Geographies of Housing Finance: The Mortgage Market in Milan,Italy

ABSTRACT The geography of financial exclusion has mainly focused on exclusion from retail banking. Alternatively, and following the work of David Harvey, this paper presents a geography of access to and exclusion from home mortgage finance. The case of Milan shows that capital switching to the built environment is partly a sign of economic crisis and partly a sign of the intrinsic opportunities that the built environment provides. A major factor in both is the deregulation of the mortgage market that has enabled the loosening of historically stringent lending criteria, leading to a tremendous growth of the mortgage market, while leaving the co‐evolution of family and home ownership intact. In addition, capital switches within sectors of the economy and between places. In Milan, once “unattractive” but currently gentrified nineteenth‐century districts underwent cycles of devalorisation and revalorisation. Even though access to mortgages has increased throughout Milan, geographical disparities in mortgage lending persist: at present, yellowlining (differential access, based on less favourable terms) is common in parts of the Milanese periphery. The creation of boundaries makes the realisation of class‐monopoly rent possible; while the subsequent redrawing of these boundaries creates new submarkets in which surplus value can be extracted. Based on the Milan case, one cannot explain the timing and geography of formation and reformation of submarkets in other cities, but it helps us to see how Harvey's abstract ideas of class‐monopoly rent, submarket creation, and capital switching take place in the real world.     

Local Diversity,Human Creativity,and Technological Innovation

The purpose of this paper is to point out some shortcomings of traditional approaches to the study of “knowledge spillovers” and to suggest an alternative based on how knowledge is actually created and exchanged by individuals. Which regional setting is the best incubator of technological change and economic growth? Is this promoted by regional diversity or specialization of economi activity? This study will include economic analyses of geographically localized “dynamic knowledge externalities, Jacob's externalities, or adding new work to old, industrial classification and technology combination, human creativity, and technology combination through human action and imaginative use of resources. Employees add to, or switch their product line; individuals move from one type of production to another; individuals observe a product/process in another setting and incorporate it; individuals possessing different skills and working for different firms collaborate; and urban diversity and resource collaboration are utilized. It is concluded that problems are solved through the combination of previously unrelated things and that promoting regional specialization at the expense of spontaneously evolved local diversity might be a counter‐productive policy.     

State Characteristics and the Locational Choice of Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Regional FDI in Mexico 1989–2006

ABSTRACT Despite the growing importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Mexican economy, statistical evidence on the determinants of the regional distribution of foreign‐owned firms is seriously limited. In this paper, empirical findings are presented from a variety of econometric models that identify several regional characteristics influencing the locational choice of FDI. The main findings are threefold. First, several locational factors appear to be potentially important; these include regional demand, wages, schooling, infrastructure, and agglomeration economies. Second, the effect of agglomeration economies stems from several sources. In particular, the regional presence of agglomerations of manufacturing activity and of foreign‐owned manufacturing firms both have an independent positive effect on the locational decision of new FDI. Third, the locational process of maquiladora firms differs from the locational process of overall FDI. The actual findings suggest that regional demand and infrastructure, as suggested above, are not important locational factors for export‐oriented firms. Furthermore, whereas agglomeration economies from manufacturing and the presence of existing FDI attract new maquiladora investment, the presence of a regional agglomeration of services deters the location of new maquiladora firms. Finally, agglomeration economies appear to be more important in the locational process of maquiladora firms.     

The brokerage role of small states and territories in global corporate networks

Global economic activity is networked through cross‐national linkages between firm headquarters, branches, and subsidiaries. Brokerage emerges as a key territorial function of this network, with some places acting as gateways or intermediaries for flows of global knowledge, information, or trade. This function is particularly salient for small states and territories leveraging the benefits of borrowed size by offering global professional services, warehousing, logistics, shipping, and finance to wealthy nations or high net individuals. Nonetheless, to date our understanding of how small states and territories facilitate wealth accumulation is limited to broad concepts of their role as “gateways” or “brokers.” Drawing on a typology of brokerage and a network analysis applied to the ties between approximately 700,000 firm headquarter and subsidiary locations of 13 of the world's largest stock exchanges, we explore the brokerage role of small states and territories through case studies of Luxembourg, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Panama. Brokerage is found to play an important role in the economy of all four. We argue that each of these small states and territories is uniquely positioned as a broker in global corporate networks, but that this role differs according to geo‐economic and political positionality.     

