Regional Structural Change Research Articles

The Coal Phase-Out in Germany and Its Regional Impact on Economic Worries

Market-driven closures of coal mines have typically been associated with negative economic consequences for the affected regions. In Germany, structural policy directed towards ameliorating the negative effects of hard coal decline in the Ruhr area lagged behind the onset of decline, caused major political conflicts, and has been variously criticized for its reactive character that failed to generate a positive image of the future. The phase-out of lignite coal in Germany, in contrast, is policy-driven and accompanied from the outset by compensatory and investment policies that strive to facilitate regional structural change proactively. Against this backdrop, we investigate how the policies of lignite coal phase-out initiated in 2018 and the accompanying public discourse affect the economic worries of individuals in the remaining three lignite coal mining areas in Germany. We focus on the period 2016–2021, using a longitudinal multilevel design based on regional and individual data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Overall, probabilities of strong economic worries decrease throughout the observed period. Results show that subjective economic worries do not significantly differ between residents of lignite mining regions and those in the rest of the country. Further robustness analyses confirm that the coal phase-out policy has not increased economic uncertainties in the populations of German lignite mining regions. Based on our results, we discuss the need for future research on the effects of policy designs of clean energy transitions on subjective perceptions of the future.

Regional structural change in Argentina (1996–2019): Concepts, measurements and unequal trajectories over the business cycle

Although multiple studies on structural change can be found at the national level, the definition of structural change is far from univocal and its subnational manifestations remain underexplored. This paper empirically examines the patterns of regional structural change in Argentina according to the four main definitions used in the literature (not only productive diversification, predominant in the economic geography field), highlighting the differences that arise when applying these concepts. Based on employment data for 85 labor market areas (LMAs) throughout the 1996–2019 period, we propose different criteria to apply and measure the four definitions and to classify the heterogeneous trajectories of structural change in LMAs, including cluster analysis. As the business cycle is a critical dimension in such an unstable economy, we examine the entire period and compare two sub-periods with very different economic dynamics. The results show that the identification of structural change depends on the concepts and measures used, the unit of analysis (national versus regional) and the type of economic cycle. These findings call for context- and place-based policies.

Changes in regional daily precipitation intensity and spatial structure from global reanalyses

AbstractWe conducted an analysis of hydrological cycle variations across 13 regions of varying sizes distributed across different continents. The analysis is based on five reanalysis datasets of daily precipitation, all produced by the European Centre on Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): ERA5 high‐resolution, ERA5 ensemble, CERA‐20C, ERA20‐C and ERA20‐CM. We examined several climate indicators, including the daily mean precipitation, the 75th and 99th percentiles, the precipitation area fraction and the area fractions with precipitations exceeding 10 and 20 mm. We evaluated the ability of the reanalyses to capture precipitation at specific spatial scales using scale‐separation diagnostics based on 2D wavelet decomposition. The climatological energy spectra of precipitation derived from the analysis describe the scales that each reanalysis can accurately reproduce, serving as a unique signature for each dataset. We compared the spatial scales that were comparable across the different reanalyses and examined the temporal trends of energy on those scales. The results indicate that the hydrological cycle is undergoing changes in all regions, with some variations observed across different regions. Common features include an increase in intense precipitation events and a decrease in the corresponding spatial extent. The ensemble of ERA5 reanalyses exhibited the smallest effective resolution, as determined by the scale‐separation method, and displayed more pronounced trends compared to other reanalyses. Notably, an acceleration of changes is evident in the last 20 years. However, Central Asia may be an exception, showing relatively less noticeable changes in the hydrological cycle.

Оценка расстояний между российскими регионами с учетом транспортной инфраструктуры

This study is devoted to assessing the weighted average distances between the regions of Russia according to different metrics – the shortest distances on the sphere, as well as distances by railways and highways. Such aggregated estimates are necessary for researchers of interregional processes (from migration to cargo transportation), but these estimates are not publicly available. The article fills this gap. We describe the methods for estimating distances using various metrics (relying on the Russian Railways data on ‘tariff distances’ between railway stations, information on cities’ coordinates and population, and web-services for calculating inter-city distances). The proposed metrics can be considered as an economic distance metric developed in the context of gravitational interaction studies. We estimate the distances between Russian regions using recent and highly detailed data (the distances between 2840 railway stations, the population data gathered for about 10,000 settlements). For scientific and practical purposes, the open access to resulting estimates is provided. We discuss and interpret the cases of significant discrepancies in the estimates of distances between Russian regions according to different metrics. We demonstrate that, for a number of regions, location of transport infrastructure determines the need to choose the metric of interregional distance carefully, depending on the task. We estimate the weighted distance between all regions of Russia with an account for changes in regional structure of population; on this basis, we show that since 1990s migration has been directed to regions with greater relative transport connectivity

