Geographical Proximity and the Transmission of Tacit Knowledge

Since at least the publication of Pigou's The Economics of Welfare (Pigou 1932) and Arrow's seminal article on Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources of Invention (Arrow 1962), most economic theorists have argued that knowledge is expensive to produce but cheap to reproduce. Following Hayek (1948) and Polanyi (1958), scholars working in the tradition of Austrian economists have dissented from that view by pointing out that if a good deal of knowledge, such as the price of gold, can be easily codified and transmitted, much important knowledge is tacit and dependent on the particular circumstances of time and place. One line of work that supports the Austrian view can be found in economic geography and neighboring disciplines where the geographic concentration of economic activity is explained, among other factors, by the importance of geographical proximity between individuals in the transmission of tacit knowledge. This paper therefore argues that the spatial agglomeration of economic activities constitutes a powerful vindication of Austrian insights.     

External economies as a mechanism of agglomeration in EU manufacturing

Productive externalities are significant determinants of agglomeration, not deeply studied at the industry and international level. We analyse the impact on productivity growth of technological externalities, both inter- and intraindustry, national or international, at the industry level for the EU countries and the period 1995–2002. The results confirm the advisability of considering international externalities when countries are taken as regions, whose omission underestimates national spillovers. Together with national endowments and a central geographical position, the growth of productivity is encouraged by national and international specialization as a general result; moreover, it is fuelled by stronger interindustry spillovers and productive diversification, a result more evident for high technology industries, while lower technology industries are more sensitive to the omission of international externalities. Economic integration seems to be relevant, because supranational regions with less friction for goods and factor movements are more likely to take advantage of external economies as a mechanism of productivity growth and agglomeration.     

The Downside of Knowledge Spillovers: An Explanation for the Dispersion of High-tech Industries

Both theoretical work on knowledge spillovers and regional policy initiatives often assume that there exists a general and unanimous advantage for firms to cluster. But opposed to the benefit is the disadvantage of sharing knowledge with other (rival) firms. This paper highlights the “downside” associated with knowledge spillovers and presents a four-stage game of location choice where spillovers result from labour poaching and where the strategic interaction between firms may make them avoid co-location with spillovers. The model provides an explanation for the dispersion of German high-tech industries found in a companion paper.     

Technical change and total factor productivity growth for Swedish manufacturing and service industries

This article presents alternative specifications of the production functions of a large panel of Swedish firms for the period 1992 to 2000. The period can be characterized as a transition when long-run productivity growth in the Swedish economy improved from being among the weakest to one of the strongest within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In order to present a detailed exploration of this dramatic change, the time trend and general index models are applied to estimate Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth, rate of technical change and returns to scale. The models are extended to allow for firm specific as well as time-varying technical change. The parametric TFP measures are also compared with the nonparametric Solow residual, and several hypotheses are tested to explain the growth patterns in the Swedish economy. It is found that the improved growth rate, initially starting in large exporting manufacturing firms, after a deep economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, spilled over to the rest of the economy, both manufacturing and services.     

A model of the learning process with local knowledge externalities illustrated with an integrated graphical framework

We present a unified graphical framework accounting for the nature and impact of spillover effects. The dynamics of the learning process with a specific spillover transfer mechanism can be illustrated by referring to this four-quadrant picture. In particular, a whole cycle of technological learning is explained with the help of such a graphical representation of the basic learning process in the presence of knowledge spillovers.

We hypothesize two different functional specifications of spillover exchanges among firms within a local innovation system. Each conceivable shape for the knowledge transfer relationship among firms expresses a possible mode and intensity of information processing arising from technology spillovers. A general proposition regarding the relative efficiency of the two alternative formal models with spillover effects is derived. The basic models with spillover effects are then extended in several relevant directions.     

British regional growth and sectoral trends: global and local spatial econometric approaches

This article looks beneath the surface of British sub-regional aggregate Gross Value Added (GVA) growth over the period 1995 to 2007, by examining how the differing growth dynamics of the secondary and services sectors have influenced the overall regional growth process. A spatial econometric analysis is undertaken which tests regional secondary and services real GVA per capita for absolute and conditional convergence at the NUTS 3 level. Both local and global spatial analysis techniques are utilized in order to gain a detailed insight into the growth process over the period 1995 to 2007.     

Three levels of education and the economic growth

The aim of this article is to solve the question how the three main stages of education contribute to the labour productivity growth in selected 125 countries in the period 1999–2014. The model is based on the neoclassical production function enhanced with human capital. The authors draw on the Penn World Tables 9.0 and UNESCO databases. The key benefit of this article is that human capital is characterized according to the returns to education from average number of years of formal schooling at the primary, secondary and tertiary level. Based on the panel data analysis, the contributions of capital and of the three levels of education to the growth of labour productivity are estimated. At the same time, the model allows to estimate the contribution of total factor productivity. The results of the analysis show that tertiary education has the strongest impact on labour productivity across the considered economies. At the same time, the breakdown of aggregate human capital by level of education leads to better clarification of the effects of human capital and physical capital on labour productivity. The conclusions also indicate a tendency towards rising returns to scale induced by the secondary and tertiary education.     

