Spatial Economics Research Articles

Combining agglomeration economies and endogenous growth without scale effects

ABSTRACT Increasing returns to scale is essential to both spatial economics and macroeconomic growth. Spatial externalities imply external local increasing returns that generate an uneven spatial distribution of economic activity. While non-rival knowledge also implies increasing returns – in order to endogenise growth – this is not a spatial micro-foundation. Spatial theories of growth must be carefully specified to avoid unintended conclusions about the spatial economy and scale effects. This is demonstrated with a spatial endogenous growth model without scale effects that includes a spatial mechanism that facilitates agglomeration economies for innovation. In this class of models that combine spatial mechanisms with endogenous growth without scale effects, local increasing returns to scale imply that productivity, growth and interest rates are functions of the economy’s spatial distribution, but not its scale.

Inversion Processes in the Spatial Economy and Their Manifestations in the Development of the Transboundary Northern Arctic Territories of the Far East

Inversion Processes in the Spatial Economy and Their Manifestations in the Development of the Transboundary Northern Arctic Territories of the Far East

Импортоемкость регионов российской экономики

In the pre-sanction period, foreign economic relations in Russia were growing in importance. While the country’s gross domestic product increased by 1.75 times in 2013 compared to 2000, imports increased by 5.7 times in comparable prices during this period. Despite actual and potential effects of comparative advantages, the growing dependence on foreign markets also had negative consequences. The study assesses the demand for imported goods, considering the existing interindustry relations in the Russian economy. The paper describes the first stage of comparison of direct and total costs for the Russian economy and presents mathematical tools used to calculate indicators of its import dependence. In the future, we are planning to extend this approach to examine the spatial economy of two macrozones, namely, the European and Asian parts of Russia. Statistics show that the direct import intensity of the Russian economy is approximately 6 %, which is less than the global average. The vertical specialisation index of about 11 % indicates a relatively low dependence of the export of domestic goods on imports. In 2014–2020, total import costs reduced the most in the pulp and paper industry (-5 %) and vehicle manufacturing industry (-3 %) mainly due to a decline in their import intensity. In general, the impact of forced import substitution turned out to be negative for most regions after 2013. The proposed methods can be used to forecast the trade balance and consequences of implementing various import substitution policies. Since that intermediate consumption flows are included in indirect and total costs, it is advisable to develop a methodology accounting for investment goods.

Северо-арктические территории Дальнего Востока России: механизмы организационно-управленческой координации отраслей минерально-сырьевой специализации макрорегиона

The purpose of this study – is based on the author’s analysis of the current socio-economic situation in the northern Arctic territories of the Far East to identify the possibilities of joint and coordinated improvement of the economic and geostrategic stability of this transboundary macroregion in its further development through interregional cooperation in its branches of specialization in the extraction of mineral resources. The methodological and methodological foundations of the study are based on the tools of spatial economics, infrastructure theory, inversion analysis, and research in the field of Arctic problems and cluster analysis. As a result of the study, the leading problems, disproportions and inversion processes of regional development and possible directions of spatial transformations of the studied territories in the long term are determined. The results of the work consist in identifying the features of the studied problems, which are based on exogenous and endogenous inversion processes in the manifestation of competitive and cooperative relationships mainly in the branches of specialization of the territories under study. As an organizational and managerial mechanism for resolving these inversion contradictions, proposals are substantiated for the formation of an infrastructural and innovative mesocluster that would coordinate the extraction of mineral resources in the macroregion

Северо-арктические территории Дальнего Востока: влияние инфраструктурных факторов на процессы трансформации пространственного развития региона