Regional economic dispatch analysis and industry chain optimization based on proximal strategy optimization algorithm

Abstract In this paper, the traditional proximal strategy optimization algorithm is improved based on traction technology to address the poor efficiency of the conventional proximal strategy optimization algorithm in analyzing regional economic scheduling and industrial chain optimization. The focus is on finding the optimal solution by applying this algorithm in the spatio-temporal coupling characteristics of new infrastructure and regional economic dispatch, the simulation of changes in regional industrial structure and the allocation of industrial chain. The experimental analysis not only verifies the effectiveness of the improved algorithm, but also shows that the level of new infrastructure development shows a specific positive correlation with the degree of development of regional economic dispatch, with a growth rate of 29.26% in 2021. Under the influence of different industrial scenarios and policies, there are significant differences in the path and speed of industrial structure change FPPO-QP algorithm is also above 44Mdps in V2I capacity performance under the interference of 3.5×1060Bytes. In contrast, the performance of the FPPO-LP algorithm has declined. Therefore, the improved algorithm can effectively apply to regional economic dispatch analysis and industrial chain optimization.

Measuring and understanding regional inequality through the lens of the Indonesian experience:

This article reviews the book by Akita and Kataoka (Regional inequality and development: Measurement and applications in Indonesia, 2022). The book first provides an overview of various measurement methods of regional inequality. Next, it presents four case studies that deepen our understanding of regional inequality in the context of the development challenges of Indonesia: decentralization, premature deindustrialization, financial crisis, low labor productivity, among others. Overall, this book provides an excellent introduction and application of inequality decomposition methods in the context of regional disparities and structural change.

Drug maintenance financing of patients with rare diseases: changes on the regional level

Introduction. Financing of drug maintenance for patients with rare diseases has been remained one of the main topics in Russian Federation (RF) healthcare. 
 The aim of this article is to present data regarding financing of drug maintenance for patients with life-threatening and chronic progressive rare diseases leading to a reduced life expectancy and disability. 
 Materials and methods. There are considered changes in regional financing structure before (2018) and after (2020) the decision on the redistribution of drug maintenance financing from regional to the federal level for patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome, mucopolysaccharidosis type I, II, VI, juvenile arthritis with systemic onset, unspecified aplastic anemia, hereditary deficiency of factors II (fibrinogen), VII (labile), 
 X (Stuart–Prower). 
 Results. Over 2020, only in 2 regions of the Russian Federation, the cost of drug provision for patients with rare diseases from the “List of life-threatening and chronic progressive rare (orphan) diseases leading to a reduction in life expectancy of citizens or their disability” at the regional level exceeded 500 million rubles in comparison with 6 regions in 2018. In addition, the threshold of 200 million rubles was exceeded in all regions included in the list of 20 regions of the Russian Federation with the highest expenses for drug provision of patients with mentioned rare diseases at the regional level in 2018, while in 2020, only 15 regions spent more than the indicated threshold.
 Limitations. The number of Russian regions with large expenditures from regional funds on drug provision for patients with rare diseases were 20 regions in 2018 and 2020.
 Conclusion. Consistent federalization of drug provision for patients with certain rare diseases in 2019–2020 led to a decrease in funding for the provision of drugs for rare diseases from regional budgets.

Sustainability of coal mining. Is Germany a post-mining model for Colombia?

