Location Choice Research Articles

Population intensity, location choice, and investment portfolio selection: A case of emerging economies

Rapid population growth is often considered a barrier to economic advancement and strategic corporate investment. However, the nuances of this impact remain insufficiently explored. This study aims to explore the impact of population density and location choice on firms' investment decisions, elucidating how these elements shape enterprises' portfolio selections. To investigate this impact, data spanning ten years (2010–2019) from non-financial sector firms in China and Pakistan were scrutinized. Utilizing 2SLS and GMM models, we measured the external influence of these factors on both long-term and short-term investment strategies. The statistical analysis reveals that corporate firms originating from countries with high population growth rates, situated in densely populated areas, exhibit a predilection for long-term investments. This favorable trend can be attributed to heightened product demand and convenient access to local markets. Nevertheless, a comparative assessment between Pakistan and China delineates contrasting effects of location on short-term investments—positively impacting in the case of Pakistan and negatively affecting in the case of China. These findings carry significant implications for crafting regional development policies aimed at fostering industrial growth. Furthermore, beyond conventional determinants, this study introduces fresh perspectives on the role of demographic and geographic factors in shaping industrial investments, addressing a gap in existing literature where similar analyses are absent.

Extradition treaties and emerging market firms’ host country location choice✰

Traditional perspectives on interstate cooperation stress its benefits in facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI) by reducing uncertainty in international operations and enhancing mutual trust between countries. Our investigation explores another side of interstate cooperation by discussing the potential risks that can emerge from it. Our fulcrum for exploring risks comes from an explicit consideration of the divergent interests that can exist between nation states and business. We focus on the phenomenon known as bilateral treaties on extradition, which enable one country to request the repatriation of fugitives or convicted criminals from another country through official cooperation. Extradition treaties extend the jurisdictional influence of a firm's home country to a host country. This mechanism can create concerns for firms when they are motivated to use FDI to escape from their home country, especially from certain emerging markets with weak institutions. We propose that emerging market firms can be motivated to circumvent host countries that have established extradition treaties with their home country. Both private-owned and state-owned enterprises can show this behavior, albeit the effect is weaker for state-owned enterprises as compared to private-owned ones. The effect is particularly strong on firms that have documented malfeasance in their home country. We test these ideas on outward FDI made by Chinese firms in 106 foreign countries during 2001–2013.

A data-driven agent-based model of occupants’ thermal comfort behaviors for the planning of district-scale flexible work arrangements

In a global context of increasing flexibility in the way workplaces and the districts in which they are located are used, there is a need for occupant-driven approaches to plan urban energy systems. Several authors have suggested the use of agent-based models (ABM) of building occupants in urban building energy simulations due to their ability to reproduce emergent behaviors from individual agents’ actions. However, few works in the literature take full advantage of the ABM paradigm, accounting for both occupant presence and energy-relevant behaviors at the district scale. In this work, we propose a methodology to develop a data-driven, agent-based model of building occupants’ activities and thermal comfort in an urban district. Our methodology combines the use of campus-scale Wi-Fi data to derive feasible occupant activity and location plans, along with thermal preference profiles derived from a longitudinal field study where off-the-shelf, non-intrusive sensors were used to capture the right-here-right-now thermal preference of 35 participants in the same case study district. Our model is then used to explore how different district operation strategies could affect building energy performance in the context of increased workspace flexibility. Our results show that by providing a diversity of building operation conditions, with different buildings having different set point temperatures, occupants’ thermal comfort hours could be improved by an average of about 10% with little effect on district energy performance. Meanwhile, a 6%–15% average decrease in space cooling energy use intensity was observed when implementing occupant-driven ventilation and setpoint controls, regardless of location choice scenario.

