Geographical Spillovers and University Research: A Spatial EconometricPerspective

Using data for U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, an earlier study of aggregate local geographic research spillovers generated by universities (Anselin et al.1997) was extended to a sectorally disaggregated level. These findings suggest the existence of significant sectoral variation with respect to local university effects on innovation. Apparent differences were found across sectors with respect to the “mix” of applied local knowledge inputs in general, and the extent to which university research plays a role in innovation in particular. The main conclusion is that local university spillovers seem to be specific to certain industries, such that at the two‐digit SIC level, no university spillover effects are at work in the Drugs and Chemicals (SIC28) and in the Machinery (SIC35) sectors. On the contrary, very strong and significant university research spillovers are evidenced in the Electronics (SIC36) and the Instruments (SIC38) industries. These spillovers extend beyond the boundary of the MSA within a 75‐mile range from the central city.     

The Suburbanization of Producer Service Employment

ABSTRACT. Washington DC is the center of the nation's ninth largest metropolitan area (PMSA), home to 4.4 million people and 2.9 million employees in a web of 25 separate, autonomous municipalities spanning three states and the District of Columbia. As such, the region is a good place to analyze the pattern of suburbanization of producer service employment over the past 25 years. In addition to overall suburbanization, the metropolitan area has seen changes in the nature and role of its dominant economic force, the federal government. Direct federal employment has stagnated while federal contracts to private companies have soared. Producer service employment seemed to increase in importance in jurisdictions away from the region's core, simultaneous with increases in total employment, following increases in federal contracting, and independent of increases in federal employment. These trends have affected the growth of producer service employment across the metropolitan area, encouraging their suburbanization. By subjecting our initial models to sub-sector data and analysis of temporal trends in the coefficients, we uncover the uniqueness of legal services and additional evidence of suburbanization over time.     

Rapid Metropolitan Growth and Community Disparities

Does rapid growth in a metropolitan area amplify or reduce disparities among its differentiated communities? Theoretical economic and political arguments can support both tendencies but lean in the direction of greater differentiation and disparities following a period of rapid regional growth. This article examines uneven population, employment and tax base growth as both causes and consequences of economic and social disparities. The analysis posits that growth bypasses the built-up and lowest income communities in favor of the more distant middle-income suburbs with extensive land for development. The implications of these uneven growth patterns are widening inter-municipal disparities consistent with growth rates. The analysis is carried out for the 365 contiguous jurisdictions in northern New Jersey, a region that experienced modest growth in the 1970s and rapid growth in the 1980s. The findings confirm the uneven pattern of growth and widening disparities during the growth spurt of the 1980s.     

THE CORPORATE ROLE OF LARGE METROPOLITAN AREAS IN THE UNITED STATES

This study has three purposes. The first is to determine, for the 30 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in 1980. the relationship among population size, the number of major corporations headquartered in these centers, and the number of subsidiaries located there. The expectation is that there will be positive relationships in all cases. Second, this study, based on variations in the relationships examined above, sets forth a corporate classification of the 30 metropolitan areas and identifies common characteristics and locations among six categories of centers. Finally, using the six-fold classification of centers, metropolitan employment growth between 1980 and 1986 is analyzed, especially job growth in services and in finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE). The six-fold classification proves useful in understanding employment growth in these 30 centers during the 1980s and, with modifications, perhaps beyond.     

Regional Innovation Systems: Implications for Nonmetropolitan Areas and Workers in the South

ABSTRACT A public policy response to global competition is the creation of a geographic concentration of innovative activity (regional innovation systems [RIS]) that will enhance metropolitan economic development through knowledge spillovers, product development, and new firm spin‐offs. This article identifies three types of RIS in the thirteen southern states based on a cluster analysis of twenty indicators of innovative and entrepreneurial activity. Next, regression analysis is used to determine if the 1990–2000 growth rates of nonmetro county population, employment, and earnings were related to proximity to an RIS after controlling for other county characteristics associated with local economic development. The research findings indicate that nonmetro counties near an RIS experienced more rapid population and employment growth; however, changes in nonmetro growth rates varied by type of regional innovation system. In addition, proximity to an RIS had a stronger impact on nonmetro population change than on nonmetro job growth.     