For centuries, coal mining played a crucial role in Germany's socio-economic history. It not only drove its industrialization but also supported its recovery after World War II. Since the middle of the 20th century in Germany, this industry entered a deep crisis mainly due to its high production costs. This led to the final closure of German hard coal mining in 2018. In Colombia, coal mining has also played an important economic role, especially since the 1980s when the large concessions began. In Germany, the closure of this industry has entailed great challenges, which have been addressed through regional structural transformation processes that continue today. Likewise, Germany's plan to phase out coal from its energy matrix has also entailed great challenges that have increased due to the current energy crisis in Europe. In the case of Colombia, global trends to reduce coal consumption will inevitably affect its national finances in the medium term. A comparative analysis of scenarios of these two countries, along with some projections of energy and coal consumption at world level, show that certain German experiences, especially regarding the processes of regional structural change, can be useful in the definition of strategies for the Colombian context.

Biomarker evidence of the water mass structure and primary productivity changes in the Chukchi Sea over the past 70 years

The Chukchi Sea has experienced significant changes under global warming in the Common Era, including the shift of primary productivity. However, modern observations are too short to fully investigate the effects of environmental changes in this area. Here, we analyzed lipid biomarkers (e.g. long-chain n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids, diols, and sterols) from a sediment core (R07) collected from the Chukchi Sea shelf to determine phytoplankton primary productivity variations and factors influencing these changes over the past 70 years. Similar trends of the abundance of terrestrial ecosystem-derived compounds (e.g. long-chain n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids, and C32 1,15-diol) indicate that terrigenous input increased from ca. 1946 towards ca. 1983 and then decreased thereafter. In comparison, biomarkers with marine origin indicate that the ratio of diatoms to dinoflagellates increased after ca. 1983 towards the core-top (ca. 2011). Concurrent changes in terrigenous input and phytoplankton community indicated a shift in water mass structure at ca. 1983 (i.e. the Alaska Coastal Water decreased and the Bering Sea Water increased), which may be attributed to the phase shift of the Arctic Oscillation and/or unsynchronized flow changes in different water masses. Owing to the different water mass properties, the change of water mass structure caused intense water mixing and the resulting high turbidity in the study area, which led to light limitation for phytoplankton growth. These conditions probably account for the reduced phytoplankton primary productivity from ca. 1983 to ca. 2000 in the general trend of increasing. The results indicate that, in addition to global warming and sea ice retreat, other factors, such as change in regional water mass structure (i.e. different water masses), may also have a significant influence on the primary productivity and the phytoplankton community in the Chukchi Sea shelf.

Format-Oriented Regional Development as a Strategy for Proactive Transformation in the Rhenish Mining Area

Proactive state-led transformations of post-industrial regions have a significant tradition in Germany. The federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia alone hosted the International Building Exhibition (Internationale Bauausstellung – IBA) Emscher Park regional format in the Ruhr mining region between 1989 and 1999. Since then, it has implemented a format-oriented REGIONALE programme that is still ongoing. Nevertheless, the current transformation of the Rhenish Mining Area (RMA) poses its own challenges: Not only the massive landscape transformation of the opencast mining areas but also the formulation and negotiation of corresponding development goals remain a largely untested approach to regional development. There is also the organisation and maintenance of sustainable governance structures in a plethora of sub-regional approaches, interdependencies and time perspectives. The planned launch of the International Building and Technology Exhibition (Internationale Bau- und Technologieausstellung – IBTA) in the RMA, like that of the IBA Emscher Park, is aimed at bridging these challenges and thus creating significant potential for format-oriented regional development. This article highlights essential temporal-spatial dependencies and conflicts in regional structural change as a characteristic of the RMA. Further, it discusses the advantages and limitations of format-oriented regional development carried out by the IBTA as a means of synchronisation of timely and spatially disconnected intraregional developments.

Brain structural changes in regions within the salience network in patients with functional constipation.

Functional constipation (FCon) is one of the common functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID). Previous studies reported alterations in cortical morphometry as well as changes in white matter (WM) fiber tracts and thalamo-limbic/parietal structural connectivity (SC). However, whether patients with FCon are implicated in changes in gray matter (GM) volume and associated SC remains unclear. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was first employed to examine differences in GM volume between 48 patients with FCon and 52 healthy controls (HC). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with probabilistic tractography analysis was then employed to explore alterations in SC of these regions. Results showed abdominal symptoms were positively correlated with anxiety (SAS). Two sample t-test showed patients with FCon had decreased GM volumes in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG_R), left insula (INS_L), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, PFWE < 0.05) which were negatively correlated with abdominal symptoms and difficulty of defecation respectively. Seed-based SC analysis showed patients with FCon had decreased fractional anisotropy of the ACC-right MFG and bilateral INS-MFG tracts. These findings reflect FCon is associated with changes in GM volumes and corresponding SC in brain regions within the salience network.

