Regional Economic Performance Research Articles

Urban agglomeration and regional economic performance connectedness: Thin ice in developing regions

This paper evaluates the evolution of urban agglomeration from 2000 to 2020 in 66 developing and developed economies from Asia, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and examines how urban agglomeration changes impinge on economic performance changes. The aim is to overcome the limitations of the empirical literature by constructing a nuanced measure of urban agglomeration using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index calculation, which captures nations’ urban demographic structure more robustly than the indicators in the literature. The findings demonstrate that urban agglomeration has, on average, declined across world economies, contrary to a long-held assumption in the recent two decades. Empirically, the findings show a significant deleterious effect of urban agglomeration on economic performance in developing economies (i.e., Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia) and a beneficial effect in developed economies (i.e., Europe) in the short-run. However, the effect turns out to be beneficial in the developing economies in long-term. Based on the findings, we conclude that the relationship between urban agglomeration and economic performance is country-specific. Therefore, this paper professes that country-specific industrialization policy frameworks and governance effectiveness can enhance long-term positive economic effects of urban agglomeration in developing economies.

Solar Energy Adoption on Local Economic Growth: A Linear Regression Study

The transition to solar energy adoption emerges as a dual solution for climate change and economic growth. This study comprehensively explores the intricate relationship between solar adoption and regional economies, focusing on key players like China, the EU, and the US. Notably, positive correlations between solar adoption, GDP growth, and employment rates are illuminated. However, certain gaps exist in understanding the potential impacts on wages and consumption patterns within these economies. Employing a comprehensive index and rigorous regression models, this study provides robust evidence that underlines the significant economic benefits associated with solar energy adoption. Such findings hold valuable implications for policymakers and stakeholders committed to sustainable growth. By leveraging the untapped potential of solar energy, nations can tailor strategies that not only contribute to environmental preservation but also spur economic prosperity. In conclusion, this study reinforces the interconnectedness between solar energy integration and regional economic performance. By recognizing the complex interplay between these factors, policymakers are better equipped to steer their countries towards a more sustainable and economically resilient future. The insights gained contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding renewable energy adoption, emphasizing its role in shaping prosperous and ecologically balanced societies.

Related variety, region-specific context, and regional economic performance: Empirical evidence from post-socialist Slovakia

ABSTRACT The purpose of the article is to uncover the relationship between related variety in technology-intensive industries in the manufacturing sector and the region-specific context of Slovakia. The authors employed a dynamic panel model covering the 2009–2019 period. The aim was to determine the extent to which the regional context influences the benefits of related variety on regional economic performance. To understand the deeper structures and mechanisms of related variety, it was divided according to the technology-intensive industries. The results indicate that only unrelated variety positively determines regional employment growth. However, in combination with regional context, even the related variety mechanism becomes significant. When the related variety was decomposed, it was found that only the related variety in low-tech industries supported regional employment growth. By contrast, the industrial specialization in high-tech industries had a significant impact on the regional employment growth. When contextual conditions were taken into consideration, the effects of industrial specialization (low value of related variety) in high-tech industries disappeared. The authors conclude that contextual conditions, particularly foreign direct investment, are strong predictors for explaining regional employment growth, as they have the potential to shape the effects of related variety mechanism.

Characterisation of Hungary's regional tourism and economic performance between 2004 and 2022 in the light of EU funding

The objective of the study is to show the regional differences in Hungary in terms of economic determination and tourism performance. The overdominance of Budapest can be identified in most socio-economic indicators. The consequence of the capital's "hydrocephalus" is that Hungary's peripheral regions have developed serious economic challenges, and reducing regional disparities in these areas is key. From a tourism perspective in particular, the capital's hydrocephalus is also an opportunity, as the spill-over effect can increase the popularity of other destinations in the country. The Balaton and Western Transdanubia regions are the main beneficiaries of this effect. In addition to the analysis of regional disparities, the study also looks at the impact on tourism of the crisis periods caused by the 2008 global economic crisis and the pandemic that unfolded in 2020-2021, which led to a historic low in the tourism sector, notably the pandemic, by analysing longer time series data. The balance between international and domestic tourism is key to the resilience of tourism to the crisis. Multi-directional tourism can reduce exposure to external factors and contribute to the stability of the tourism industry.