Deciphering the Spatial Stickiness, Co-occurrence, and Co-change of Industries at the Scale of City

This paper analyzes the location of industries in two metropolitan cities to investigate how firms are spatially distributed, and identify the prevailing trends in firm location choice. By defining a “Region Index” metric, we show how industries have concentrated in or diffused from the regions-of-interest over time. We apply this metric to the Central Area (CA) of Singapore and the London Region to decipher the relative tendency of industries to locate at CA as well as London. To analyze the spatial co-location of industries, we constructed a community network, which reveals subtle spatial relationships between firms. Extending this approach temporally to create a co-change network, we deduce the occurrences of industries in Singapore and London that move into or out of a spatial region synchronously. Based on this approach, we elucidate firm types that not only co-change but also co-occur in space and remain within a region-of-interest. Overall, we observe certain common and contrasting patterns of industry movements in the context of Singapore and London through the analysis. “Other Activities Auxiliary to Financial Services” is found to have the consistent tendency of diffusing out of CA and London throughout the period of study. Conversely, opposite movement patterns are observed where we see the proclivity of IT and digital service firms to locate in London but relocate out of CA, while the Media, Financial Services, and Life Insurance subsectors tend to diffuse out of London but concentrate in the CA of Singapore.

Familiar Locations and Similar Activities: Examining the Contributions of Reliable and Relevant Knowledge in Offenders’ Crime Location Choices

Familiar Locations and Similar Activities: Examining the Contributions of Reliable and Relevant Knowledge in Offenders’ Crime Location Choices

Familiar Locations and Similar Activities: Examining the Contributions of Reliable and Relevant Knowledge in Offenders’ Crime Location Choices

This paper examines the recently theorized roles of the reliability and relevance of offenders’ knowledge of locations in their crime location choices. Using discrete choice models, we analyzed offenders’ pre-offense activity locations from police data (home addresses, family members’ home addresses, work, school, prior offenses, victimizations, non-crime incidents, and other police contacts) and 17,054 residential burglaries, 10,353 non-residential burglaries, 1,977 commercial robberies, 4,315 personal robberies, and 4,421 extra-familial sex offenses, in New Zealand. Offenders were most likely to offend where their prior activity locations indicated they had highly reliable and highly relevant knowledge—where they were both highly familiar with the area and had conducted similar activities—and less likely where offenders had less familiarity or less similar activities. The results support a recent extension of crime pattern theory and highlight the importance of including both reliability and relevance factors when modeling or predicting offenders’ crime location choices.

Visitors’ heritage location choices in Amsterdam in times of mass tourism: a latent class analysis

ABSTRACT The popularity of must-see tourism destinations raises concerns about negative impacts including pollution, vandalism, and overcrowding in cultural heritage sites and the surrounding landscape. To address these challenges, understanding visitors’ choice behavior and motivations is essential. This study aims to identify visitor segments based on their location choice and formulate policy recommendations to address overtourism challenges by examining visitors’ choice behavior in a stated choice experiment. It provides evidence-based policy suggestions for mitigating mass tourism effects. The choice experiment was implemented in an online survey which was completed by a sample of 437 individuals who had paid a visit to Amsterdam in recent years. The results shed light on how individuals trade-off location attributes in making a choice between heritage destinations. A latent class analysis revealed three segments which can be labeled as cultural-attraction seekers, selective sightseers, and city-life lovers. The results show that crowdedness and entrance fees for additional experiences significantly influence visitors’ location choices across all segments.

A NARRATIVE ON OVERSEAS LISTINGS BY CHINESE FIRMS

Overseas listings by domestic firms are one of the ways for a country to attract foreign capital. China leads the world in the number and value of overseas listings. This paper documents the evolution of Chinese firms’ initial public offerings outside mainland China. We pay special attention to the role of the listing criteria of various exchanges in this evolution. We discuss important reforms of the listing requirements in both mainland and Hong Kong and their effects on the listing location choices by Chinese firms. Finally, we examine the delisting pressure on Chinese stocks from the US exchanges from both the Chinese and US authorities.

Exploring the characteristics of non-urban coworking spaces in Germany and their perceived benefits for corporate users: novel means for supporting corporate real estate management strategies

