Agglomeration, regional grants and firm location

We examine whether discretionary government grants influence the location ofnew plants, and how effective these incentives are in the presence of agglomeration andurbanisation externalities. We find evidence that regional industrial structure affects thelocation of new entrants. Firms in more agglomerated industries locate new plants near toothers in the same industry. Firms are also attracted to industrially diversified locations.Foreign multinationals locate new plants near to other foreign-owned plants in the sameindustry. Fiscal incentives in the form of grants are found to have some effect in attractingplants to specific geographic areas eligible for such aid. We examine whether discretionary government grants influence the location ofnew plants, and how effective these incentives are in the presence of agglomeration andurbanisation externalities. We find evidence that regional industrial structure affects thelocation of new entrants. Firms in more agglomerated industries locate new plants near toothers in the same industry. Firms are also attracted to industrially diversified locations.Foreign multinationals locate new plants near to other foreign-owned plants in the sameindustry. Fiscal incentives in the form of grants are found to have some effect in attractingplants to specific geographic areas eligible for such aid

Small manufacturing plants, pollution, and poverty : new evidence from Brazil and Mexico

The authors use new data from Brazil and Mexico to analyze relationships linking economic development, the size distribution of manufacturing plants, and exposure to industrial pollution. For lack of data, prior work in this field has been limited largely to water pollution and medium-size plants. This study examines air pollution and encompasses small plants (with 1 to 20 employees) as well as medium-size and large plants. Four main questions are addressed (with answers from plant-level data): a) Are small plants more pollution-intensive than large facilities? Clearly, yes. b) Are there proportionately more small plants in low-income regions? The answer is yes, in thousands of Brazilian municipalities. Small plants dominate poor regions and are a relatively low source of employment in high-income areas. c) Is industry more pollution-intensive in low-income regions? In Brazil, yes. For each municipality, the authors estimate the share of the six most pollution-intensive ("dirty") sectors in total industrial activity. They find that the dirty-sector share declines continuously with increases in municipality income per capita. d) Do poor areas suffer more than wealthy areas from industrial air pollution? Paradoxically, no. The risk of mortality from industrial air pollution is much higher in the top two income deciles among Brazil's municipalities and the great majority of projected deaths is attributable to emissions from large plants.The scale of large-plant emissions dominates all other factors. Lower-income areas suffer much less from industrial air pollution in Brazil, despite the greater emissions-intensity of smaller plants and the prevalence of smaller plants in lower income areas.Water and Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies,Sanitation and Sewerage,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Sanitation and Sewerage,TF030632-DANISH CTF - FY05 (DAC PART COUNTRIES GNP PER CAPITA BELOW USD 2,500/AL

Application of Advanced Technologies for CO2 Capture from Industrial Sources

The great majority of the research on CO2 capture worldwide is today devoted to the integration of new technologies in power plants, which are responsible for about 80% of the worldwide CO2 emission from large stationary sources. The remaining 20% are emitted from industrial sources, mainly cement production plants (~7% of the total emission), refineries (~6%) and iron and steel industry (~5%). Despite their lower overall contribution, the CO2 concentration in flue gas and the average emission per source can be higher than in power plants. Therefore, application of CO2 capture processes on these sources can be more effective and can lead to competitive cost of the CO2 avoided with respect to power plants. Furthermore, industrial CO2 capture could be an important early-opportunity application, or a facilitate demonstration of capture technology at a relative small scale or in a side stream. This paper results from a collaborative activity carried out within the Joint Programme on Carbon Capture and Storage of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA CCS-JP) and aims at investigating the potentiality of new CO2 technologies in the application on the major industrial emitters

“Landscape and Heritage of Hydroelectricity in Portugal”

Hydroelectric power plants provided countries with scarcity of coal, such as Portugal, with a vital source of energy for the production of electricity in large quantities. Therefore, since the late 19th century the use of waterfalls as producers of electric power was a topic of study and interest among engineers and the matter was regularly discussed at the Association of Portuguese Civilian Engineers. The great hydroelectric power plants, considered by many as the cathedrals of the second industrial revolution are an important industrial heritage which is important to value and appreciate. Hydroelectricity also gave origin to new landscapes and the problem today regards the management of this new landscape and the construction of new patrimonial values

The Effect of Disturbance on Plant Communities in Tundra Regions of the Soviet Union

An Annotated List of Plants Inhabiting Sites of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances of Tundra Cover: Southeasternmost Chukchi Peninsula -- B.A. Yurtsev and A.A. Korobkov; An Annotated List of Plants Inhabiting Sites of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances of Tundra Cover in Western Taimyr: The Settlement of Kresty -- N.V. Matveyeva; A Study of Plant Communities of Anthropogenic Habitats in the Area of the Vorkuta Industrial Center -- O.A. Druzhinina and Yu. G. Zharkov

Energy efficiency opportunities in the service plants of cast iron foundries in Italy

Though in a foundry most of the energy is used in the process plants and particularly in energizing furnaces, service plants require absolutely large amounts of energy, above all as electricity. The most energy consuming service is compressed air preparation, but large amounts are due to lighting, HVAC, pumps and fans. These energy users are common to most of industrial branches with different weights both in absolute and relative terms. This paper reports on the experience of some energy audits carried out in five Italian cast iron foundries allowing to identify the relative importance of different services in this industrial branch. The analysis is based on real data measured during the audits. Energy saving actions were then conceived, comparing the results of new technologies applied in some factory sectors and the energy usage of the previous equipment

PERSPECTIVES OF STUDYING OF SPECIES OF FAMILY CRASSULACEAE DC. IN KRYVYI RIH AREA WITH REFERENCE TO PHYTOREMEDIATION AND PHYTOMINING

To search plants-hyperaccumulators is one of the most promising directions of biological methods for removing of toxic compounds from ecosystems. Screening acquires special importance for species, which will be used to create phytocoenoses in large industrial centres of Ukraine. The results of model experiments in Kryvyi Rih Botanical garden revealed some arboreal and fruticous as well as ornamental plants, which are resistant to combined effect of heavy metal compounds; among them – Sedum rupestre L

Agglomeration, regional grants and firm location

We examine whether discretionary government grants influence the location of new plants, and how effective these incentives are in the presence of agglomeration and urbanisation externalities. We find evidence that regional industrial structure affects the location of new entrants. Firms in more agglomerated industries locate new plants near to others in the same industry. Firms are also attracted to industrially diversified locations. Foreign multinationals locate new plants near to other foreign-owned plants in the same industry. Fiscal incentives in the form of grants are found to have some effect in attracting plants to specific geographic areas eligible for such aid.Corporation tax

Agglomeration or Selection? The Case of the Japanese Silk-Reeling Clusters, 1908-1915

We examine two sources of productivity improvement in the specialized industrial clusters of the early twentieth century Japanese silk-reeling industry. Agglomeration improves the productivity of each plant through positive externalities, shifting plant-level productivity distribution to the right. Selection expels less productive plants through competition, truncating distribution on the left. We find no evidence confirming a right shift in the distribution in clusters or that agglomeration promotes faster productivity growth. Rather, the distribution in clusters was severely left truncated, even for younger plants. These findings imply that the plant-selection effect was the source of higher productivity in the Japanese silk-reeling clusters.Economic geography, Heterogenous firms, Industrial clusters, Productivity