This paper addresses the timing of a location's historical transition from rural to urban activity. We test whether urbanization occurs sooner in places with higher agricultural potential and comparatively lower transport costs, using worldwide data that divide the earth's surface at half-degree...

See also the publication in <A href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2012.00723.x/abstract">'Journal of Economic Surveys'</A>, 26(3), 468-91.<p>Empirical studies in spatial economics have shown that agglomeration economies may be a source of the uneven distribution of economic activities and economic growth across cities and regions. Both localization and...</p></a>

Finding proper policy instruments to promote productivity growth features prominently on the Lisbon agenda and is central in many national as well as European policy debates. In view of the increased mobility of high-skilled workers in Europe, ongoing globalization and increased interregional...

This paper addresses the question to what extent the performance of industrial sites is affected by their local economic structure and accessibility. For this aim, we test for the existence of statistically significant relationships between agglomeration externalities (specialization, diversity,...

Innovation and technological change are central to the quest for regional development. In the globally-connected knowledge-driven economy, the relevance of agglomeration forces that rely on proximity continues to increase, paradoxically despite declining real costs of information, communication...

This discussion paper led to an article in <I>Geographical Analysis</I> (2012). Volume 44, issue 1, pages 29-46.<P> (Spatial) panel data are routinely modelled in discrete time (DT). However, there are compelling arguments for continuous time (CT) modelling of (spatial) panel data. Particularly, most...</p></i>

See also the article 'The effect of migration on income growth and convergence: Meta-analytic evidence' in <I>Papers in Regional Science</I> (2010). Volume 89, issue 3, pages 537-561.<P> Using meta-analytical techniques, we focus on 11 studies that explicitly measure the effect of a net migration variable...</p></i>

This discussion paper led to an article in <I>Regional Studies</I> (2014). Volume 48, issue 4, pages 624-645.<P> Knowledge triggers regional growth. Evidence suggests that skilled labour force concentrates in islands of innovation, determining an advantage for innovative regions and a challenge for...</p></i>

This paper enters the debate on the islands of innovation through the lens of the standard Lucas (1988) growth model. It begins with a review of the theoretical details of the model and of the ensuing main empirical results, which can be identified when estimating such model on a sample of 261...

Spatial effects are endemic in models based on spatially referenced data. The increased awareness of the relevance of spatial interactions, spatial externalities and networking effects among actors, evoked the area of spatial econometrics. Spatial econometrics focuses on the specification and...