As many establishments are embedded in regional economic structures, their competitive advantages also depend on local conditions. In many regions, these are shaped by regional clusters. Hence, for more than two decades, clusters have attracted a great deal of attention from regional economics...

In contrast to what several papers have argued recently, we show that firm heterogeneity fosters agglomeration of economic activity. If firms are more similar with respect to their total factor productivity, each company faces a lower propensity to export. This renders the home market more...

Due to globalization competitive firms face increasing economic opportunities for locating their activities in countries, regions and cities that provide the best business environment for their specific needs. In our study we focus on the impact of economic risk and risk preferences upon...

We examine whether discretionary government grants influence the location of new plants, and how effective these incentives are in the presence of agglomeration and urbanisation externalities. We find evidence that regional industrial structure affects the location of new entrants. Firms in more...

Cluster policy has become a method of choice for policymakers in many countries. Promoting strong localized industries is an appealing perspective for practitioners, as it can be seen as a way to anchor economic activity in regions in an era of globalization. If cluster policy is successful, it...

Die Bewertung der Innovationsfähigkeit von Regionen hat vor dem Hintergrund des verschärften regionalen Wettbewerbs um Fördermittel an Bedeutung gewonnen. Zur Bestimmung des regionalen Innovationspotentials werden oftmals einfach zu erhebende Indikatoren wie die Anzahl der Patentanmeldungen...

Sind Ansammlungen von hochqualifizierten Arbeitskräften in einer Region ein Garant für Wachstum? Eine Politik zur Förderung regionaler Entwicklung unterstellt oftmals diesen Zusammenhang und fördert die Ansiedlung und Vernetzung wissensintensiver Branchen und Unternehmen. Die hier gezeigte...

Die vorliegende Studie wurde im Arbeitsbereich Humankapital und Innovation erstellt und im Dezember 2010 abgeschlossen. Sie wurde durch das Bayerische Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Verkehr und Technologie gefördert. Gegenstand der Studie ist es, die Innovationstätigkeit von...

Economic activity tends to cluster. This results in productivity gains. For policy makers this offers an opportunity to formulate and promote policies that foster clustering of economic activity. Paradoxically, although agglomeration rents are often found in empirical research a rationale for...