R&;D: A Small Contribution to Productivity Growth

In this article I evaluate the contribution of R&D investments to productivity growth. The basis for the analysis are the free entry condition and the fact that most R&D innovations are embodied. Free entry yields a relationship between the resources devoted to R&D and the growth rate of technology. Since innovators are small, this relationship is not directly affected by the size of R&D externalities, or the presence of aggregate diminishing returns in R&D after controlling for the growth rate of output and the interest rate. The embodiment of R&D-driven innovations bounds the size of the production externalities. The resulting contribution of R&D to productivity growth in the US is smaller than 3–5 tenths of 1% point. This constitutes an upper bound for the case where innovators internalize the consequences of their R&D investments on the cost of conducting future innovations. From a normative perspective, this analysis implies that, if the innovation technology takes the form assumed in the literature, the actual US R&D intensity may be the socially optimal.     

Does international openness affect the productivity of local firms?

This paper examines how international openness can change firm productivity in south‐eastern Europe (SEE), a crucial question for middle‐income countries. Using firm‐level data for six transition economies over the 1995–2002 period, we identify whether foreign ownership and propensity to trade with more advanced countries can bring about higher learning effects. We find that: (i) foreign ownership has helped restructure and enhance the productivity of local firms in four out of six countries; (ii) exporting to advanced markets has a larger impact on productivity growth in four countries, especially when the firm's absorptive capacity is taken into account; (iii) in contrast, exporting to the less competitive markets of the former Yugoslavia seems to negatively affect productivity growth in three countries; and (iv) learning effects from importing are similar to those from exporting. Our results suggest that trade liberalization is not uniformly beneficial. Regional composition of trade flows and absorptive capacity of local firms matter. Thus, trade liberalization within the SEE region may not provide a substitute for a general trade liberalization which includes access to the more competitive markets of countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development.     

Population distribution,effective area and economic growth

The usual measure for the factor land is the total area. But total area is a flawed measure because land is of unequal quality. To account for land quality, we use an alternative measure called effective area. Effective area is based on spatial population distribution which captures both natural conditions and human activity. Theoretically, effective area explains economic growth better than total area that biases the measure of total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Empirically on the basis of 40 years of panel data for the United States, an increase of 10% in effective area is associated with an economic growth of 5%, and the omission of effective area undervalues the growth of TFP by 8.1%.     

Sources of productivity differentials in manufacturing in post-transition urban South-East Europe

The paper analyses the effects of urbanization and localisation economies on manufacturing firms’ productivity across urban landscapes in post-transition South-East European (SEE) countries. Fixed-effects panel data estimations on a large sample of firms show that the factors accounting for productivity advantages of manufacturing firms in urban post-transition SEE are related to the firms and to the environment in which these firms operate. Firms located in diversified cities benefit from a productivity premium generated in this type of agglomeration, while no evidence was found that the relative specialization across industries has any effect on firm productivity levels.     

Dynamics of agglomeration,accessibility, and total factor productivity: evidence from Japanese regions

With Japan’s declining population, improving productivity is important to achieving continuous regional economic growth. This study focuses on the regional effects of population agglomeration and accessibility on total factor productivity (TFP). Empirical analysis shows that population agglomeration contributed to TFP growth, most significantly in the Greater Tokyo area. The interaction (flow) of people was examined and the importance of high-speed transportation network for TFP growth was clarified as the effect of accessibility on TFP growth. Population agglomeration and the development of transportation network are thus important strategies for growing regional economies.     

Productivity drivers of infrastructure companies: Network industries utilizing economies of scale in the digital era

What drives the productivity dynamics of infrastructure companies? Using a panel of firms in 14 countries, we study total factor productivity (TFP) enhancers of utility and network services companies. We find that moving TFP closer to the technological frontier drives productivity growth at higher speeds in Asian countries than in European countries. We also find that financial leverage exerts a positive effect on TFP growth for larger infrastructure firms and that more financially developed countries utilize economies of scale through better use of financial resources. Large utility and transportation companies display a higher rate of TFP growth, indicating that a competition policy to encourage M&As would be prudent for the utility/transportation sectors to maximize economies of scale. In contrast, we find diseconomies of scale for energy companies in some countries. Moreover, young network firms improve TFP growth faster than their peers in countries with fewer product market regulations. Therefore, policies should remove entry barriers while facilitating the departure of old and low-productivity firms from network markets. Finally, policymakers should offer well-targeted fiscal incentives for intangible investments to boost TFP because the accumulation of intangible assets such as digital technology promotes more scale economies through network effects.     

Openness,productivity and growth in the APEC economies

The 1980s and 1990s have witnessed the emergence of many Asian economies as important traders in the world. How has openness to trade and investment affected productivity and growth performance in those economies? This question is often tackled with the traditional growth regression method. However, the findings in the existing literature are still inconclusive. This paper proposes an alternative approach which is employed to examine the impact of openness on the sources of productivity and growth in the APEC economies. Specifically, the proposed technique distinguishes technological progress (innovation) from efficiency changes (catch-up) and attempts to isolate the influences of openness on these two distinct factors. The findings in this study may help gain fresh insight into the relationship between openness and productivity and growth performance in the APEC economies.First revision received: July 2001/Final revision received: May 2003The author thanks two anonymous referees for very helpful comments.     

