Global human development: accounting for its regional disparities

This study’s multilevel statistical models quantify the effects of civilization zones and instrumental factors on the capacities for human agency that a country provides its citizens. These capacities are measured by the UN’s human development index, which synthesizes measures of literacy, longevity, and income. Indicators of political democracy, slavery, national debt, corruption, and internal conflict gauge the instrumental factors. Political freedom and emancipative employment coupled with civil order account for the regional differences in human development scores; civilization zones, heavily indebted poor countries, and corruption influence the variability among countries within the regions.     

Spatially blind trade and fiscal impact policies and their impact on regional economies

The evidence for the US suggests that spatially blind policies often generate greater impacts on regional economic growth and development than policies specifically targeted at regions on regional issues generally. In this presentation, attention will be directed to two sets of national policies that have been promulgated without due consideration of their specific spatial (regional) impacts – trade policy and fiscal policy.Drawing on research conducted for the US, Japan and Brazil, an examination of trade policies will be presented, using the experience of NAFTA in North America and MERCOSUR in Brazil. Some further analysis of experience in Colombia will also provide insights into the role of national trade policy and, in the case of Colombia, fiscal decentralization policies. The second part of the presentation will examine fiscal policy impacts mediated through regional business cycles; the experience of Japan and the US will be examined.The results affirm the important implications that national (spatially blind) policies can have on regional economies; in the case of Brazil, trade policies have exacerbated already wide differentials in per capita income across states.     

Gender and regional employment differences: an industrial relations approach

This paper analyses gender differences in regional employment in Europe. An industrial relations approach is used, which requires that regulations and institutions in the labour market be analysed in regard to power relations in the workplace. Gender relations and working conditions are seldom included when welfare-state arrangements and the functioning of the labour market are discussed at a national level. The results of this study show that welfare-state policies, in a broad sense, support women's opportunities to take part in paid work in the labour market. Women in Europe are beginning to occupy an increasing share of the new jobs that are created as they improve their labour-force participation rates. Women are also moving into higher growth sectors of the economy to a larger extent than men. But in terms of occupations, hierarchies and power relations, the mechanisms of segregation in the workplace are changing very slowly. While considerable literature exists on the segregation processes within organizations, very little deals with how to change segregation patterns and how to balance the differences in power between women and men in the workplace.     

A Special Gen(d)re of Statistics: Roots,Development and Methodological Prospects of Gender Statistics

The very expression Gender Statistics calls for a double interpretation. It accounts for the popular mix‐up of statistical methodology with its typical products such as indexes, tables and graphs. At the same time it implies a broader and forward‐looking perspective, which is inspired by the increasing demand of gender sensitive statistical information coming from society, official agencies, economy. Gender statistics stands as a proper independent field of statistics with its own objectives and a variety of applications in social, human and life science. Concurrently an emerging necessity of appropriate equipment of methods and dissemination tools is noticeable. The paper tracks the roots and the historical development of gender statistics, reviews critically the existing indexes and practice and outlines methodological needs and research prospects.     

A measure of regional influence with the analytic network process

The metropolitan region is commonly defined by a socio-spatial network of urban nodes that are linked in territory and function. Such a network is differentiated by size and dominance of the linked nodes, characterized by physical or virtual flows of a wide-ranging variety. The analytic network process (ANP) is a multi-criteria analytic method that measures the influence or dominance of the nodes in a network with feedback. We illustrate how ANP determines county rank as a measure of influence in a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) defined by its interrelated socio-economic and spatial elements qualitatively and quantitatively. We compare the ANP results to similar measures of regional influence in the literature.     

中国三大都市圈经济增长趋于收敛还是发散?——基于协整分析和Granger因果检验

本文采用Engle和Granger(1987)提出的协整检验方法和Im、Pesaran和Shin(1997)的方法,从时间序列分析角度入手,研究目标是在不同的空间尺度上(全国和三大都市圈),从不同的时间尺度上揭示中国区域经济差异的演化规律。探索改革开放以来三大都市圈区域经济不平衡程度的演化历程与变化趋势。主要结论:长三角和珠三角具有收敛趋势而环渤海都市圈内不存在收敛;三大都市圈之间不存在收敛趋势,在长期受两个共同冲击的影响。     