Analysis of the influence of land finance on haze pollution: An empirical study based on 269 prefecture-level cities in China

Under the system of political centralization and economic decentralization, the expanding scale of land finance and the increasingly severe environmental pressure have jointly become crucial features of China's urban development. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study the intrinsic mechanism of land finance on haze pollution for China's economy to achieve kinetic energy transformation and green development. This paper empirically analyzes the impact of land finance on haze pollution using a dynamic spatial Durbin model based on panel data of 269 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2017. The statistical results show that haze pollution has a significant “snowball effect” and space spillover effect. Land finance has a significant positive effect on haze pollution. Land transfer both by agreement and by bid invitation, auction, and listing have significant positive effect on haze pollution. However, the promoting effect of land transfer by agreement on haze pollution is significantly higher than that of land sale by bid invitation, auction, and listing. Furthermore, regional heterogeneity implies that for cities in the eastern region, land finance is conducive to alleviating haze pollution. In contrast, for cities in the central and western regions, land finance significantly promotes haze pollution.     

Regional Growth Dynamics in the Service Sector: The Determinants of Employment Change in UK Regions, 1971–2005

There is a need to better understand the dynamics relating to the evolving economic structure of regions, in particular factors concerning deindustrialisation and the growth of services. In order to unpick the dynamics relating to contemporary regional evolution, this paper examines regional employment in the UK's services sectors from 1971 to 2005. The analysis utilises the statistical technique of multi‐factor partitioning to examine the evolutionary dynamics of employment change in the UK service sector. Overall, differing growth trajectories in services employment across regions appear to be the result of the different underlying industrial structures observed within the regions themselves. The findings indicate that the industrial structure of a region has a significant influence on employment change in services, with related variety being of greater consequence than specialisation. This suggests that diversity, or urbanisation, effects have a greater influence than specialisation effects on “lighter” industries than “heavier” industries. Spatio‐temporal variations within the development of services are evident in the analysis, and there is evidence of convergence across the regions for all sub‐sectors examined. It concludes that in an increasingly services‐dominated economy, diversity and related variety have some weight in explaining regional development paths.     

Spatial Divisions of Corporate Services Occupations in the United States, 1983–88

This article examines corporate services from a regional perspective, using the concept of “spatial divisions of labor.” We examine non-routine, control-related activity as well as routine activity, bridging the literatures on white- and pink-collar work. Using the Geographic Profile on Employment and Unemployment, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, we examine occupational data across the nine census divisions continuously from 1983 through 1988. This data source is unique because it reports on occupational data annually, in relatively disaggregate form, and does so by geographic regions. Location quotients for the occupational data serve to identify a “core” with respect to concentrations of control-related activity. This core comprises the New England, Middle Atlantic, and Pacific divisions. In contrast, routine activity generally is more dispersed, although some regional separation is evident for specific occupations, showing regional concentration in subordinate or “peripheral” regions. The results of the study identify regional patterns, which are heuristically valuable in raising questions regarding the complex processes responsible for spatial divisions of labor. In particular, the findings suggest a geography of modes of production, a subject that requires substantially more attention.     

Growth of Incumbent Firms and Entrepreneurship in Vietnam

This paper analyzes the relationship between the performance of incumbent firms and the net entry of new firms by combining various theoretical views of entrepreneurship. Different regression models to treat dynamics and endogeneity issues are applied to test the research hypothesis with regional micro‐data for 61 Vietnamese provinces from 2000 to 2008. The main finding is that net entry is associated with the performance of incumbent firms and the overall performance of the economy. Incumbents' growth and gross domestic product growth induce changes in the existing production system and stimulate the creation of an economic environment more favourable to new firm formation. Consistent with the hypotheses put forward within the “knowledge spillover,” the “error‐correction,” and other approaches, incumbents may generate new entrepreneurial opportunities not only for themselves but also for the whole society.     

Location Decision Making of “Creative” Industries: The Media and Computer Game Sectors in Dublin,Ireland

There has been significant research undertaken examining the “creative class” thesis within the context of the locational preferences of creative workers. However, relatively little attention has been given to the locational preferences of creative companies within the same context. This paper reports on research conducted to qualitatively analyse the location decision making of companies in two creative sectors: media and computer games. We address the role of the so‐called “hard” and “soft” factors in company location decision making within the context of the creative class thesis, which suggests that company location is primarily determined by “soft” factors rather than “hard” factors. The study focuses upon “core” creative industries in the media and computer game sectors and utilises interview data with company managers and key elite actors in the sector to investigate the foregoing questions. The results show that “hard” factors are of primary importance for the location decision making in the sectors analysed, but that “soft” factors play quite an important role when “hard” factors are satisfactory in more than one competing city‐region.     