Low household income and neurodevelopment from infancy through adolescence.

Despite advancements in the study of brain maturation at different developmental epochs, no work has linked the significant neural changes occurring just after birth to the subtler refinements in the brain occurring in childhood and adolescence. We aimed to provide a comprehensive picture regarding foundational neurodevelopment and examine systematic differences by family income. Using a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 486 infants, children, and adolescents (age 5 months to 20 years) from the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development and leveraging advances in statistical modeling, we mapped developmental trajectories for the four major cortical lobes and constructed charts that show the statistical distribution of gray matter and reveal the considerable variability in regional volumes and structural change, even among healthy, typically developing children. Further, the data reveal that significant structural differences in gray matter development for children living in or near poverty, first detected during childhood (age 2.5–6.5 years), evolve throughout adolescence.

Impacts of regional development on emissions in China's transport sector.

The CO2 emissions in China's transport sector increased from 349.00 Mt in 2005 to 723.87 Mt in 2017. Thus, a number of climate change policies are being implemented to adjust regional structure and to decrease the emissions in China's transport sector at the regional level. However, few studies explored the impact of changes in regional structure (that is, measured regional share of the added value of transport sector) on emissions in China's transport sector. Therefore, based on the Kaya identity and LMDI analysis, we decompose 8 factors (including carbon intensity, energy structure, energy intensity, turnover intensity, transport intensity, regional structure, per-capita traffic activity, and population size) to analyze the driving factors of emissions in China's transport sector. The period 1997-2017 is divided into four phases according to the growth rate of emissions. The results show that regional structure increased CO2 emissions in China's transport sector between 2013 and 2017. The fast transport development in the Southwest region, reflected by the increase in the share of total transport value added, resulted in emissions growth during 2013-2017. Moreover, the change in the growth rate of the regional transport sector's value added is positively correlated with the change in the regional share of value added, which is positively correlated with the change in regional emissions.

Regional Structural Change and the Effects of Job Loss

Regional Structural Change and the Effects of Job Loss

Regional Structural Change and the Effects of Job Loss

Regional Structural Change and the Effects of Job Loss

Using Aggregated Farm Location Information to Predict Regional Structural Change of Farm Specialisation, Size and Exit/Entry in Norway Agriculture

In this paper, we extend the analysis of farm structural change with respect to farm specialisation, size and exit in Norway by, first, explicitly incorporating the location information of farms generating a number of neighbouring farms within a certain range and, second, by predicting farm numbers in addition to farm group shares, which allows for consideration of the exit farm group. We use Norwegian single-farm full census data for the period 1996–2015. Four production specialisations and seven size classes represent farm groups, as well as a residual and an exit farm group at the regional level. The estimates indicate the explanatory power and importance of aggregated farm location information in the model. Simulation analysis showed that the farm groups develop differently, given a change in the number of neighbouring farms with respect to the farm numbers and farm group shares.

THE STUDY OF STRUCTURAL CHANGES DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ACCORDING TO THE ACTIVITIES' INDICATORS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

Small and medium-sized enterprises are an important component of the economic system of most countries, providing employment and income to a significant proportion of the population, economic and social transformation. At the same time, they are not so dependent on foreign markets, currency fluctuations, flexibly adapt to changing market conditions. Small and medium-sized businesses also play an important role in the domestic economy. They form a significant part of local budget revenues, ensuring the creation of new jobs; solving the problem of overcoming unemployment; provide support and development of the middle class in society; rapid adaptation to market changes, new circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down businesses of various sizes and types in various ways. Small and medium-sized enterprises operating in various sectors of the economy suffered the most. This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the functioning of small and medium-sized enterprises and the change in regional structure in terms of their activities' indicators. We applied a research methodology with a critical review of the available publications for this sector of the economy. To solve the identified problem, we used the k-means clustering method, which is an iterative procedure for finding groupings of objects in the initial indicators’' space. As a result of the calculations, the regions of Ukraine were distributed among four clusters. We described each cluster. Studies have shown that in 2020 there were no significant changes in the cluster structure of regions. This leads to the conclusion that the impact of the pandemic is equally evident in all regions. We also analyzed the measures of the government of the country, aimed at supporting the activities of small and medium enterprises, reducing losses and risks of closure from restrictive measures.

