This discussion paper resulted in an article in the <I>Annals of Regional Science</I> (2012). Volume 48, issue 2(SI), pages 501-527.<P> This paper addresses the performance of creative firms from the perspective of complex spatial systems. Based on an extensive high-dimensional database on both the...</p></i>

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...

Cities have become playing grounds for competitive behaviour and rapid economic dynamics. But in many cities (or urban agglomerations) economic growth is mainly manifested in specific geographic areas, where creative people and innovative entrepreneurs are located. This paper offers first the...

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>

This paper studies an intermediated market operated by middlemen with high inventory holdings. I present a directed search model in which middlemen are less likely to experience a stockout because they have the advantage of inventory capacity, relative to other sellers. The model explains why...

This article addresses the differentiated impacts of various sectors and branches in a multi-layer regional system. As a case-study the Cairngorms National Park (CNP) in Scotland is used. In this area, policy makers ”at different administrative levels” strongly emphasize the need for new...

Usually, the diffusion of a non-rival market knowledge externality - called a Knowledge Spillover (KS) - is related to geographical proximity. In this paper we explore the channels through which knowledge spreads. Compared with earlier work on KS measures, this study makes a step forward by...

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become important tools to promote a variety of public goals and policies. In the past years much attention has been given to the expected social benefits from deploying ICT in different fields (transportation, education, public participation...

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become important tools to promote a variety of public goals and policies. In the past years much attention has been given to the expected social benefits from deploying ICT in different fields (transportation, education, public participation...

How much does a nation spend on resources to 'grease the wheels of trade'? To examine this question the Dutch economy is used as an exemplary case as the Netherlands are known as a nation of traders. This image was derived in the seventeenth century from successes in long distance trade,...