Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Functions: A spatial panel approach
Matthias Brachert, Alexander Kubis, Mirko Titze
Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography,
2013
Abstract
The paper presents estimates for the impact of related variety, unrelated variety and the functions a region performs in the production process on regional employment growth in Germany. We argue that regions benefit from the existence of related activities that facilitate economic development. Thereby the sole reliance of the related and unrelated variety concept on standard industrial classifications (SIC) remains debatable. We offer estimations for establishing that conceptual progress can be made when the focus of analysis goes beyond solely considering industries. We develop an industry-function based approach of related and unrelated variety and test our hypothesis by the help of spatial panel approach. Our findings suggest that related variety as same as unrelated variety facilitate regional employment growth in Germany. However, the drivers behind these effects do differ. While the positive effect of related variety is driven by high degrees of relatedness in the regional “R&D” and “White-Collar”-functions, the effects of unrelated variety are spurred by “Blue Collar”-functions in this period.
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Regional Origins of Employment Volatility: Evidence from German States
Claudia M. Buch, M. Schlotter
Empirica,
Nr. 1,
2013
Abstract
Greater openness for trade can have positive welfare effects in terms of higher growth. But increased openness may also increase uncertainty through a higher volatility of employment. We use regional data from Germany to test whether openness for trade has an impact on volatility. We find a downward trend in the unconditional volatility of employment, paralleling patterns for output volatility. The conditional volatility of employment, measuring idiosyncratic developments across states, in contrast, has remained fairly unchanged. In contrast to evidence for the US, we do not find a significant link between employment volatility and trade openness.
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Local Economic Structure and Urban Growth in Germany
Michael Schwartz, Christoph Hornych, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld, Annette Illy
Journal of Urban Economics,
2010
Abstract
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Agglomeration and FDI in East German Knowledge-intensive Business Services
Philipp Marek
Economia Politica,
Nr. 3,
2012
Abstract
The focus of this article is the empirical identification of factors influencing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) sector on the regional level of «Raumordnungsregionen» in East Germany. The analysis focuses on the impact of regional agglomeration and technological capability on the location decision of foreign investors and West German MNEs. It shows that localisation, patent activity and the share of employees with an R&D occupation affect significantly the location decision of FDI. This result provides an explanation for the strong concentration of KIBS in urban areas in a post-transition economy.
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FDI Micro Database – Methodological Note – Survey 2012 in East Germany
Jutta Günther, Andrea Gauselmann, Björn Jindra, Philipp Marek, Jan Engelhardt
Einzelveröffentlichungen,
2012
Abstract
With the integration of post-communist countries into the European and global economy
after 1990, there was strong research interest into the role of multinational enterprises
(MNEs) for economic restructuring and technological catching-up. Most of the existing
empirical studies on locational determinants of FDI and host country effects did not take
account of East Germany. This might be for different reasons: Firstly, theoretical and
empirical difficulties derive from the fact that East Germany followed a distinct transition
pattern as it became a region subsumed in a larger and more mature economy. Secondly,
East Germany received private investment from foreign as well as West German firms. Only
the first can be considered as a foreign direct investment (FDI). Finally, there had long been
a lack of micro data to adequately analyse the activities of corresponding firms from a
production as well as technological perspective.
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A Federal Long-run Projection Model for Germany
Oliver Holtemöller, Maike Irrek, Birgit Schultz
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 11,
2012
Abstract
Many economic decisions implicitly or explicitly rely on a projection of the medium- or long-term economic development of a country or region. In this paper, we provide a federal long-run projection model for Germany and the German states. The model fea-tures a top-down approach and, as major contribution, uses error correction models to estimate the regional economic development dependent on the national projection. For the medium- and long-term projection of economic activity, we apply a production function approach. We provide a detailed robustness analysis by systematically varying assumptions of the model. Additionally, we explore the effects of different demographic trends on economic development.