Economic effects analysis of environmental regulation policy in the process of industrial structure upgrading: Evidence from Chinese provincial panel data

As Chinese economy enters the stage of high-quality development from the stage of rapid growth, the economic vitality that relies on the demographic dividend and capital dividend is gradually disappearing. In order to alleviate the downward pressure of the economy and explore a sustainable growth path, Chinese government is seeking to optimize industrial economic structure by strengthening environmental regulations. However, the effect of environmental regulation on the change of industrial structure has not been carefully examined yet. This study constructs a panel model and uses the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2016 to empirically test the economic effectiveness of environmental regulation policies on the upgrading of industrial structure. The results showed that diversified environmental regulation policies can accelerate change in regional industrial structure, and the positive effects of economic incentives and legislative monitoring of environmental regulation policies on the upgrading of industrial structure are significant. However, there are significant differences in the economic performance of environmental regulation policies among regions. The economic effectiveness of environmental regulation policies in the eastern region is better than that in the central and western regions, and the low level of environmental regulation in the central and western regions may trigger the “growth limit” problem. Therefore, in order for environmental regulation policies to better promote the upgrade of industrial structure and promote the high-quality development of the national economy, it is necessary to enrich environmental regulation policy tools, seek precise regulation in the field of the environment, build an environmental information service platform, promote supporting reform in key areas, and support the people's livelihood to alleviate transformation pressure.

Regional volume changes of the brain in migraine chronification.

The pathophysiology of migraine is complex. Neuroimaging studies reveal functional and structural changes in the brains of migraine patients. We sought to explore regional volume differences in intracranial structures in patients with episodic and chronic migraine. Sixteen episodic migraine patients, 16 chronic migraine patients, and 24 normal controls were recruited and underwent 3.0 T MRI scanning. The volumes of 142 brain regions were calculated by an automatic volumetric algorithm and compared with clinical variables. Results demonstrated that the volumes of specific regions in the frontal and occipital lobes, and the right putamen, were increased and the volume of the fourth ventricle was decreased in the episodic migraine patients compared with controls. The volumes of the left basal forebrain, optic chiasm, and, the fourth ventricle were decreased in the chronic migraine patients, while the occipital cortex and the right putamen were larger. Compared to episodic migraine patiants, chronic migraine patients displayed larger left thalamus and smaller frontal regions. Correlation analysis showed that headache frequency was negatively correlated with the volume of the right frontal pole, right lateral orbital gyrus, and medial frontal lobes and positively correlated with the volume of the left thalamus. The sleep disturbance score was negatively correlated with the volume of the left basal forebrain. This suggests that migraine patients have structural changes in regions associated with pain processing and modulation, affective and cognitive processing, and visual perception. The remodeling of selective intracranial structures may be involved in migraine attacks. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chinese PLA General Hospital (approval No. S2018-027-02) on May 31, 2018.

Path Dependence in Regional Structural Change: Implications for the EU Cohesion and Innovation Policy

The key purpose of this paper is to measure the similarity of regional economic fabrics based on their structure. We propose a new mapping of European regions based on structural proximity; the representation takes the shape of a network, which is also useful to define clusters of regions according to the similarity of their economic structures and, hence, in the endowment of productive competences. We show that there is a high persistence in the relative positioning of regions according to their economic structure and that this is markedly associated with patterns of economic growth and convergence. The spectrum of regional performance range from virtuous urban agglomerates characterized by the presence of advanced services, with enhanced institutional quality, endowed with efficient transport infrastructures and highly educated and productive workforce, to regions characterised by scarce service or industrial activity, sometimes with a cumbersome role of tourism-related business, with poor institutions and transport infrastructure and low endowments of human capital and productive workforce. To richer pools of productive competences are associated faster paces of economic growth. The findings of this paper suggest that place-based policies should be implemented to support territorial development in the short/medium term, but these policies can be effective for the long run growth only when they are meant to leverage on the regional pool of competences to trace trajectories of structural change.