PurposeThis study aims to enrich our understanding of the characteristics of non-urban coworking spaces (CSs) that focus on corporate users, as well as the benefits that companies expect to gain from incorporating those CSs into their corporate real estate (CRE) portfolios.Design/methodology/approachThis study leverages a series of in-depth interviews with owners and managers of CSs in non-urban locales that focus on serving corporate clients.FindingsThe research reveals various CS characteristics and forms within non-urban areas, focusing on corporate clients. It suggests that implementing a CS in corporate premises is perceived to enhance CRE use-value strategies with a focus on the employee's well-being, innovation and the attraction of talents. Moreover, exchange-value strategies with a focus on portfolio flexibility may benefit from the implementation of a CS. However, strategies related to life-cycle cost optimization or gains are not perceived to be supported. Social events for the surrounding neighborhood and the choice of location emerge as critical success factors for non-urban CSs. Besides infrastructure and connectivity, non-urban corporate-centric CSs built their location decisions rather on a personal connection to the location and place of residence of potential users than on lower rental prices.Originality/valueThis research pioneers in providing a comprehensive understanding of non-urban CSs, particularly in the context of their perceived implications for corporate real estate management. The nuanced perspectives it offers are invaluable for stakeholders looking to leverage CSs as part of their corporate strategies.

Navigating multiple institutional environments: institutional quality and the role of Belt and Road Initiative on location choice of Chinese MNEs

Purpose This study aims to explore the extent to which Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) rely on supranational institution – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – versus host country institutional quality to navigate their foreign location choice. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a conditional logit regression model using a sample of 1,302 greenfield investments by Chinese MNEs in 54 BRI participating countries during the period 2011–2018. Findings The results indicate that as a supranational institution, the BRI serves as a substitution mechanism to address the deficiencies in institutional quality in BRI participating countries, thereby attracting Chinese MNEs to invest in those countries. In addition, the BRI’s substitution effect on host country institutional quality is more pronounced for large MNEs, MNEs in the manufacturing industry and MNEs in inland regions. Originality/value This study expands the understanding of the BRI as a supranational institution for MNEs from emerging markets and reveals its substitution effect on the host country institutional quality. Furthermore, it highlights that MNEs with diverse characteristics gain varying degrees of benefits from the BRI.

The Role of Inward FDI and Family Firm Heterogeneity on Foreign Location Choice: Evidence from India

The Role of Inward FDI and Family Firm Heterogeneity on Foreign Location Choice: Evidence from India

Effects of autonomous driving on residential location choice behavior: A travel-based multitasking perspective

Fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) allow users to engage in multitasking behavior while traveling, potentially inducing longer travel because multitasking in AVs would generate a positive utility. Eventually, this may further induce residential relocation, as positive utility virtually reduces the value of time. Such influence may vary depending on whether the AV is used individually or with others (i.e., ride-sharing), as well as the type and amount of multitasking activities carried out in the vehicle. This study examines the influence of the type of AV (ride-sharing or individually used) and the type and amount of in-vehicle multitasking activities on residential location choice behavior through a pivoted stated preference survey. Residential location choice behavior is represented by a panel binary mixed logit model. The model estimation results indicate that the willingness to pay for monthly rent to shorten commuting time is significantly lower when individually used AVs are introduced, compared to non-AVs (i.e., existing automobiles) and ride-shared AVs. Hence, further urban sprawl could occur if individually used AVs become prevalent. Such negative impacts on urban form, however, would be substantially small when AV is introduced under the ride-sharing scheme. It was also found that individuals who can engage in more multitasking behavior in an AV will accept longer travel regardless of the type of AV (ride-sharing or individually used), while individuals who can hardly perform in-car activities tend to resist additional commuting travel time. Moreover, the impact of automated driving at the city scale was examined by running simulations of residential choice in Hiroshima City as a case study. The results suggest that multitasking behaviors in AVs would have modest impacts on urban structure.

Analyzing the Influence of Visitor Types on Location Choices and Revisit Intentions in Urban Heritage Destinations

Understanding visitors’ spatial choice behavior is important in developing effective policies to counteract overcrowdedness in attractive urban heritage areas. This research presents a comprehensive analysis of visitor location choice behavior, aiming to address two primary objectives. First, this paper investigates the relationship between visitor segments and the choice of particular Points of Interest (POIs). Second, this paper explores the impacts of visitors’ experiences and visitor segments on their revisit intentions. We used a sample of 320 visitors who had been to Amsterdam within the last five years to collect data about their location choice behavior and intention to revisit after a recent visit to the city. Combining the revealed choices and intentions of pre-defined visitor segments obtained from a stated choice experiment, association rules are extracted to reveal differences in the patterns of behaviors related to the segment. The findings identify associations between various POIs, including museums such as the Rijksmuseum and Madame Tussauds, and visitor classes, which include “cultural attraction seekers”, “selective sightseers”, and “city-life lovers”. Furthermore, binary logistic regression analysis reveals that affective experiences, such as feelings of comfort, happiness, and annoyance, have a significant influence on visitors’ intentions to revisit the destination in the future. This research found that “cultural attraction seekers” and “selective sightseers” display a higher likelihood of considering a return visit to the city.

