Growth and Change in U.S. Cities and Suburbs

Differential rates of growth and decentralization are processes that characterized U.S. urban areas over the past three decades. This paper examines the determinants of growth in cities and suburbs during the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The modeling approach adopted in the study allows for simultaneity between population and employment, and between cities and suburbs, while also taking into account a range of other explanatory factors. Results indicate that population and employment growth in cities tend to be jointly determined, but that growth of employment in the suburbs tends to drive growth of suburban population. Results also suggest that suburban and city growth are interrelated, but that the nature of these interrelationships varies over time: suburban growth promoted city growth during the 1970s and 1980s, while city and suburban growth were jointly determined during the 1990s. Other factors that consistently explain variation in city growth include demographics, population density, crime rates, and income inequality. Factors consistently explaining suburban growth include regional location and climate.     

Sources of Output Change in the U.S. Economy

Output changes in the U.S. economy from 1972 to 1977 are analyzed using a 477-sector input-output framework. The empirical model is based on benchmark data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Commodity output changes are attributed to technical change, import substitution, changes in domestic final demand, and changes in export demand. Special attention is given to the importance of international trade and the patterns of change observed in rapidly growing and declining sectors. The results indicate that 71 percent of the sectors lost domestic market share to imports, but on balance international trade contributed to positive output change through increased exports. Technology changes became increasingly important in sectors of the economy experiencing either rapid growth or decline. Conversely, final demand, exports, and import substitution generally appeared to be most important in the slowly changing sectors. These findings confirm and expand on earlier work that indicated a dominant role for technology changes in explaining output changes in emerging and declining industries.     

The Changing Regional Structure of the U.S. Economy

This paper utilizes newly available industry-specific historical measures of Gross Regional Product to highlight the changing regional structure of the U.S. economy between 1963 and 1986. During this period, the percentage of U.S. output produced in the eight different regions changed significantly. The largest changes occurred in the Great Lakes (?3.65 percent), Mideast (?3.32 percent), and Southeast (+3.64 percent). Four major industry sectors (Agriculture, Mining, Construction, and Government) declined in relative importance in all eight regions. Five major industry sectors (TCPU, Retail Trade, Wholesale Trade, FIRE, and Services) expanded in relative importance. Somewhat surprisingly, Manufacturing output expanded for the U.S. as a whole and for six of the eight regions. The perception of decline in the relative importance of manufacturing in the U.S. is clearly based on the dramatic declines in the once dominant manufacturing base of the Mideast and Great Lakes regions.     

Regional Differences in the Competitive Characteristics of U.S. Machine Tool Companies

The U.S. machine tool (MT) sector has undergone substantial restructuring over the past three decades. Despite signs of a commercial rebound in recent years, however, a number of critical issues remain for this industry. Not all firms share these concerns, in that differences exist between producers located in the core manufacturing belt and those located elsewhere. This paper examines the characteristics, competitive problems, and markets of firms located in these two regions. Survey data from a sample of 104 machine tool companies reveal that significant core–periphery differences exist with regard to firm–specific difficulties and markets served. The data also show that firms in the periphery have been growing significantly faster than firms in the core. The paper concludes with a discussion of the likely reasons for regional variability in the characteristics of firms in this industry. Directions for future research are also suggested, notably with regard to the interplay between national regulatory conditions and the competitive performance of MT firms.     

New Firm Formation and Industry Clusters: A Case of the Drugs Industry in the U.S.

The importance of new firms in regional growth led many scholars to probe the determinants of new firm formation. A close examination of cluster theory predicts that industry clusters can enhance new firm births as well as the productivity of existing firms. Linkages among firms and related institutions, which are the key characteritics of the cluster phenomenon, can serve as an important determinant of new firm formation. The network aspect of clusters helps nascent entrepreneurs find resources and information easier and faster than in an isolated environment. In addition, nascent entrepreneurs in industry clusters often have rich experience in existing local firms, which becomes important prior knowledge to explore new market opportunities. This study examines the effects of clusters on new firm formation. We found that the cluster based on knowledge sharing (i.e., knowledge–labor cluster) significantly affects the new firm formation process, whereas the cluster based on market transactions (i.e., value‐chain cluster) does not seem to play a role in new firm formation.     