Natural resources, cleaner electricity production and economic performance

In the era of modernization, the issue concerning the nexus between natural resources, renewable energy production and economic performance is still unresolved. To solve the enigma, this research analyzes the influence of natural resources, renewable electricity production, access to clean energy and technology on the economic performance of the BRICS economies. Evaluating the data from 1990 to 2021, this study observed the validity of the long-run cointegration between the variables. Due to the non-normal data distribution, this study employed a non-parametric estimator and concluded that natural resources have an asymmetric influence on the region's economic performance. Where coal rents have a mixed impact on economic performance, while natural gas rents promote economic performance. On the other hand, electricity production from renewable sources positively affects the economic performance of the countries under consideration. At the same time, access to clean energy and technology harms the region's economic performance. The results are robust and consistent, as verified by the bootstrap quantile regression. Based on the results, this study suggests appropriate policy implications for attaining sustainable regional economic performance.

Public capital and institutions' quality in the Italian regions

AbstractThis paper investigates the role played by public capital on the production level of Italian regions by specifically accounting for the quality of institutions. Our analysis, carried out over the period 2000–2019, benefits from a rich data set on public expenditures. This allows us to build the regional public capital stock by distinguishing among public institutions in charge of the investments and sectors of intervention. While controlling for several contextual variables (human capital, technological capital, and population density), the main results show that public capital has a positive and significant effect on production. Most interestingly, looking at Mezzogiorno's regions, public capital carried out by local institutions turns out to have a lower impact than in the rest of the Italian regions. On the other hand, central bodies in the South exhibit an impact higher than the average. Moreover, institutions' quality exhibits a positive and significant effect on regional economic performance. These results cast serious doubts about the local Southern administrations' capacity to effectively manage the National Recovery and Resilience Plan's enormous resources and the new European Union cohesion framework 2021–2027. Our results are also relevant for other European regions that, featuring structural traits similar to Southern Italian regions, are expected to face the same difficulties in managing public funding.

Bank Indonesia Syariah Certificate: Encouraging Economic Growth During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The Bank Indonesia Sharia Certificate (SBIS) is one of the sharia monetary instruments used by Bank Indonesia in formulating monetary policy. The development of SBIS is related to several factors: inflation growth, the economy, and the development of the gross domestic product. This study aims to determine how to implement the Bank Indonesia Sharia Certificate (SBIS) in encouraging monetary economic growth during the Covid-19 pandemic. The slowdown in economic growth and regional economic performance due to the impact of the Covid-19 virus outbreak that attacked the economy resulted in a decline in economic performance. The role of money market products (SBIS) can encourage economic growth and development through Islamic money market transactions. This research method uses descriptive qualitative research with a library research approach and interviews. In collecting interview data using the accidental sampling method conducted on Bank Indonesia staff directly at the research location and data on the growth, economy, and development of SBIS during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research results: The Bank Indonesia Sharia Certificate (SBIS) implementation has generally been carried out properly by Bank Indonesia. When Bank Indonesia issues SBIS and sells it to the public, this will cause the money supply in the community to decrease. When the money supply in society decreases, then inflation can be suppressed. When inflation can be suppressed, this will indirectly affect the increase in financing disbursements in Islamic banks. So, it can be concluded that SBIS significantly affects financing distribution in Islamic banking. When financing distribution increases, this will help MSME players affected by Covid-19 in terms of capital. The role of SBIS during the Covid-19 pandemic can stimulate and encourage economic growth performance.

A ZSG-DEA model with factor constraint cone-based decoupling analysis for household CO2 emissions: a case study on Sichuan province.

This study employed an input-output approach to measure household CO2 emissions (HCEs) in Sichuan province, China from 2010 to 2017. A ZSG-DEA model with a factor constraint cone was built, to allocate such emission allowances to provincial subordinate cities andinvestigate their spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Using Tapio decoupling analysis, this study furtherexamined the nexus between regional economic performance and HCEs. The results indicated that HCEs in Sichuanprovince initially increased and then decreased, peaking at 69.60 million tons in 2015. The structure of the HCEs changed from coal- to petroleum-dominated from 2010 to 2017. Indirect emissions from consumption-related sectors accounted for 60% of the total HCEs, including food, transportation, communication, and accommodation. The capital city of Chengdu, with the largest economic scale, overwhelmingly dominated the totalhousehold CO2 emissions, whereas Panzhihua, a heavy-industry-dominated city, had the highest HCEs per capita. The Tapio decoupling results suggested that seven cities, led by Chengdu, had strong decoupling statuses, indicating that these cities performed well in the trade-off between economic growth and HCEsreduction. These results indicated that HCEs had a head effect centered on cities with advanced urbanization, but there was a virtuous cycle between CO2 emissionsreduction and economic development. Given the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of HCEs, differentiated policymaking on emissions reduction is the key to facilitating green transformations.