The complex influence of infrastructure factors on the transformation of spatial development of various regions, including the North-Arctic, is very important but understudied. Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of infrastructure do not correspond to its backbone nature and role in economic development. The paper aims to identify characteristics and causes of the ongoing spatial and economic transformations and determine their influence on socio-economic development and formation of integrated economic structures of Northern and Arctic territories. The research considers both the classic Arctic regions and high-latitude Far North regions, which are closely integrated in natural, ecological and socio-economic terms. To this end, theories of spatial economics, infrastructure and system-evolutionary analysis, as well as the authors’ relevant theoretical and methodological approaches are utilised. Additionally, the paper uses a hypothetical approach and indirect assessment methods based on the analysis of strategic studies and documents on the long-term development of the studied territories. As a result, the peculiarities of the ongoing transformations in this zone were revealed, associated with the advanced development of exogenous elements of critical infrastructure and formation of a special Northeastern mesoregion. This new integrated formation is an intermediate, median structure between the primary North-Arctic territories (microregions) and the Far East macroregion. This formation can significantly strengthen the economic and geostrategic stability of these regions in a fairly short time. It is necessary to further study the described problem based on interdisciplinary research within the framework of a target scientific and applied programme with the participation of natural and social science experts.

ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ ВОДОРОДНОЙ ЭНЕРГЕТИКИ В РОССИИ: ОГРАНИЧЕНИЯ И ПОТЕНЦИАЛ РЕГИОНОВ

The paradigm shift in the resource-based model of economic development, changes in the technological and energy platforms, imply the expansion of research, including the formation of a new direction for the development of regions, namely: the potential use of hydrogen energy and renewable energy sources. The goal of the article is to analyze methodological approaches to the development of hydrogen energy, practical aspects and strategic directions of its development in the Russian economic space, the potential and limitations of regional industries. The methodological basis of the research included: territorial-geographical, resourcebased, process-based, systemic, innovative, and informational approaches. As a result of the study, the conditions and problems of developing hydrogen energy in the regions of Russia were identified. The obtained results can be used by the bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation in adjusting strategies for socio-economic development, for further development of this issue in the theory of spatial economics.

Матрица расстояний между российскими регионами и её использование в экономическом анализе

The spatial factor plays an important role in solving many practical problems of modern economics — from the analysis of trade and migration to the study of the dynamics of regional prices and the spread of epidemics. At the same time, the method of calculating the distance matrix plays a very important role. Countries and even regions are not point objects, and economic activity in them is distributed all over the territory, but the distance is measured between two points. In addition, the distance between points can be calculated along a straight line (great circle arc), roads and railways, or by some synthetic method. Special attention is paid to the regions without railroad connection. The paper considers the main problems of distance matrix construction and possible ways to solve them. As a result, we recommend a distance matrix that can be used by all specialists in spatial economics.

The Size of Tax Jurisdiction and Tax Density

Theoretical background: Theory of public finance theory quite widely recognized that the purest indicator of government size is to observe the determinants and trend of level of public spending. It could be easy translates into the statement that following demand of government for money, first satisfied by taxes, enables to conclude, in particular, that the ratio of tax revenues to gross domestic product is the most appropriate indicator of the fiscal efficiency of the tax system. Purpose of the article: The very aim of paper is to determine, on the basis of constructed original taxation density rate, the diversification of the spatial economics of local revenues from taxation of land and developments. The supplementary goal comes from the identification of attributes of tax jurisdiction size shaping density of taxation. In particular, it is undertaken to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in the rudimentary statistics of the correlation between the size of tax jurisdiction and intensity of land and development taxation measured by brand new index: tax density. Research methods: The research methods, apart from the query and analysis of the literature on the subject, are descriptive statistics of the population of 2,477 communes in Poland in terms of taxation density and the strength of the correlation between taxation density and attributes of tax jurisdiction defined by its size in both fiscal perspective (total tax revenues, tax revenues per capita) and demographic indexes (population, population density). The area of tax jurisdiction is correspondingly discussed. There is also employed OLS method for study correlation between tax density and indexes of tax jurisdiction size. The data are for the fiscal year of 2021. Main findings: Taxation density is, on average, the highest in urban communes, which results from a significant share of land and improvements subject to property tax. In urban communes, the share of real estate tax is on average 98.91% of total revenues from taxation of land and improvements. While in rural communes, where the lowest average level density of taxation has been recorded, the share in question is on average 73.73%. Examination of taxation density statistics for each of three subpopulations of communes (urban ones, urban-rural ones, and rural ones) indicates that in each case statistics of the distribution of tax density is attributed by positive skew and has sharper peak around the mean, but kurtosis is the highest for rural communes. It has been observed that the shapes of the distribution of total tax revenues, tax revenues per capita and population density are most similar to the shape of the distribution of taxation density in rural communes. The crucial conclusion is that the most significance for tax density growth is the increase of population in accordance with population density. The greater tax jurisdiction measured by population the greater intensity of fiscal exploitation of land occurs. Empirics of tax density for Polish communes fails to observe diseconomies of scale according to population density. There is a very parallel structure of elasticity of tax density for different features of tax jurisdiction, excluding for urban tax jurisdiction two attributes: tax revenues per capita (no statistical significant evidence of elasticity) and area (in contrast to another types of communes elasticity is positive).

