We present a model that explains how a cluster moves through a life cycle and why this movement differs from the industry life cycle. The model is based on three key processes: the changing heterogeneity in the cluster describes the movement of the cluster through the life cycle; the geographical...

This paper addresses the key determinants of merger failure, in particularthe role of innovation (post-merger performance) and technology (ex-anteselection) when firms decide to separate. After a brief review of the existingliterature we introduce a model of process innovation where merged...

Although there is growing evidence on the role of agglomeration economies in the formation and growth of firms, both the concepts of agglomeration economies and entrepreneurship tend to be ambiguously defined and measured in the literature. In this study, we aim to improve the conceptualisations...

This paper focuses on the relationship between firms’ technological capabilities and differentforms of cooperation for innovation by combining the analysis of both micro and meso levels,i.e. the level of the firm and of the geographical region. Our findings, based on the Fourth UKCommunity...

In this paper we show that the recent model by Duranton (AER, 2007) performs remarkablywell in replicating the city size distribution of West Germany, much better than the simplerank-size rule known as Zipf´s law. The main mechanism of this theoretical framework is thechurning of industries...

This paper investigates some crucial aspects of the recent development of industrial districts in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, where this type of spatial agglomeration of industrial firms has flourished since the period immediately after the Second World War. In particular, it is aimed at...

The paper Investigates stability and change of regional economic activities in the longrun.As the unit of analysis we selected the machine tool industry in West Germany forthe years 1953 to 2002. We spot a strong variance in the activities between the differentregions. These differences are...

In this paper we build a quality-augmented version of an economic geography model whereconsumers have heterogenous tastes for a set of manufacturing varieties. We discuss afootloose capital model and a footloose entrepreneur model. We show that firms selling thegoods with higher values select...

Conventional R&D-based growth theory suggests that productivitygrowth is positively correlated with population size or population growth,an implication which is hard to see in the data. Here we integrate R&D-basedgrowth into a unied growth setup with micro-founded fertility and...

This paper discusses the impact of the international transfer of embodiedtechnological change on the employment evolution of skills in a sample of low andmiddle income countries (LMICs). A large body of literature has already underlinedthe occurrence of widening wage and employment differentials...