • Firms in core: • better access to (consumer) market in peripheral region • Firms in periphery • better access to market (for intermediate inputs) in the core • Who benefits more: … ? • Infrastructure might make location in the core even more attractive!

  22. Regional policy • Stimulate growth by targeting regional policy to regions with ‘sufficient’ potential to locate firms • solve infrastructure bottlenecks • Reduce inequity by directly supporting immobile workers • immobile workers in the periphery are likely to be the least prosperous citizens

  23. Recall • Observation: the economic geography of Europe is local and stable • patchwork of core regions linked with sparse surrounding regions • Explanation: the advantage for location in the core regions are huge • Implication: the scope of regional policy is limited

  24. Location, growth and policy • Empirical research reveals: • There exist a core-periphery structure at the Nuts 2&3 level • FDI is concentrated in high-production areas • Clustering might stimulate growth • “Agglomeration can be thought as the territorial counterpart of economic growth” (Fujita and Thisse, 2002) • NEG theory on agglomeration and growth • Knowledge spillovers • Incentives for innovations increase • Implication: cohesion and competitiveness are often conflicting goals of regional policy • In particular at the Nuts 2&3 level

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