我国人力资本的地区性趋同假说及实证分析

本文证明了我国经济增长倒U形趋同理论的一个必要条件，即我国人力资本的地区性趋同假定。首先在设定人力资本投资率一致的条件下，本文基于物质资本的边际收益递减规律，提出了人力资本地区性趋同假定，证明了相对趋同与绝对趋同的一致性。然后通过计算我国改革开放以后各省区的人力资本数据验证了这一假定，并给出了预测结果。最后提出了增加人力资本，缩小人力资本地区差异的政策建议。     

Estimating the output gap in real time: A factor model approach

By using a dynamic factor model, we can substantially improve the reliability of real-time output gap estimates for the U.S. economy. First, we use a factor model to extract a series for the common component in GDP from a large panel of monthly real-time macroeconomic variables. This series is immune to revisions to the extent that revisions are due to unbiased measurement errors or idiosyncratic news. Second, our model is able to handle the unbalanced arrival of the data. This yields favorable nowcasting properties and thus starting conditions for the filtering of data into a trend and deviations from a trend. Combined with the method of augmenting data with forecasts prior to filtering, this greatly reduces the end-of-sample imprecision in the gap estimate. The increased precision has economic importance for real-time policy decisions and improves real-time inflation forecasts.     

Entrepreneurship and path dependency in regional development

This paper describes a case study of path-dependent industrial development in a specialized medium-sized region characterized by a specialized high-tech industry cluster, located near Norway's capital, Oslo. The case study examines the path-dependent process of new industry arising from technology-related industries through three main branching mechanisms: entrepreneurship, mobility, and social networks. More particularly, the study explores the extent to which regional branching mechanisms relate to different path-dependent processes of path extension, path renewal, or path creation. The case study of industrial development in a medium-sized region that critically examines the concepts of path dependence, and argues that specialized medium-sized regions follow different path processes from core regions due to regional branching that does not happen automatically but instead may require policy action and external investment to avoid stagnation or negative lock-in.     

A new editorial order in entrepreneurship & regional development

The aim of this paper is to contribute to international entrepreneurship theory by adopting a foreign market perspective when examining the links between network development and knowledge creation. Network development is argued to enhance the understanding of regional market structures and make firms more inclined ? and better able ? to create knowledge in foreign market business relationships (business relationships represent focal points in networks). The basis of this argument is that networks provide a multitude of opportunities for the exploitation of previously unexploited combinations of knowledge. Data were gathered from surveys conducted with an effective random sample of 188 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sweden. A LISREL-based analysis was performed to test the three hypotheses deduced from theory. Findings showed that network development has a direct positive impact on knowledge creation and that knowledge combination functions as a mediating construct between network development and knowledge creation.     

An analysis of geographical agglomeration and modularized industrial networks in a regional cluster: A case study at Yamagata prefecture in Japan

In a regional innovation system, a dense inter-organizational network within the region is recognized as a key factor in enhancing knowledge diffusion, regional learning, and effective resource transfers. Therefore, understanding the network structure and physical proximity of organizations is essential. In this paper, we investigated the industrial structure of Yamagata prefecture in Japan as a case study. Because Yamagata is a representative industrial region, the analysis can also provide an insight into other industrial regions. Initially, we investigated the geographical dispersion of firms and found them to be agglomerated along Route 13 and the Tohoku Shinkansen railroad, indicating that infrastructures for transportation still have a decisive role in terms of site location. Subsequently, we analyzed the modular structure of the inter-firm network. The results showed that hub firms construct a different type of network and play different roles within the inter-firm network, reflecting their strategic choice. The results also showed that there is a tendency for firms to transact with those in close proximity, and that firm location is also affected by the location of the hub firm in the module in addition to the infrastructures.     

山东省区域城市化水平综合测度研究

在建立区域城市化水平测度指标体系的基础上,运用因子分析方法,以山东省17个地级市为研究地域单元,对山东省区域城市化水平进行了综合测度,并通过聚类分析将其划分为4种类型,同时分析了山东省城市化水平的地域差异特征、各类城市发展所面临的问题及其发展方向.     