Monetary integration vs. real disintegration: single currency and productivity divergence in the euro area #

Productivity slowdown plays a prominent role in the build-up of the euro area crisis. This phenomenon affected member countries asymmetrically, causing divergence in their productivity trends. Recent research traces this divergence back to monetary integration. After reviewing the arguments that link real “disintegration” of the euro area to its monetary integration, we assess them empirically by modelling the evolution of labour productivity using a panel of sectorial data. The results indicate that monetary unification may actually have fostered divergence in productivity trends, and suggest some economic policy measures that could prevent further divergence.     

The effects of agglomeration economies on technical efficiency of manufacturing firms: evidence from Indonesia

This article examines the effects of agglomeration economies and industrial structure upon firm-level technical efficiency in the Indonesian manufacturing industry over the period 2004–2009. A stochastic production frontier and three channels of agglomeration economies consisting of specialization, diversity and competition are used. The empirical results show that the effects of specialization and diversity upon firm-level technical efficiency are positive and negative, respectively, indicating that specialization is more favourable than diversity for stimulating firms’ technical efficiency. Competition has a positive sign, showing that region with high levels of competition tend to be more conducive in accelerating firm-level technical efficiency. In terms of firm location, both dummy for urban region and industrial complex turn out to be positive, indicating that firms located in both areas are experienced higher technical efficiency. Both firm size and age also have positive effect upon technical efficiency.     

Local banking and local economic growth in Italy: some panel evidence

This article provides new evidence on the contribution of local banking to local economic growth (i.e. at county level – the Italian ‘province’) in Italy. A comprehensive data set is used, which includes control variables for social capital and human capital as well as indicators of the quality of local infrastructures and the production structure of the local economy. A linear within-estimator technique with fixed effects is applied to a modified version of the so-called Barro regression in order to address the well-known econometric issues of reverse causality and estimation bias resulting from unobserved district-specific influences.     

Understanding TFP growth in inland regions of China: an empirical study of the effects of three factors

In this paper, we empirically examine the potential effects of international openness, domestic coastal-inland market integration, and human capital accumulation on TFP growth in inland provinces in China. By using a nonlinear technique as our main regression approach as well as an extended GMM method as robustness checks, we show that human capital accumulation plays an important role in promoting TFP growth in the inland provinces. Our results support the argument that the most important contribution of human capital to income growth lies not in its static, direct effect as an accumulable factor in the production function, but in its dynamic role in promoting TFP growth. Our regression results also provide evidence for the positive roles international openness and domestic coastal-inland market integration play in promoting TFP growth in inland provinces in China.     

生产性服务业集聚与绿色全要素生产率增长 —基于地区与行业差异的视角

采用2000-2014年30个省区的面板数据,构建了动态面板数据模型,运用系统广义矩估计方法,研究了生产性服务业集聚对于绿色全要素生产率增长的影响。得到的主要结论是：第一,绿色全要素生产率增长具有较强的滞后效应,受到前期绿色全要素生产率增长的显著影响。第二,生产性服务业集聚具有促进绿色全要素生产率增长的作用,人力资本、研发投入、基础设施、对外开放也对绿色全要素生产率增长起到正向的促进作用。第三,生产性服务业集聚对绿色全要素生产率增长的影响具有非线性特征,符合“威廉姆森假说”;生产性服务业集聚对于绿色全要素生产率增长的促进作用存在明显的地区差异,生产性服务业集聚对于绿色全要素生产率增长的促进作用仅在中部地区显著。第四,生产性服务业集聚对于绿色全要素生产率增长的促进作用存在明显的行业差异,促进效应最为显著的是交通运输、仓储和邮政业,以及金融业;其次是信息传输、软件和信息技术服务业,科学研究和技术服务业。     

Revisiting the threshold effect of remittances on total factor productivity growth in South Asia: a study of Bangladesh and India

Both Bangladesh and India are among the top recipient of remittances in absolute terms. However, in relative terms – remittances as a per cent of GDP – the two countries stand at 6.1% and 2.8%, respectively, well below the levels of the top 10 recipients. In this article, we explore the effect of remittances on the total factor productivity (TFP) growth considering Bangladesh and India, as reference countries over the periods 1980–2012 and 1977–2012, respectively. We examine the presence of a long-run association between remittances and TFP using a number of tests. The results indicate that remittances have threshold effects on TFP growth in both countries. Despite the two countries receiving substantial amount of remittances, we note that Bangladesh has a U-shaped relationship whereas India has an inverted U-shaped relationship with TFP growth. For Bangladesh, a minimum threshold of remittances (% GDP) is 5.3% and for India, a tipping point of remittances (% GDP) is at 1.8%. The causality tests confirm a bidirectional effect, which implies that remittances and TFP growth are mutually reinforcing. Interestingly, while the two economies have similar remittances impact in regards to causality, the study highlights two different tipping points of remittances.