Recommended Strategies Based on The Capability And Purchasing Power of Low-Income Communities (MBR) In Providing MBR Houses In Kartamantul

The housing needs that shape urban spatial structures or the relationships between the three cannot be fully understood without considering the state of housing market prices. The reason is that changes in urban housing market prices no longer depend on the city level, but over time begin to be characterized by urban agglomeration processes. Furthermore, agglomeration dynamics that change urban spatial structure and housing market prices will have an impact on socio-economic disparities and challenges in providing affordable housing for people with low incomes in densely populated urban areas. The aim of this research is to find out whether the MBR housing allocated by the regional government is appropriately located in low-income areas/zones in KARTAMANTUL. The research methods used are web scrapping, mapping and comparative evaluation of housing locations with the distribution of MBR in KARTAMANTUL. The results obtained were to simplify the simulation of affordability and household purchasing power regarding home ownership, the researchers tried to average the income of the two categories of low-income households. Therefore, with an average MBR income limit of Rp. 3,900,000 in DIY, then the ability to repay the house in installments is IDR. 1,170,000/month. Furthermore, regarding house buildings, the criteria for a habitable house is a per capita area of at least 9 m2 per person. With the average number of family members in DIY being 4 people, the house area required per household is 36 m2. The recommendations given are a) 25 year house installments are a payment option that can be used for low-income households in KARTAMANTUL, b) the choice of house locations for MBR is mostly in Bantul Regency and Sleman Regency, both of which have urban status. fringe and urban shadow.

More Rational, More Attractive: Industrial Structure Rationalization and Migrant Workers’ Employment Choices in China

Industrial structure rationalization could affect not only the employment structure but also the micro-employment choices of the labor force. Using the national individual-level survey data, we examine how regional industrial structure rationalization influences the employment status and location choices of migrant workers respectively using a probit model. The results show that industrial structure rationalization can significantly increase the probability that migrant workers choose regular and cross-provincial employment and reduce the probability of intra-provincial labor mobility, self-employment, and temporary employment. Higher employee welfare and income are the main mechanisms underlying the effect on migrant workers’ employment choices. Furthermore, the effects of industrial structure rationalization on the employment status and location choices of migrant workers differ according to gender, family size, and industry. These findings deepen the understanding of the relationship between industrial structure rationalization and labor migration and offer references for governments to promote regional sustainable development.

Indigenous agriculture in Brazil: review (2011-2021)

Modern agricultural practices have caused severe impacts on nature, especially in traditional communities such as indigenous peoples, leading to the loss of knowledge about traditional agriculture. The objective of this study was to carry out a bibliographical survey of works on indigenous agriculture in Brazil in the period between 2011 and 2021. Papers in the form of thesis, dissertations and abstracts were excluded, as well as articles that, despite including the term indigenous agriculture in the text, did not address the subject as the main theme. The selected articles were analyzed in order to determine the main agricultural practices used by indigenous people in Brazil. Data analysis took place in a qualitative manner. The analyzed studies covered 69 ethnic groups and 87 ethnospecies were used in in their agriculture. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) stood out as the most important species. The plantations are established in backyards, on the outskirts of the village or in coivara (slash-and-burn) fields. The choice of location for the fields and the planting of species are based on the traditional knowledge of each ethnic group. Cutting, burning, planting, cleaning, and harvesting actions are generally governed by the seasons. Religious influences are also cited in some ethnicities. The analysis of the word cloud presents the main themes addressed in the publications and demonstrates the undeniable link between issues involving the environment and the traditional knowledge when the central theme is indigenous peoples. The works suggest that many ethnic groups preserve their traditional agricultural practices, however the influence and changes caused by the arrival of modern agriculture are also perceived and caused an impact on the eating habits of several ethnic groups.

