This paper examines the relationship between economic growth and the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector for a panel of 503 Brazilian micro-regions for the period 1980-2004 using panel spatial econometrics. It investigates the importance of the SME sector size measured by the share of the...

We analyze the dynamics of Chinese comparative advantage as measured by export shares and the Balassa index using 3-digit and 4-digit sectors for the period 1970 – 1997. We use novel tools to identify periods of rapid structural change and the persistence of comparative advantage, such as...

Reflection about the role of corporate social investment in Brazil, associated with the presence of a large economic enterprise, is the major stimulus of this paper. It seeks to present how cross-sector governance can contribute to the social development of a city and how this process can be led...

The article discusses the problem related to sustainable development of territorial units. The introduction covers the theoretical aspects of revitalisation and sustainable development, including the significant role of revitalisation programmes. The primary purpose of the study is to identify...

In this article, we investigate the relevance of structural change in country-wide productivity growth considering within-country differences. For this purpose, we propose a two-step decomposition approach that accounts for differences among subnational units. To highlight the relevance of our...

In Bayern herrscht so etwas wie 'Brexit-Stimmung'. Die Stadt Neu-Ulm will aus ihrem Landkreis austreten und zu einer kreisfreien Stadt mit mehr Autonomie werden. Das baden-württembergische Reutlingen verfolgt bereits seit etlichen Jahren den gleichen Plan. Die Kreisfreiheit würde mehr...

The commonly-used satellite images of nighttime lights fail to capture the true brightness of most cities. We show that night lights are a reliable proxy for economic activity at the city level, provided they are first corrected for top-coding. We present a stylized model of urban luminosity and...

This paper aims to shed light on the evolution of regional disparities with respect to economic activity, productivity and employment across the European Union. While the "multiple Speeds of Europe" are a buzzword often quoted to underpin different political strategies and visions, they are...

Der Ausweis von Regionalfördergebieten ist in den Mitgliedsstaaten der EU nur im Rahmen eines von der Europäischen Kommission kriteriengestützt festgelegten „Bevölkerungsplafonds“ möglich. Dieser wird für die kommende Förderperiode ab 2021 in Deutschland aufgrund der im EU-Vergleich...

The regional development policy in Brazil materializes mainly in the regional development funds for the north-east (FNE), the north (FNO), and the centre-west (FCO), in which more than EUR36 billion was invested between 2004 and 2010. This paper examines the economic effect of these regional...