The Impact of the Maquiladora Industry on U.S. Border Cities

For decades, the maquiladora industry has been a major economic engine along the U.S.–Mexico border. Since the 1970s, researchers have analyzed how the maquiladora industry affects cities along both sides of the border. Hanson produced the first comprehensive study on the impact of the maquiladoras on U.S. border cities, considering the effects of in‐bond plants on both employment and wages. His estimates became useful rules of thumb for the entire U.S.–Mexico border; however, they have become dated. Using Hanson's framework, we estimate the maquiladora industry impact on U.S. border cities from 1990 to 2006. We find that a 10 percent increase in maquiladora production leads to a 0.5 to 0.9 percent increase in employment. We also find large differences among individual border cities. Furthermore, we estimate the cross‐border maquiladora impacts before and after 2001 when border security begins to rise, and the global low‐wage competition intensified after China joined the World Trade Organization. Empirical results indicate that U.S. border cities are less responsive to growth in maquiladora production from 2001 to 2006 than in the earlier period; however, when looking into specific sectors, we find that U.S. border city employment in service sectors is more responsive post‐2001.     

Short‐Run Dynamics of Income Disparities and Regional Cycle Synchronization in the U.S.

Since the 1990s, the issue of regional income convergence and its long‐term tendencies has been thoroughly and heatedly discussed. Much less attention, however, has been devoted to the short‐run dynamics of regional convergence. In particular, three important aspects have not yet been adequately addressed. First, it is indeed essential to understand whether regional disparities manifest a tendency to move systematically along the national cycle. Then, if this happens to be the case, it becomes crucial to know whether 1) these movements are pro‐ or counter‐cyclical,2) the cyclical evolution of the disparities is a consequence of differences in the timing with which the business cycle is felt in regions or it is motivated by the amplitude differences across local cyclical swings. In this paper, we shed light on these issues using data on personal income for the 48 coterminous U.S. states between 1969 and 2008. Our results indicate that income disparities do not move randomly in the short run but follow a distinct cyclical pattern, moving either pro‐ or counter‐cyclically depending on the period of analysis. These patterns are probably explained by the changes in the direction of capital and labor flows that favor developed or poorer states in different periods. As for the underlying mechanism, it appears that the short‐run evolution of the disparities in recent years is largely a consequence of differences in the timing with which the business cycle is felt across states rather than the outcome of amplitude differences across local cyclical swings.     

PEST模型对比分析中美发展海洋产业的宏观环境

海洋强国是十八大期间国家提出的一项新的战略目标,海洋产业发展的研究成为一项新的热点。海洋产业的发展同其他行业一样,受到宏观环境的约束。为了改善当前的海洋产业的发展宏观环境,通过采用对比分析的研究方法,利用PEST模型从发展海洋产业的政治法律环境、经济环境、社会文化环境和科技环境,与美国这个海洋强国进行对比,发现中国的海洋产业发展缺乏国家层面的相关法律法规以及经济倾斜政策,国民普遍缺乏海洋意识,海洋科技的研究缺乏学科间的交叉融合。要改善中国海洋产业的宏观环境,首要任务是提升国民的海洋意识,让所有国民意识到海洋发展的重要性,敦促国家出台配套完善的海洋相管法律以及经济倾斜政策。     

Change in the Concentration of Employment in Computer Services: Spatial Estimation at the U.S. Metro County Level

ABSTRACT This article models the concentration of computer services activity across the U.S. with factors that incorporate spatial relationships. Specifically, we enhance the standard home‐area study with an analysis that allows conditions in neighboring counties to affect the concentration of employment in the home county. We use county‐level data for metropolitan areas between 1990 and 1997. To measure change in employment concentration, we use the change in location quotients for SIC 737, which captures employment concentration changes caused by both the number of firms and the scale of their activity relative to the national average. After controlling for local demand for computer services, our results support the importance of the presence of a qualified labor supply, interindustry linkages, proximity to a major airport, and spatial processes in explaining changes in computer services employment concentration, finding little support for the influence of cost factors. Our enhanced model reveals interjurisdictional relationships among these metro counties that could not be captured with standard estimates by state, metropolitan statistical area (MSA), or county. Using counties within MSAs, therefore, provides more general results than case studies but still allows measurement of local interactions.     