The Association between Foreign Investment and Gross Domestic Product in Ten ASEAN Countries

Although empirical studies of the link between foreign direct investment, foreign portfolio investment, and economic development have long influenced economic studies, the results have been inconclusive. Focusing on ten countries, this study contributes to our understanding of foreign investment as a determinant of regional economic performance. More specifically, this study seeks to analyze the short- and long-term relationship between foreign direct investment, foreign portfolio investment, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in ten ASEAN member states using data from the 2009–2020 period. For this examination, this study employs a cross-sectional dependency test, followed by panel unit root and panel cointegration testing. From the results of this test, Dumitrescu–Hurlin Panel Causality (DHPC) analysis is conducted. These results show that FDI and GDP have a positive bilateral association, i.e., FDI positively affects GDP and GDP positively affects FDI, as presumed by the theory. Testing also finds bilateral causality between FPI and GDP in the ten analyzed nations. This study contributes to the literature by testing the association between FDI/FPI and GDP using fully modified least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic least squares (DMOLS) panel testing. These results show that FPI and FDI have significantly influenced GDP in ten ASEAN member states. Foreign investment has thus been shown to be the most potent means of accelerating economic development in the studied nations, and thus the governments of these ASEAN member states should formulate policies that attract foreign investors and better direct their investments.

The Role of Government Expenditure on Regional Economic Resilience During Pandemic Covid-19

The GDP growth rate in the second quarter of 2020 YoY decreased by 5.32%. This contraction was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic which had an impact on economic activities. The policy of restricting the mobility of people and the closure of various business sectors has resulted in social and economic problems. This study examines government fiscal instruments to maintain the sustainability of the public economy. The analysis used in this study is a mixed method. Empirical testing is done by using regression techniques. The research variables include regional economic performance, spending on the prevention of COVID-19, spending on social safety nets, and spending on handling economic impacts. The research is also based on a questionnaire conducted with local governments regarding health performance and economic recovery efforts. The data used is a cross-section of the period at the end of the second quarter of 2020. The test results prove that the budget reallocation used for spending on COVID-19 disease control and social safety net spending affects improving the regional economy during the study period with p-values of 0.021 and 0.000. The government, through the Sub-National Budget, continues to refocus spending for economic recovery.

Genetic basis of STEM occupational choice and regional economic performance: a UK biobank genome-wide association study

BackgroundScience, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals are regarded as the highly skilled labor force that fosters economic productivity, enterprise innovation, and international competitiveness of a country. This study aims to understand the genetic predisposition to STEM occupations and investigate its associations with regional economic performance. We conducted a genome-wide association study on the occupational choice of STEM jobs based on a sample of 178,976 participants from the UK Biobank database.ResultsWe identified two genetic loci significantly associated with participants’ STEM job choices: rs10048736 on chromosome 2 and rs12903858 on chromosome 15. The SNP heritability of STEM occupations was estimated to be 4.2%. We also found phenotypic and genetic evidence of assortative mating in STEM occupations. At the local authority level, we found that the average polygenic score of STEM is significantly and robustly associated with several metrics of regional economic performance.ConclusionsThe current study expands our knowledge of the genetic basis of occupational choice and potential regional disparities in socioeconomic developments.

Sustainable development and resources extraction: A novel perspective for resources rich economies

The link between resources and sustainable development has not been explored, especially in resource-rich economies. Natural resource rents are viewed as a source of additional revenue for governments. There are still contradictions in the economic effect of natural resources, which can be beneficial in certain economies but detrimental in others. The current study re-examined the link between natural resources and the economy's growth in the BRICS countries from 1990 to 2021 by assessing the effect of mineral, forest rents and financial market risk. The study investigates the long-run co-integration of the study variables utilizing panel data specifications. Throughout the quantiles, mineral resources adversely influence economic performance, while forest rents have an imbalanced impact on regional economic performance. Financial market risk, on the other hand, has no detrimental influence on the selected countries' economic performance. This research recommends using natural resources more responsibly, increasing renewables, and reducing financial market risk to achieve sustainable development.