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Regional Determinants of MNE’s Location Choice in Post-transition Economies
Andrea Gauselmann, Philipp Marek
Empirica,
Nr. 4,
2012
Abstract
This article focuses on the impact of agglomeration and labour market factors on the location choice of MNEs in post-transition economies. We compare data from 33 regions in East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland using a mixed logit model on a sample of 4,343 subsidiaries for the time period between 2000 and 2010. The results show that agglomeration advantages, such as sectoral specialization as well as a region’s economic and technological performance prove to be some of the most important pull factors for FDI in post-transition regions.
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Federal grants for local development to stop economic decline? – Lessons from Germany
Peter Haug, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Consequences of the International Crisis for European SMEs – Vulnerability and resilience. Routledge Studies in the European Economy, Routledge,
2012
Abstract
Der Beitrag untersucht - theoretisch und empirisch - die Angebotseffekte der öffentlichen Investitionen, die im Rahmen des im Jahr 2009 gestarteten „Konjunkturpakets II“ (genauer: das darin enthaltene sog. „Zukunftsinvestitionsgesetz“) gefördert wurden. Im theoretischen Teil des Beitrags werden die verzerrenden Effekte von Investitionszuweisungen auf die Bereitstellung von öffentlichen Kapital und die örtliche Wirtschaftsentwicklung behandelt. Entsprechend der theoretischen Literatur zur effizienten Bereitstellung von öffentlichen Gütern, zu öffentlichen Vorleistungsgütern und Wachstum haben zweckgebundene Investitionszuweisungen diverse negative allokative Effekte: Erstens führen sie zu einer Verzerrung der relativen Faktorpreise für die Kommune, was wiederum übermäßig große Bestände an öffentlichem Kapital und eine Pareto-ineffiziente Bereitstellung von öffentlichen Gütern begünstigt. Zweitens können langfristig wachstumsfördernde Wirkungen durch schuldenfinanzierte öffentliche Investitionen nur für öffentliche Vorleistungsgüter erwartet werden, die entweder die Produktivität des privater Unternehmen direkt steigern oder indirekt über eine Steigerung der Faktorproduktivität wirken, vor allem über eine Erhöhung des Bestandes an Humankapital. Im empirischen Teil konnten trotz des jüngsten Anstiegs der kommunalen Investitionen mittels Regressionsanalyse kein Zusammenhang mit den gewährten KPII-Mitteln für Sachsen belegt werden. Weiterhin erwiesen sich die Finanzkraft der sächsischen Kommunen und die Höhe der erhaltenen KPII-Zuweisungen als voneinander unabhängig. Insgesamt können aufgrund der Konzentration der Fördermittel auf öffentliche Konsumgüter anstelle von öffentlichen Vorleistungsgütern nur marginale Wachstumseffekte von den geförderten Investitionen für die Zukunft erwartet werden.
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Delineation of City Regions Based on Commuting Interrelations: The Example of Large Cities in Germany
Albrecht Kauffmann
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 4,
2012
Abstract
The comparison of cities with regard to their economic or demographic development may yield misleading results, if solely the cities in their administrative borders are the object of consideration. Frequently, historical borders of cities neither conform to the contemporary settlement structures, nor do they consider the mutual dependencies between cities and parts of their hinterland. Therefore, it is often claimed to use city regions as objects of comparison or for the sake of urban planning. Commonly, the delineation of functional regions is based on commuting flows from the municipalities in the hinterland of the core cities directed to the cores. A municipality is regarded as belonging to a certain city region if the share of out-commuters from this municipality to the respective core in the total mass of those employees who reside in that municipality is the largest one, and if this share exceeds a certain threshold value. However, commuting flows in the opposite direction are not considered. The method presented here delineates city regions on the base of bidirectional commuting flows. Hereby, various modifications regarding the characteristics of the employment base, the possibility of overlaps of regions, the formation of polycentric city regions, and of the minimum threshold value of mutual connectivity are applied to the sample of 81 German cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants. Finally, the effects of different kinds of regionalisation on the coefficients of regional specialisation of these cities and city regions are demonstrated.
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