浅论经济全球化进程中的中国种子产业

我国种子产业是在原来纯粹的计划经济体制下建立和发展起来的，在这种管理模式下，种子公司规模小，种子商品化程度低，科技含量低，资源配置不合理，建设项目重复多，资金浪费现象严重，诸如此类，……     

The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and Commodity Transportation Services among U.S. States

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implemented beginning in 1989 by the United States aid Canada will have significant impacts on bilateral trading patterns. In addition to its long-term, investment-related repercussions, the FTA will affect the volume, commodity composition, and spatial distribution of trade and, consequently, the transportation services required to move commodities between the two nations. This paper examines the changing spatial structure of U.S.-Canadian trade under the FTA. It employs commodity-specific analyses of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, as well as price and income elasticities of demand, to estimate sectoral and special changes among U.S. states in total, land, water, and airborne commodity flows since 1988 attributable to the FTA. The analysis details the assumptions and methodology used, elaborates upon the likely consequences for me nation's ten largest customs districts, particularly New York, and concludes with some comments on other forces that may alter the expected results.     

Imbalanced sex ratios and housing prices in the U.S.

This paper investigates whether imbalanced local sex ratios are associated with housing prices in the U.S. at the county level during the period 2000–2017, based on the hypothesis that the importance for men of advertising financial resources by spending more on housing increases in the marriage market where there is a scarcity of women. The results indicate that an increase of 0.1 in sex ratio is associated with approximately a 2% increase in housing prices, suggesting that men may allocate more resources toward mating effort by increasing their spending on housing when there is an abundance of men. There is little evidence that the positive association was greater during the housing bubble.     

Patterns of Broadband Efficiency in the U.S

Data envelopment analysis is used to assess the efficiency of broadband Internet adoption and use in the U.S. Analyses at the state level from 2005 to 2007 suggest that broadband adoption and use is not equally efficient across the U.S. states. Although the instantaneous efficiencies are relatively high for many states, the changes in total factor productivity suggest that the efficiency of broadband adoption and use still increases over time. Moreover, it is observed that efficiency values are often spatially autocorrelated, which suggests spatial dependency from spillovers or interstate competition. This leads to a particular spatial diffusion pattern in broadband adoption. Although states have different strategies in support of broadband expansion they need to identify their shortcomings and use the appropriate mix of inputs (and outputs) to improve their efficiencies.     

全球化视野下的中国种业

全球经济一体化和市场经济的开放性给种业竞争以全新的释义：竞争不再是利益互相冲突的双方的简单拼搏，而是一种高水平、高质量、高风格的友谊竞赛。全球化彻底改变了种业发展传统的市场竞争理念和营运模式，种业国际化成为世界种业发展的主流和趋势，跨国公司的重组活动是种业国际化的主要推动力。中国种业正处在大分化、大改组、重新整合的发展时期，在跨国种业公司“兵临城下”的紧迫形势下，中国种业怎样才能快速发展壮大并参与国际种业竞争，一个重要的战略选择就是联合起来，组建种业集团，在全球化中定位，尽快融人种业“国际化链条”。     

Labor and the Geographic Reorganization of Container Shipping in the U.S.

The globalization of production and the geographic dispersion of economic activity have elevated the importance of the transportation and logistics sectors of the economy. One sector in particular that has experienced significant expansion is maritime transport and container shipping. As the cargo has become increasingly “discretionary” such that it can conceivably be transported through any port that allows intermodal access to the hinterland, the industry has become much more foot‐loose vis‐à‐vis a particular port of entry. The enhanced mobility of the cargo results in more intense port competition. One particular place to observe and study this dynamic is in the port and terminal selection of shippers and shipping lines and the role of port authorities in attempting to attract these carriers to their facilities. In this paper, the focus is on the role of labor and labor relations in such decisions. These issues will be studied in the context of the potential container traffic rerouting from the West to the East Coast of the U.S. and, as an illustrative case study, how these developments have played out for the East Coast port of Jacksonville, Florida.