Examining talent attraction and retention in small and medium-sized cities: Where do universities fit in?

As universities have become more integrated into their communities and regions, their host cities have become locations of choice for the highly educated facilitating increased innovation and productivity rates in several locales. Recent transitions toward knowledge-driven economies have also intensified growing geographic divides along the lines of education and raised concerns about the possibility of brain drain in a growing number of cities/regions. This study examines the changing geography of highly educated individuals (2000–2017) with a focus on small and medium-sized U.S. metropolitan areas with and without research universities. Results indicate the continuing trend of divergence among regions, but research universities are found to complement (the lack of) talent agglomeration and generate spatial spillovers beyond the county boundaries.     

Does a Rising Tide Lift All Metropolitan Boats? Assessing Poverty Dynamics by Metropolitan Size and County Type

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between U.S. metropolitan county employment growth and poverty. Differential job growth–poverty linkages are found across metropolitan size and type of county. Own‐county employment growth significantly reduces central‐county poverty in large metropolitan areas relative to suburban county poverty. Compared with larger metropolitan areas, broader metropolitan‐wide job growth has more poverty reducing benefits in medium and smaller metropolitan areas, suggesting fewer metropolitan‐wide job‐accessibility constraints. The results suggest that targeted place‐based efforts to spur job growth may help reduce poverty.     

A Spatial Analysis of the R&D‐Productivity Nexus at Firm Level

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of research and development (R&D) on productivity by taking into account productivity spillovers. To this end, by using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2004–2006 provided by the Xth UniCredit‐Capitalia survey (2008), we have analyzed the role of R&D in firm productivity by using a spatial autoregressive model. In so doing, we have allowed the productivity of each firm to be affected by the productivity of nearby firms. Results show that R&D significantly affects Italian firm productivity and that productivity spillovers across firms matter. Moreover, productivity is found to be positively affected by intrasectoral R&D spillovers, while intersectoral R&D spillovers do not have a significant effect.     

Are We Moving Back to the City? Examining Residential Mobility in the Washington,DC Metropolitan Area

This research assesses the extent to which there is evidence of population re‐centralization or back to the city moves by tracking the historical trend of household and income mobility in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. County‐to‐county migration data and four migration efficiency measures are used to investigate net flows of households and income in the region. The results show a nascent tendency of back to the city movement; however, the redistribution of households and income in the metropolitan area is more complex. While the region's core may be starting to gain households and income, there are still significant flows into the region's most distant suburbs. The results of this research have implications for transportation, housing, and economic development policy making in Washington, DC and other regions. The study also offers a unique example of how to study household and income redistribution within U.S. metropolitan areas.     

Fragmentation and Sprawl: Evidence from Interregional Analysis

Recent years have witnessed widespread expansion of state and regional planning programs in the United States. A major purpose of these efforts is to reduce urban sprawl—low density, discontinuous, suburban–style development, often characterized as the result of rapid, unplanned, and/or uncoordinated growth— by promoting jurisdictional cooperation and regulatory consistency across metropolitan areas. This paper evaluates the efficacy of this approach by examining the relationship between governmental fragmentation and several measurable outcomes of urban development: density, urbanized land area, property value, and public expenditures on infrastructure. The four dimensions are modeled in a simultaneous equations framework, providing substantive evidence on how fragmentation and other exogenous factors affect metropolitan growth patterns. Fragmentation is associated with lower densities and higher property values, but has no direct effect on public service expenditures; less fragmented metropolitan areas occupy greater amounts of land due to the extensive annexation needed to bring new development under the control of a central municipality. The findings of the analysis lend support to state and regional planning efforts aimed at increasing cooperation among local governments, but also suggest that further research is needed in order to evaluate whether or not they produce their intended effects.     