Polish Labour Migration to the UK: Data Discrepancies,Migrant Distributions,and Indicators of Entrepreneurial Activity

This paper contributes to a growing body of work on labour market migration to the UK from the new Member States (NMS) of the European Union, particularly the migration of Polish nationals to the UK, drawing attention to the weaknesses of existing data sets which attempt to quantify these migration flows and in particular to map the geographical distribution of migrants. The analysis of Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) and National Insurance Number (NINo) allocation data demonstrates that NMS migration has focused on urban and rural locales rather than having a predominantly rural or “peripheral” area bias. The paper also argues that the discrepancies between WRS and NINo data potentially reveal a “hidden” geography of self‐employment and entrepreneurial activity among NMS migrants which merits further investigation.     

Redefining “Offshore” in Latin America

Offshoring and outsourcing are two terms—often used interchangeably—that comprise an essential element of the modern post‐industrial global economy. Analysis of this phenomenon in the United States is often framed in the light of job loss and economic decline relating to the manufacturing or low‐end services sectors, but this paper will revisit the traditional offshore industry—that of offshore finance and offshore financial centers (OFCs) and compare OFC offshoring with traditional offshoring in Latin America. This paper argues that some similarities are evident when comparing OFC offshoring with traditional offshoring but many differences exist. Using the framework or “lens” of politics certain OFC offshoring issues and tensions with the onshore world relating to unfair tax competition, money laundering, sovereignty, secrecy, regulation, trust, and reputation are analyzed and are shown to be more onerous, tense and different from those occurring in the mainstream offshoring/outsourcing world. In addition, using the “lens” of cyberspace and e‐commerce, and a case study of the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas, this paper argues that the creation of an electronic infrastructure in the OFC offshoring world is as necessary as in the onshore world, but the actors and institutions creating and promoting such infrastructures are different. Future work could pursue more reputable and comparative data gathering to further more rigorous statistical modeling of the relationships both between OFCs as they compete for offshore capital, and between offshore and onshore as the onshore world seeks to further lift the veil of offshore financial opacity, particularly related to issues of money laundering.     

Shadow Europe: Alternative European Financial Geographies

ABSTRACT This paper sets out to trace some major points of convergence between an emerging literature on the political geographies of corruption¹ and current attempts to develop a renewed research agenda in the geographies of global finance—in this case in a specifically European context. In particular, we offer some preliminary observations on the need to elaborate an alternative geography of Europe's financial architecture that could incorporate the role of flows of illegal and informal finance as major driving forces behind the way in which that architecture currently constitutes itself. This is an inherently complex task due to the intrinsically hidden nature of these flows and the difficulties involved in their accurate measurement; nevertheless, they are too important to be ignored, as is too frequently the case at present. In the paper we offer some necessarily preliminary, and deliberately provocative, reflections on how to take forward such a re‐conceptualisation. Ultimately, our analysis revolves around the identification of an uneasy tension between the demand for deregulated financial markets and the increasing integration of those markets, and the international momentum towards finding ways of dealing with the (apparently) ever‐increasing problems of corruption, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism through new forms of financial regulation and control.     

Transnational Corporations,Global Production Networks,and Urban and Regional Development: A Geographer's Perspective on Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy

This paper offers an economic‐geographical interpretation of the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in urban and regional development that is grounded in Dunning and Lundan's (2008 ) Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy. I argue that TNCs and their activity are indisputably one of the keys to understanding urban and regional development in today's globalizing world economy. To support this perspective, I will deploy the recently developed analytical framework of global production networks (GPNs) to unpack the complex and mutually dependent relationships between TNCs and urban and regional development. The paper first provides a critique of several recent influential theories of urban and regional growth and identifies the omitted components in such important actors as TNCs. It then offers an analysis of TNCs as key agents of urban and regional development on the basis of ideas on TNC strategies, networks, and regional institutions expressed in Multinational Enterprises. Finally, I draw upon a relational view of TNCs in GPNs to illustrate how urban and regional development is increasingly a “globalizing” phenomenon. Situated in recent work in economic geography, I elaborate on the concept of strategic coupling as an interfacing mechanism bringing together TNCs and development at the urban and regional scales.     

Reflections on the “Old” Economy, “New” Economy,and Services

ABSTRACT Economic competitiveness now has less to do with new materials than with new ways of producing, utilizing, and combining diverse knowledges. It is branded as symptomatic of a “new” economy and is often juxtaposed against the “old” economy. As accelerating technological change has greatly increased the volume and quality of the information available to organizations, to firms, and to individual employees, it is asserted that the economy has become more “new” than “old.” But this is predicated on the assumption that there is a “new” economy and that it is somehow distinguishable from the “old.” This paper explores the basis for this dichotomy and whether it really adds anything to understanding contemporary economies and their ongoing development. It will be argued that it is more useful and constructive to examine the economy through a lens dominated by service industries that are now the key drivers of change (innovation, competition, employment) and development. The paper is concluded with a discussion of some items that could usefully be part of an agenda for further research by economic geographers on the evolving spatial and structural attributes of service work and organizations and their impact on cities or regions at different scales of analysis.     