Alone and lonely. The economic cost of solitude for regions in Europe

Solitude is a rising phenomenon in the western world. The share of people affected by solitude has been rising for some time and the Covid-19 pandemic has further brought this trend to the fore. Yet, we know next to nothing about the aggregate subnational economic impact of the rise in solitude. In this paper, we analyse the consequences of solitude on regional economic performance across Europe, distinguishing between two of its key dimensions: alone living, proxied by the regional share of single-person households and loneliness, proxied by the aggregate share of social interactions. We find that solitude has important implications for economic development, but that these go in different directions. While alone living is a substantial driver of economic growth across European regions, high shares of lonely people undermine it. The connection of loneliness with economic growth is, however, dependent on the frequency of in-person meetings, with large shares of the population meeting others socially on a weekly basis, alongside a small percentage of people who never meet others, yielding the best economic returns.

Reviewing the Role of Investment in the West Kalimantan Border

The development of border areas that is rampantly carried out by the government, in addition to reducing regional disparities, also improves regional economic performance as one of the efforts made by the government is through PMA (foreign direct investment) and PMDN (domestic investment). Furthermore, the role of this investment is evaluated to see the extent of its success in the area's economic performance. The study had two objectives; first, to know what variables affect the reduction of the poverty rate and increase in GDP per capita in the border area of West Kalimantan covering five districts, namely Sambas, Bengkayang, Sanggau, Sintang, and Kapuas Hulu. The independent variables used in this study are the realization of PMA and PMDN investment, the number of industries, and the absorption of labor in the industrial sector. Using secondary data for 2019-2021 and Panel Data Regression analysis, it can be seen that only employment in the industrial sector influences increasing GDP per capita and decreasing poverty rates. Meanwhile, the realization of PMA and PMDN investment, as well as the number of industries, did not significantly influence. The second objective of this study is to determine which investment is better based on the Forecasting Method. The Naive Method shows that PMDN investments have a smaller MSE value and a lower MAPE value than PMA investments. It means that PMDN investment is more feasible to be used as an option for future funding development in border areas.

Regional peculiarities of sugar beet cultivation in Belarus

The article presents the regional results of a comprehensive ranking assessment of the functioning of the sugar beet industry. It was revealed that the farms of the Minsk region turned out to be the undisputed leader in terms of the complex of production and dynamic indicators. The Grodno region took the second ranking place, and the farms of the Mogilev region took the third.The study of the economic and financial performance of the Belarusian sugar production showed that over a five-year period (2016–2020), the final performance of the industry has significantly decreased: the total cost of 1 ton of root crops in 2020. compared to 2016, it was higher than the selling price of products, and the level of profitability of commodity root crops fell by almost 31 percentage points. In conclusion, the article provides a set of measures to improve the regional production, economic and financial performance of the sugar beet industry.

A joint spatial econometric model for regional FDI and output growth.

This paper studies the joint dynamics of foreign direct investments (FDI) and output growth in European regions by using spatially augmented systems of equations modeling framework that incorporates third-region and spillover effects. The joint framework is used to study the dynamic impacts of regional human capital endowments, which demonstrates the importance of explicitly accounting for an endogenous relationship. The relationship is highlighted in a stylized projection exercise, where the long-run impacts are pronounced in Eastern Europe and capital cities. Overall, ignoring the relationship of regional economic performance and FDI distorts the implied transmission mechanism, which is of utmost importance for policy makers.