中国地区经济差距的演变轨迹与来源分解

运用基于DDF的Malmquist-Luenberger生产率指数对资源环境约束下中国TFP进行再估算基础上,对改革以来地区经济差距的演变轨迹及来源进行了扩展研究。本文发现：不考虑环境约束会高估TFP及其对经济增长的贡献,但TFP已成为经济增长的重要驱动力;中国地区经济差距的演变轨迹已由“先减小后增加”转化为“先减小后增加再减小”,1990年和2003年是两个拐点;尽管区域间经济差距对地区经济差距的贡献呈现“先升后降”的趋势,但仍是地区经济差距的主要来源;区域内经济差距对地区经济差距的贡献呈现“先降后升”的趋势,已成为地区经济差距的主要构成部分;要素投入是造成地区经济差距的主要原因,但其作用在减弱,而TFP在地区经济差距中的作用在增强。     

The research university,entrepreneurship and regional development: Research propositions and current evidence

The objective of this paper is to set a framework for examining the conditions under which a research university becomes more than a latent asset [Power, D., and A. Malmberg. 2008. The contribution of universities to innovation and economic development: In what sense a regional problem? Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 1, no. 2: 233–46.] in regional economies. The framework is comprised of four propositions used to identify drivers of change, evidence of change and evidence of impact. As an exemplar, we examine the University of Oxford's growing engagement in its local region. This paper shows that the convergence between the interests of the university and the local high-tech economy is particularly associated with broader technological trends and with the University's capacity to draw on national funding programmes designed to stimulate ‘third-stream’ activities, including entrepreneurship courses and regional networking activities.     

我国区域城镇化发展差异及其分解

基于对我国省际区域间城镇化发展差异的初步分析,运用锡尔系数对其做了进一步的分解研究,以深入探求城镇化发展的区域差异及其变化趋势。结果表明,随着改革的深入,我国城镇化发展的总体地区差异在逐步缩小,而东、中、西部三大地带①间以及西部地区内部的省际差异近年来则有所反弹,但二者占总体差异的比重逐渐提高。     

我国区域农业全要素生产率的演变趋势与影响因素

利用DEA-Malmquist指数法分析1992~2012年我国31个省份农业TFP的演变趋势及影响因素。研究显示,我国农业TFP的年均增长率为3.1%,对第一产业GDP年均增长率的贡献度为79.210%;技术进步是引致我国及各省份农业TFP变动的主要因素,东部、中部和西部的农业TFP依次下降,1993年以来各省份的农业TFP不存在σ收敛;人力资本含量、灌溉面积占比、工资性收入占比和农业财政支出占比对农业TFP有正面影响,而农业产值占比、粮食播种面积占比具有约束作用,这些因素的趋势性变化引致了区域农业TFP的发散格局。     

United States digital divide: State level analysis of spatial clustering and multivariate determinants of ICT utilization

This study analyzes factors associated with availability and utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for U.S. states. We construct an exploratory conceptual model of technology utilization in which eight dependent ICT availability and utilization factors are posited to be associated with fourteen independent socio-economic, demographic, innovation, social capital, and societal openness factors. Technology utilization variables are spatially analyzed to determine extent of agglomeration, and regression residuals are examined to eliminate spatial bias. Findings indicate social capital, education, societal openness, urbanization, and ethnicities are significantly associated with ICT utilization. We suggest important implications for policymakers at state and federal levels.     

Content analytic approach to measuring constructs in operations and supply chain management

This paper presents and illustrates the content analytic approach to measuring constructs in operations and supply chain management (OSCM). In this paper, a methodological review of OSCM empirical research in 2002-2007 is provided to highlight that OSCM empirical studies, unlike those in other business disciplines, have rarely used content analysis as a methodological tool. This paper then reviews the methodological strengths of content analysis, which lie primarily in its malleability, economy of data collection, repeatability, and unobtrusiveness. These strengths not only make content analysis a viable empirical method but also position it as a method that can be used in concert with other empirical methods in OSCM research, such as survey, case study, and secondary research methodologies. This paper also proposes a generic framework for a content analytic approach to measuring theoretical constructs, illustrates the application of the framework to a construct in the OSCM literature (buyer-supplier relationalism), and reports the satisfactory results of reliability and validity tests for the content analysis-based measure of buyer-supplier relationalism. In addition, this paper proposes and demonstrates that the use of convergence study in tandem with content analysis can substantially reduce the content analysis efforts needed in measuring the construct of interest, thus improving the overall efficiency of the process of content analysis.