The industries of the future in Mexico: Local and non-local effects in the localization of “knowledge-intensive services”

The current characteristics in the global economy have defined “knowledge-intensive services” (KIS) as part of the so-called “industries of the future” due to the attributes of their employment and central function in the development processes in science, technology, art, and culture. This study outlines as a central hypothesis that the localization of KIS depends on different factors according to the type of knowledge being developed (analytical, synthetic, and symbolic). The main objective in this work is to explore the spatial economic factors associated with the localization and changes (positive and negative) when using KIS in the “national urban system” in México between 2004 and 2014. To do so, the services sector is defined according to the “intensity” and the “types” of knowledge that they develop. An analysis of spatial econometrics is carried out that distinguishes between the geographic (local) effect and the spatial (non-local) effect of the independent variables using data and microdata from the period 2004 to 2014. The results partly correspond with the central hypothesis of the study and offer possibilities of public policies to take advantage of and to promote the benefits of KIS, especially regarding cities in developing countries looking to become part of the 21st century economy.     

How does financial agglomeration affect green development? Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta of China

An extensive economic growth mode leads to resource depletion and environmental degradation. Green development is the best way to solve this problem. We analyzed the sample data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta of China from 2007 to 2019. We used the spatial Durbin model and interaction term model to study the effects of regional financial agglomeration (FA) on green development and the moderating role of green technology innovation. The results show that FA promotes local green development but inhibits the green development of neighboring areas. Because the polarization effect of the growth pole is greater than its dispersion effect, cities with high levels of FA have a strong “siphon effect” on the surrounding areas. Green technology innovation positively moderates the promoting effect of FA on green development; the higher the level of green technology innovation and the degree of emphasis on it, the stronger the promoting effect. The government should encourage green finance to promote green technology innovation and promote the green development of the regional economy. These findings provide new insights for developing countries to achieve sustainable development under environmental constraints.     

中国农业节水技术推广金融保险支持创新研究

为促进农业节水技术推广的发展,必须加强金融保险支持。通过对农业节水技术推广现状和金融保险支持情况分析,我们发现已取得一定成效,但还存在金融体系不完善、银财的配套措施不力、涉农贷款数量增长慢、金融服务水平不高和涉农保险机构少、保险覆盖面小、转嫁风险能力弱等问题。鉴于此,必须在金融体系建设、银财配套、提高贷款数量、提高服务效率和开发相应险种进行风险本地转嫁及再保险进行风险区域性或国际性转嫁等方面创新,以支持农业节水技术推广。     

World cities and peripheral development: The interplay of gateways and subordinate places in Argentina and Ghana’s upstream oil and gas sector

Serving as “gateways”, some world cities tie their wider hinterlands to global networks. The article revisits gateway–hinterland relations against the backdrop of assessments that lead to opposed conclusions on the benefits and shortcomings of integration into the world economy. Referring to the oil and gas sector in Argentina and Ghana, it answers the question of how gateways interact with subordinate places and also uncovers obstacles to peripheral development. The author finds that Accra and Buenos Aires concentrate corporate control. Argentina's capital serves as a gateway for knowledge generation and logistics too. Opportunities for peripheral development in both countries are considerable, albeit largely limited to generic services. Besides a certain concentration of business activities in the gateway cities, more important challenges to peripheral development are typical for small and medium enterprises (insufficient finance and management capabilities, unawareness of business opportunities, and the like). They include rent seeking and subcontracting. The latter leaves local companies in a particularly weak position vis‐à‐vis lead firms. The author argues that while integration into the world economy allows for peripheral development, the corresponding outcomes may not meet everyone's expectations. Related expectations must, therefore, be more down‐to‐earth than overly optimistic statements frequently made by politicians.     

中国农村金融生态环境问题研究

摘要：农村金融生态环境的优劣评判依据是农村区域经济的发展和稳定程度,金融法律法规的完善程度及其在农村的执行状况,农村信用环境的健全程度,以及地方政府对农村金融活动的管理方式和介入程度。当前,我国农村金融生态环境面临农村宏观经济的形势严峻,农村金融缺口严重,行政力量对农村金融活动干预失当,且农村金融的市场化程度低,法制环境缺失,社会信用意识淡薄,征信体系建设滞后。因而,要改善农村金融生态环境的现状就必须统筹城乡经济社会发展,消除“二元结构”,促进农村经济发展;规范地方政府行为,建立地方治理与农村金融活动良性互动的关系,同时建立良好的法律和执法体系,为农村金融生态营造良好的法制环境,全面推进信用体系建设,规范农村金融生态的信用秩序。