Effects of Smart Specialisation on Regional Labour Resilience

The global economy has experienced great volatility and uncertainty during the last dec-ades. Economic effects of global recession in the period 2008-2009 showed to be diverse in terms of ter-ritorial impacts. This has raised interest in the empirical investigation of the causes of such territorial differences and supported the increase in literature dealing with the resilience concept and determi-nants of regional economic resilience. This research addresses literature gaps in understanding the role of smart specialisation process in regional labour resilience, as it is one of the cornerstones of the new place-based regional development policy approach in the European Union (EU). To this end, we have de-veloped a new proxy for smart specialisation and employed the data for EU regional labour resilience for two different periods, recession (2007-2009) and recovery (2009-2014), which is determined based on re-gional economic performance data. Then, the EU regions were grouped in four categories considering re-sistance and recovery dimension of the resilience concept. We provide the extension of the existing liter-ature by separately analysing the recovery dimension of the resilience concept in the short and long run. The multinomial logistic model enabled us to examine in detail the differential effects of all relevant re-silience determinants. Research results indicate significant and positive effects of smart specialisation on regional labour resilience, especially for regions of the most resilient group. Furthermore, our study con-firmed the significance of other determinants for regional labour resilience, such as stage of regional de-velopment, regional economic structure, population and education. The findings could be used for estab-lishing the theoretical background for important socio-economic channels through which smart special-isation affects regional labour resilience and creating effective regional development policy measures.

Закономерности размещения цифрового предпринимательства в регионах России

Introduction: the implementation of the “Digital Economy” national program has an impact on business sector development both in Russia and in the regional aspect. The structural elements of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems are designed to promote the development of digital entrepreneurship. It has been hypothesized that the ecosystem substitutes influence on the increment of regional economic performance due to the digital sector differs in industrial and non-industrial types of regions. Objectives: to determine the growth points placement patterns for digital entrepreneurship in the regions as a whole, as well as by types (industrial and others), depending on the impact of factors in the regional environment. Methods: statistical groupings, comparison and matching, correlation and regression analysis, econometric modeling. Results: the data on 85 subjects of the Russian Federation for 2018–2021 have been examined, revealing a strong and noticeable correlation between the number of organizations in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and the indicators of digital infrastructure, as well as strong correlation between financial security and the number of regional projects in the field of end-to–end technologies. Regression models have been built demonstrating the growth of the share and growth rates of production volumes in ICT sector and e-commerce companies in various types of regions. Conclusions: the above hypothesis has been confirmed stating that the region’s specialization has a significant impact on the features and pace of digital entrepreneurship development. Industrial regions do not demonstrate outpacing growth of digital businesses due to a significant time lag until the moment the production volumes increase resulting from the introduction and use of digital technologies manifests itself. Industrial regions show a high sensitivity to the development of scientific and technological infrastructure and have a more active demand and consumption of digital technologies. In other regions show a faster developing e-commerce and the service sector using digital platforms. Digital economy growth is boosted by the stimulation of IT projects and the state of the scientific and educational environment in these regions.

Regional integration and economic performance: evidence from the Eurasian Economic Union

ABSTRACT There is a strong relationship between regional integration and economic performance. This paper investigates the impact of regional integration on macroeconomic indicators in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – a trade block created by the former Soviet republics in 2014. This study compares two types of regional collaboration strategies: first, unilateral trade liberalization with the one-sided opening of market access that does not imply any mutual concessions, and second, reciprocal regional liberalization evaluated as the degree of regional economic integration between the countries. We apply a random effect panel data analysis with the dataset over 25 years since 1995 covering five countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia). We find that, under the current stage, the EAEU positively affects trade flows, negatively affects the level of employment, and has no impact on other economic performance indicators. We also conclude that despite the declared level of economic integration – customs union – Eurasian block functions mainly as a free trade area facilitating mutual trade, which is different from the broader objectives that regional integration aims to achieve.

PARETO DIAGRAMS STUDY OF GROSS REGIONAL DOMESTIC PRODUCT EXPOSURE IN CERTAIN SECTORS IN A REGION

Study is learning scientific study. A Pareto chart is a diagram consisting of a bar graph and a line graph that illustrates a comparison of each type of problem data with its overall causes. Gross Regional Domestic Product (PDRB) is the total gross added value arising from all economic sectors in a particular area. Which is usually a Pareto Diagram made to describe the PDRB of a particular area which aims to help make regional policies or planning, evaluate development results, provide information that can describe the regional economic performance. In terms of the topic of this pareto diagram study, the author takes the exposure of rock mining in Manokwari Regency. The mining of these rocks is a source of income in the Manokwari Regency area which can support the economy in the Manokwari Regency area. Where mining activity or mining activity is a process or activity of taking material that can be extracted from the earth to the utilization of minerals, both for the benefit of the company, the surrounding community, as well as local and central government.