Long-distance commuting and population change in Georgia, 1960-80

The authors investigate counter-urbanization and population change in Georgia between 1960 and 1980 by examining commuting patterns. "The immediate objective is to construct the entire set of commuting fields of both large metropolitan areas to metropolitan and nonmetropolitan employment centers. We then proceed to the relationship between commuting from nonmetropolitan areas to all levels of Georgia's urban hierarchy and population change in these nonmetropolitan settings. By matching population growth and decline areas with explicit employment ties...the nature of the population changes is much better understood." Data from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 censuses for 581 Census County Divisions (CCDs) in Georgia are analyzed. It is concluded that "most nonmetropolitan growth taking place in Georgia is associated with intensification of metropolitan commuting fields along with growth of nonmetropolitan centers and their influence along the very periphery of metropolitan spheres of employment influence. However, a significant share of Georgia's nonmetropolitan population revitalization is explained by growth independent of direct metropolitan influence. It would appear then that nonmetropolitan growth centers are an important part of the basis for population decentralization in Georgia. Metropolitan spill-over alone cannot account for counterurbanization on this portion of the American economic landscape."     

Innovation and Regional Growth in Mexico: 2000–2010

This paper looks at the factors driving regional growth in Mexico, paying special attention to the potentially growth‐enhancing role of innovation and innovation policy. The analysis combines innovation variables with indicators linked to the formation of adequate social conditions for innovation (the social filter), and spillovers for 31 Mexican states and the Mexico City capital district (the Distrito Federal) during the period 2000–2010. The results indicate that regional economic growth across Mexican states stems from direct investment in research and development (R&D) in areas with favorable social filters and which can benefit not only from knowledge spillovers, but also from being surrounded by rich neighbors with good social conditions. The results stress that, although Mexican innovation policy has been relatively well targeted in order to generate greater economic growth, its relatively modest size may have undermined the attainment of its main objectives.     

The Source of Metropolitan Growth: The Role of Commuting

Over the past few years, a large number of studies have focused on whether population or employment is critical to the source of metropolitan growth. However, only few attempts have so far been made to additionally consider the suburbanization stage and pattern of commuting, which may both enable us to explore this “chicken–egg” issue a little further. The purpose of this paper is to compare dwelling‐based (housing) with job‐based (job) employment to evaluate the net commuting. The Taipei metropolitan area, for example, now lies at the initial suburbanization stage with only population decentralization and massive in‐commuting to the central city. The estimation results based on a co‐integration system reveal that the central‐city employment can be regarded as an engine of this metropolitan economy. Besides, we also find that dwelling‐based employment distorts the causality between population and employment, especially from the variance‐decomposition accounts. Therefore, the importance of commuting to investigating the evolution of metropolitan economy should not be overlooked.     

Investment in Infrastructure as Determinant of Metropolitan Productivity

Utilizing newly assembled data on per capita metropolitan investments from the Census of Governments - Finance Statistics, this paper assesses the effects of local (i.e., non-state and non-federal) government investments in public capital on metropolitan factor productivity. Differences in productivity across metropolitan areas are modeled as a Hicks-neutral production function shifter, and the analysis covers 261 metropolitan areas of the United States for the period 1977 to 1992. These findings indicate that there is no significant relationship between levels of public capital investments and the levels of metropolitan productivity for the periods 1977, 1982, 1987, and 1992; however, a positive and significant relationship is found between the growth rate of local government investments in public capital and the growth rate of metropolitan productivity for the fifteen-year period.     

Agglomeration of Services in American Metropolitan Areas

The growth of many service industries among American metropolitan areas stem from an eclectic set of forces. These include market penetration effects of increasing importance of services throughout the economy, agglomeration effects in immature and deregulated industries, and institutional and infrastructure constraints. These diverse forces are interpreted as urbanization and localization economies. A cycle of centralization of 27 fast growing service industries is documented for MS As in the period 1977-84. The two agglomeration effects are tested directly, using a power function model that relates employment and establishment growth to MSA size and initial level of employment in a local industry. Localization economies rather than the general advantages of metropolitan size best explain the growth patterns. This result implies that service industrial complexes are rapidly emerging in American metropolitan areas.     