Model podmiotowego rozwoju miast. Analiza politologiczno-prawna

THE MODEL OF SUBJECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS The development policy of the cities is analyzed and studied mainly with the help of concepts typical of geography, spatial economy and sociology. The article proposes to look at this issue through the prism of political science. The epistemology of the concept of political subjectivity, the theory of rational choice, the new institutionalism and system analysis will be used. Based on the conclusions from the theoretical part, the authors distinguish four criteria for the political analysis of the position of cities in Poland. They are: the criterion of resources and interests, the criterion of efficiency, the criterion of relations, and the criterion of coordination. Those criteria relate to, i.a. activities of political authorities in relation to cities, the influence they have on implementation of functions assigned to them, as well as the way in which the role of cities in the state’s political system changes. Based on the analysis of the four criteria, it is possible to determine whether cities are to a greater extent subjects or objects of activities of the central center of political power in the state. Using a schematic matrix of city development models proposed by the author, it is then possible to determine whether, in political terms, we are dealing with a subjective development of cities in Poland.

EMPRESA Y DISTRITO. LA INDUSTRIA LANERA EN LA SEGOVIA ÁUREA

ABSTRACTThe aim of our paper is to study some aspects of the textile industry of the city of Segovia and its land in the second half of the 16th century, interpreting them through spatial economy theories and specifically the industrial district approach. It is about seeing the competitive advantages of the integration and diffusion of the business organization in its geographical framework. The district's competitive advantages are linked to both transaction and production costs. One of them is to maximize the benefits of labor market segmentation with the emergence of a primary market for skilled labor. Another is the ease of diffusion of both technology and organizational and commercial techniques.

Internationalization in the Baltic Regional Accounts: A NUTS 3 Region Dataset

Features of internationalization, such as trade, foreign direct investments, and international migration, are crucial for understanding the economic developments of small and open economies. However, studying internationalization at the country level may obscure significant heterogeneity in its relationship with economic growth and other economic and social outcomes. Regional accounts provide insights into the geography of internationalization, but collections of such disaggregated statistics are rarely provided by statistical bureaus. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we demonstrate how regional account data, including internationalization indicators, can be constructed to obtain consistent and homogeneous regional-level series using a combination of micro and macro data sources. Second, our aim is to foster spatial research on internationalization and the spatial economy in the Baltics by providing comprehensive data collection of socio-economic variables at the NUTS 3 regional level over time. This collection encompasses trade, FDI, and migration, enabling the study of internationalization and other features of the Baltic economy. We present a series of key features, revealing noticeable correlation patterns between regional development and internationalization.

Primjena upravljačkih informacijskih sustava u gospodarenju cestovnom infrastrukturom

In the field of spatial management, especially from the point of view of spatial economics, many decisions have long-term effects on the environment. Therefore, it is essential that the boundary conditions of the decision-making process are not only transparent, but also aligned with the sustainable development goals. At the same time, road infrastructure represents one of the most complex linear structures in the area, and its comprehensive management should respond to various types of problems, from structured to unstructured, which occur at all levels of decision-making. To solve such problems, management information systems (UIS) can help decision-makers to apply appropriate models and methods during the decision-making process. This paper provides an overview of the different types of UIS that can be used in road infrastructure management. The method of selecting an appropriate UIS and the method of interaction between data and models in such a management system are also discussed.

