In this paper we analyze the regional embeddedness of firm’s networks in Dutch regions. Theorizing on urban economic networks is an important issue in the urban economic growth literature (Batten 1995, Hess 2004). For this, 2000 firms in basic sectors (industrial, business-services and...

Discussion on the possibilities for and barriers to income convergence and catch-up growth is at the heart of the debate on European regional economic policy. This study presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of regional productivity growth in Europe, using the most recent Cambridge...

Barriers to international trade are more sizeable than can be accounted for on the basis of formal trade barriers and transport costs alone. Search costs in the international marketplace and insecurity of property and contract enforcement have recently been stressed to explain this observation....

There is large variation in trade patterns across the world. Despite the popular discussion on the ‘death of distance’, distance is still the most important variable explaining this variation. In explaining trade patterns across the worls, it is important to acknowledge the multiple...

The intensity of international transactions remains lower than could be potentially justified on the basis of transportation costs alone. This has become known as the ?mystery of the missing trade?. Transaction costs may be responsible for ?under-trading? across national borders. More...

Despite the many negative aspects of life in cities, urban promises of economic prosperity, freedom and happiness have fuelled the imagination of generations of migrants, who have flocked to cities in search of a better life, invariably exaggerating the opportunities and neglected the potential...

Within the Geography of Innovation literature, the Knowledge Production Function approach has become a reference framework to investigate the presence of localized knowledge spillovers and spatial econometric tools have been applied to study interregional spillovers. A linear specification for...

The present paper presents a geosimulation agent-based model of firm development that is based on firms’ behavioural rules. The model describes growth, closure, spin-offs and relocation of firms in 21 industrial sectors in the Netherlands, based on a dataset of all individual firms in...