“Bad Neighborhood” and Internet Adoption in Poor Countries: What is behind the Persistent Digital Gap?

The paper investigates the determinants of Internet adoption in poor countries, focusing on the role of macro‐geographic location (neighborhood). It is argued that neighboring countries are interconnected by various kinds of spillovers, including knowledge spillovers as well as spillovers of norms and attitudes that affect individual adoption behavior. The empirical findings support the view that Internet adoption is affected by adoption rates in neighboring countries, even when controlling for a wide range of covariates. Addressing potential endogeneity concerns using an instrumental variable approach moreover suggests these relationships to be causal. The findings imply that international policies to support Internet adoption in poor countries might be more effective if they target groups of neighboring countries rather than single countries in order to better exploit spillovers between neighboring countries.     

Spatial Patterns in the Economic Development of the Mountain West

ABSTRACT Many counties in the mountainous areas of the western U.S. are experiencing rapid growth in population and income, even though extractive industries that served historically as their primary economic base are in decline. The purpose of this paper is to establish statistically the spatial determinants of population, employment, and income densities in 86 rural mountain counties and any changes in those determinants between 1985 and 1994. The results of this analysis indicate that densities are oriented to regional metropolitan centers and critical amenities such as ski areas, national parks, and universities or colleges. Negatively sloped density gradients with respect to distance from regional metropolitan centers suggest that the densities of settlement patterns beyond metropolitan boundaries are analogous to those within metropolitan areas relative to urban centers. In short, a tension apparently exists in locational choice; residents of the Mountain West desire to live near the beauties and amenities of the mountain landscape but do not want to entirely sever their urban ties. Because amenities are the primary attraction of mountain counties rather than employment in locationally dependent industries, at least some migrants must have relatively footloose forms of income.     

An Analysis on China Neutral Technological Progress by Embodied Spillovers from North America

This paper empirically discusses the mechanism of China Neutral Technology by Embodied Spillovers from North America, and the effect on China economic growth. The simulations show that the effects of technology spillovers on both the innovating and the receiving economies depend on SS and AC. The three sectors spillovers of North America can improve China's Hicks-neutral technological progress, but only the third industry can increase the output of same industry of China, and decrease the output of other two industries. Based on the simulations, some advices are given on China trade policy.     

Industrial Development Groups,Organizational Resources,and the Prospects for Effecting Growth in Local Economies

Using data from a survey of directors of not-for-profit industrial development groups in the United States and from a variety of secondary sources, we test the hypothesis that the presence of an active industrial development group was a significant factor in the economic growth of its service area over the 1977-to-1982 period. The data permit us to control for different levels of organizational resources among growth promotion groups as well as other traditional factors of local economic change in a regression analysis. While growth promotion groups are judged to be effective in terms of the number of jobs that are created or preserved relative to their direct expenditures of resources, neither their presence nor the levels of their organizational resources are significantly related to service area net employment change. The efforts of growth promotion groups are simply overwhelmed in importance by factors such as population size, metropolitan accessibility, location in a growth region, and manufacturing wage rates that characterize the respective service areas.     

The Economics and Politics of Tax Increment Financing

ABSTRACT Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a popular yet controversial tool that allows local governments to use property tax revenue to fund the public costs of economic development. Since TIF gives one local government the power to affect the tax bases of the overlapping jurisdictions, there is uncertainty and argument on the part of government officials and taxpayers as to who really finances the program. To evaluate the alternative contentions, this paper presents a general methodology that identifies which taxpayers in which locations fund the TIF's expenditures, and sets forward the conditions under which such a local economic development policy can be beneficial to taxpayers. The paper applies the model to study the TIF program currently active in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The evidence indicates that the taxpayers in the entire metropolitan area subsidized the downtown activities in the early years, but now pay lower property tax rates due to the city's TIF-financed urban revitalization program.