PAS Committee for Spatial Economy and Regional Planning

PAS Committee for Spatial Economy and Regional Planning

Conceptual trends in the ruralization of human capital

The conceptual model of human capital ruralization forms common and unified approaches to the management of its development, contributing to an increase in the level of concentration of agrarian human capital in the context of rural areas. The platform for its practical implementation is an organizational and economic mechanism of human capital increase, based on the diversification of employment, motivation of labor and creative activity of the population and digitalization of rural areas, taking into account existing spatial socio-economic inequalities. The latter form the basis for thetypology of agrarian regions due to the features of natural and agricultural zones, the development of rural areas, the nature and intensity of population settlement, the availability of human resources, the demographic and gender structure of residents, socio-economic potential of the spatial economy, the state of infrastructure in rural areas, lifestyle, historical and cultural traditions and mentality. The formation of the theoretical basis, the systematization of methodological principles, and the identification of socio-economic regularities form the basis of the ruralistic concept of human capital concentration. This approach is based on the stage-by-stage development of adjacent (primary) territories, the transformation of which will subsequently create prerequisites for the modernization of the aggregate infrastructure of the so-called secondary area. This phenomenon can be characterized as a “reverse wave” of labor migration, the effect of which will also be reflected in the concentration of human capital in the agrarian regions. Thus, the complex mechanism of creating favorable living conditions, modernization of socio-economic infrastructure, expansion of the type range of agrarian productions and the list of services, deepening of diversification of employment of rural population forms the empirics of the concept of human capital ruralization.

Convergent approach to the formation of regional agricultural ecosystem

Subject. Functional and structural changes in the management system of economic processes are required to improve the efficiency of economic entities, to balance supply and demand, to promote sustainable development of the entire agri-food complex, and to ensure socio-economic balance of regional changes in the design and implementation of the development strategy. These changes are based on up-to-date management technologies and development tools. Objectives. To develop theoretical, methodological, and conceptual aspects of sustainable growth management and balanced development of the agro-industrial complex and rural area ecosystem under the conditions of social and economic transformation, as well as to develop a mechanism for a unified platform of ecosystem elements in order to achieve its efficiency and financial sustainability. The mechanism is based on the methods of analysis, evaluation, and modelling. Methodology. While preparing this article and conducting the study, the authors used the following general scientific methods and their corresponding techniques: abstraction, generalisation, analogy, dialectical method, and etc. The system approach was used to formulate conclusions and generalise the results of the study. The research methods are based on the theoretical provisions of regional and spatial economics, as well as strategic management. The key feature of the research methodology is the approach that determines the formation and implementation of the strategy of socio-economic development of the agro-industrial complex and rural areas in stages. It is a step-by-step process, which allows for timely adjustment of strategic actions. The methodological framework is formed on the principles of complex development analysis using a set of theories, standard techniques and methods (dialectical, causal, and statistical data processing), calculation of integral indicators, and expert assessments, etc. Conclusions. Sustainable development of agro-economic systems and rural areas is largely determined by the need to substantiate absolutely new organisational-and-management and organisational-and-economic solutions for the localisation of factors of food security and food independence, climatic and social changes, state agrarian policy, forms of support for the agrarian industry, and international status. The authors contributed to the theoretical and methodological approach to the ecosystem development by considering these systems in the context of the evolutionary development of technological paradigms of forms of economic activity as models of the highest production efficiency of the synergy of object, structural, process, and innovation components.

