Changing pattern of global specialization and trade has affected the regional economic landscape in Europe significantly during the last decades, often even more than endogenous factors or policy measures. After a period of conversion, processes of diversion has reentered the scene, particularly...

The regional landscape in Europe has changed during the last decades. After a period of conversion, processes of diversion has reentered the scene. In the aftermath of the economic crisis South European countries and regions have suffered due to declining economic activity. The trend toward...

There is a large literature on the existence of agglomeration economies, as shown in the surveys by Moomaw (1983) or Gerking (1993). The benefits of these economies arise from multiple sources, but some negative externalities might also emerge. Within the hierarchical urban system, cities at...

In this paper an attempt is made to assess the hypothesis of re- gional club-convergence, using a spatial panel analysis combined with B-Splines. In this context, a 'convergence-club' is conceived as a group of regions that in the long-run move towards steady-state equilib- rium, approximated in...

Innovation performance seems to rely on efficiently integrating and extending different pieces of various types of knowledge emerging from diverse external sources. Different research traditions have stressed both formal (FSK) and informal sources of knowledge (ISK) as innovation performance...

Using a simple two-region model with the positive and negative effects of labor heterogeneity, we investigate the agglomeration pattern of entrepreneurs and the commuting pattern of heterogeneous workers. Labor heterogeneity is a source of productivity for e.g. high-tech industries as well as is...

Accumulation of education and geographic concentration of educated people in cities are expected to generate urban income growth. New economic geography predicts income divergence across regions. We investigate the dynamic process of accumulating tertiary education and regional income growth in...

This paper examines the question of inter-regional spillovers in Fukuoka Prefecture. Fukuoka Prefecture is located on the west side of Japan, and is near the Korean peninsula. There are two government-designated major cities in Fukuoka Prefecture. One is Fukuoka City, which is the central city...

This paper analyses the determinants of growth of American cities, understood as growth of the population or of per capita income, from 1990 to 2000. This empirical analysis uses data from all cities with more than 25,000 inhabitants in the year 2000 (1154 cities). The results show that while a...

Our paper emphasizes the role of social capital in French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale (PER). Social capital is considered as highly valuable when considering the development of these particular rural areas. More precisely the French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale" are the perfect example of...