Emergency fire evacuation simulation of underground commercial street

High-density built-up areas in cities often enlist the underground realm to provide solution space for transport, shopping and other purposes. The special location, layout, and accessibility of underground structures often generate unique and acute safety-risk concerns. They are inadequately understood and managed and cannot be tackled appropriately by conventional risk assessment and abatement methods. This study focused on evacuating underground commercial streets (UCS) with a heavy concentration of people in Fuzhou city in China. Despite the widespread use of building information modeling (BIM) in construction, it has rarely been applied to studies of underground shopping streets. This study adopted BIM technology as the core method, in conjunction with PyroSim fire and Pathfinder evacuation simulation software. Different fire scenarios in four fire protection zones and the most unfavorable fire sources were set in the model. Based on a calculated number of persons at the start of a fire, different movement paths, stair configuration and exit width were simulated. The choice of escape routes, congestion locations, and slack time windows were identified by the graphical images of the simulation programs. Required safe egress time was compared with available safe egress time, and the number of successful evacuees was reckoned. The effects of three escape-stair forms on evacuee utilization and evacuation rates were evaluated. Their evacuation efficiency was ranked: crossed stair > straight stair > parallel-double stair. The simulation results can optimize building layout design and improve understanding of evacuation-efficiency factors. The findings can contribute to reducing casualties and property losses and improving UCS's fire safety management.

Questioning the Covid-19-induced ‘counterurbanisation story’: Discourse coalitions in the promotion of a new counterurban movement in the Austrian public media

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a discursive change in the representation of urban-rural mobilities in the Austrian public media. Before the pandemic, a narrative of ‘rural decline’ had dominated the media discourse. Media have since changed this narrative to one of counterurbanisation as a result of the (perceived) effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on residential location choices. However, in contrast to media perceptions, scientific debates were more reluctant to identify a Covid-induced counterurban movement. In this paper, we take the opposition between the media representation and the scientific evidence as a starting point for a critical investigation of the media representation of counterurbanisation in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the approach of discourse coalitions, we investigated the actors and the coalitions they had formed to promote a Covid-induced ‘counterurbanisation story’. We could identify two coalitions that created two variations of the Covid-induced ‘counterurbanisation story’: a prudent and an idealised discourse. These two discourses were promoted by different actors with different interests. Through our findings, the paper adds another layer to study of the construction of a ‘counterurbanisation story’.

Where to live? English proficiency and residential location of UK migrants

This study aims to identify the causal effects of English proficiency on residential location choices of immigrants. Based on the ideas that (i) immigrants whose mother tongue is linguistically close to English learn the language more easily, and that (ii) young children learn a new language more easily than older children, we construct an instrument for English proficiency, exploiting linguistic distance from English, and age at arrival in the United Kingdom for childhood migrants. Using a unique dataset, we construct various measures of residential clustering aimed at capturing different types of immigrant enclave, and find a negative impact of better English skills on residency in a language enclave, but a positive impact on residency in an ethnic enclave. We also find strong evidence of an impact of poorer English proficiency on living in a neighbourhood of lower quality.

Development and Sustainability: A Case Study of the Industrial Park EURO-PARK Kobierzyce in Poland

Since 2001, a new development paradigm, not only in EU countries but also at the global level, has been the concept of balancing environmental, social and economic factors, known as sustainable development. Over the two decades of the new millennium, a number of initiatives and directives have been introduced that are aimed at protecting the environment against over-exploitation, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. This issue also applies to the fields of construction and architecture, which will be inspired to change by the idea of New European Bauhaus initiated in 2020. Thanks to the political transformation that began in 1990, Poland became part of the global capitalist system, and by joining the European Union in 2004, it declared its development policy in line with European standards. This article deals with the local development process and with industry sustainability in the example of an industrial park located in a selected, representative commune in Poland. The case study of the industrial park EURO-PARK Kobierzyce included factors determining the choice of location, provisions of planning documents, development characteristics, as well as sustainability reports published by selected companies. The aim of this study is to understand the impact of the industrial park on local development and sustainability, as well as to attempt to assess the development of the industry in the context of long-term sustainable development in the conditions of global capitalism. The analyzed case of an industrial park is intended to serve as an illustration of the research problem and a starting point for a broader discussion.