Трансформация процессов развития трансграничных территорий Дальневосточной Арктики и механизмов их регулирования: роль критической инфраструктуры

In this article, on the basis of conceptual approaches derived from research in the field of theories of spatial economy and infrastructure, the problems of naturally occurring significant changes in the pro-cesses of development of natural-economic formations formed in the geostrategic territories of the North-Arctic part of the Far East, representing at the same time the eastern part of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) are considered. Their transboundary role in the global Arctic basin, as well as at the junction of Russia with the state of Alaska, USA, in the Pacific Arctic, also requires intensification of research in this area, especially at the present stage of the well-known difficulties in international cooperation between our country and the United States. All this requires focusing the attention of specialists on the study of these processes, as well as on the closely related issues of the necessity to adjust the methods and mechanisms of state-regional regulation of the development of these economic entities. In the near future, the regulatory tools used should ensure the transition of these territories from the micro-level of primary, mainly raw material, spatial-economic formations to a new stage, to a higher meso-level of industrial development of economic complexes. As studies show, this transition will occur on the basis of advanced creation of a system-organized critical infrastructure, its main elements, which, due to their new spatial configuration, will provide the necessary conditions for this transition and give the opportunity to maximize the use of exogenous factors and emergent effects of the development of economic entities.

Economic hierarchical spatial systems – new properties of Löschian numbers

Löschian numbers are a topic of investigation in scientific fields such as spatial economics, socio-economic geography, geometry, and number theory. This is because these numbers play a significant role in the optimization of spatial interactions, in terms of achieving the best division of space between competing central places. This work presents four new number theoretic theorems and four corollaries concerning the properties of Löschian numbers, which enable a better understanding of the mathematical properties of these numbers.

Exploring the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of CO2 Emissions through a Combination of Nighttime Light and MODIS NDVI Data

Climate change caused by CO2 emissions is posing a huge challenge to human survival, and it is crucial to precisely understand the spatial and temporal patterns and driving forces of CO2 emissions in real time. However, the available CO2 emission data are usually converted from fossil fuel combustion, which cannot capture spatial differences. Nighttime light (NTL) data can reveal human activities in detail and constitute the shortage of statistical data. Although NTL can be used as an indirect representation of CO2 emissions, NTL data have limited utility. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a model that can capture spatiotemporal variations in CO2 emissions at a fine scale. In this paper, we used the nighttime light and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and proposed a normalized urban index based on combination variables (NUI-CV) to improve estimated CO2 emissions. Based on this index, we used the Theil–Sen and Mann–Kendall trend analysis, standard deviational ellipse, and a spatial economics model to explore the spatial and temporal dynamics and influencing factors of CO2 emissions over the period of 2000–2020. The experimental results indicate the following: (1) NUI-CV is more suitable than NTL for estimating the CO2 emissions with a 6% increase in average R2. (2) The center of China’s CO2 emissions lies in the eastern regions and is gradually moving west. (3) Changes in industrial structure can strongly influence changes in CO2 emissions, the tertiary sector playing an important role in carbon reduction.

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Improved Connectivity in Nepal

This study has estimated the economic impacts of ongoing and future infrastructure development projects in Nepal by using the geographical simulation model developed by the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-GSM). The IDE-GSM is a computational general equilibrium model based on spatial economics. The simulation analysis reveals that ongoing infrastructure development projects in Nepal benefit the country’s economy and that the planned connectivity improvement with India will have a positive impact, with an anticipated major shift in the mode of transport for trade. JEL Classification: C68, F17

Poor Relief as ‘Improvement’: Moral and Spatial Economies of Care in Scotland, c.1720s–1790s

AbstractThis article takes as a point of departure the paucity of scholarship on Scottish poor relief, which has been predominantly depicted as an inferior and underdeveloped version of its southern counterpart. We adopt a case study approach looking at two examples of Lowland and Highland urban infrastructures of poor relief to illustrate the application of the ideology of ‘improvement’ philosophy onto the treatment of the poor between c.1720 and 1790. Situating the study within the context of Scottish ‘improvement’, we explore the ways theoretical and practical approaches towards the poor were shaped by the combination of commercial and evangelical attitudes to human capital investment and long-term reform, echoing similar developments across Europe. At the close of the eighteenth century, the Scottish system transitioned from a community based, localised system of reciprocal hierarchy operated by the parish and kirk structures to a system increasingly rooted in legalism and the concept of rights based social provision.