The impact of creativity on growth in German regions

The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of the creative professions - technological employees and bohemians - on economic growth in Germany’s planning regions. It is concluded that technological employees and bohemians foster economic growth. We find that growth is particularly dynamic in agglomerated and urbanized regions. Among regional factors relevant to the location decisions of creative professionals, diversity is analyzed in particular, as it might stimulate growth because of its potential to increase the rate of interchange of different ideas and knowledge. Diversity is therefore a “knowledge production factor." The analysis of both - creative professions and diversity - is related to two current topics in regional economics, namely the knowledge based economy and its effects on city development, and the topic of creative cities.Regional Economic Growth, Creativity, Diversity

The economic role of cities in the 21st century

Jerry Carlino focuses on the economic activities that make firms in cities more productive and that make cities more attractive to urban households. Carlino finds that although agglomeration economies will continue to play a large role in the life of 21st century cities, modern cities must offer a wide choice of amenities to attract the type of high-skill workers needed in the new urban economy.Urban economics

Do Amenities and Diversity Encourage City Growth? A Link Through Skilled Labor

The share of skilled workers in urban populations has steadily increased since 1970 in US metropolitan areas, but more in some cities than in others. A higher concentration of skills is a sought after asset for cities as it affects population growth positively, also when the initial share is instrumented for by using land-grant colleges. However, skilled cities may attract more skilled workers, but not because they are more skilled initially: increasing returns are rejected when controlling for fixed effects and bias due to inclusion of a lagged dependent variable. Several amenities such as a low-skilled personal service sector do affect the concentration of skills positively. Although firms seem to benefit from externalities, there is no convincing case for an effect on the concentration of college graduates in a city.urban and city growth, human capital, skills, spillovers, externalities, concentration, diversity, amenities

Regional structure of wages and external economies in Spain

Regional data on wages for the Spanish economy show that workers who live in developed regions earn more than workers in other regions. Literature on external economies provides a possible explanation of why firms do not move from these regions to others where wages are lower. Previous studies for the Spanish case use aggregated sectoral data to explain in terms of external economies why average wages are different across regions. The original contribution of this paper consists of using individual data to detect the existence and nature of external economies as an explanatory cause of territorial wage differences. With this aim, we have used individual data from the EPF 1990-91 (INE). This information permits us to control the influence of individual and job characteristics on wages to, first, detect the existence of external economies and, second, to test alternative explanations of their presence. The empirical evidence obtained confirms the relevance of territorial external economies and their influence on wages, as a result of improvements in the productive efficiency of the firm. In concrete terms, the more relevant external economies are associated with the regional human capital stock and geographical productive specialisation- Los datos sobre salarios provinciales muestran la existencia de diferencias salariales geográficas de considerable magnitud. Algunos estudios disponibles para el caso español tratan de explicar dichas diferencias en términos de economías externas utilizando para ello datos sobre salarios medios sectoriales. La principal aportación de este trabajo reside en el empleo de datos individuales para detectar la existencia y averiguar la naturaleza de las economías externas que afectan a los salarios de un territorio. Los datos individuales utilizados proceden de la EPF 1990/91. La información estadística disponible ha permitido controlar la influencia de las características individuales y del puesto de trabajo sobre el salario con el objetivo de, primero, detectar la existencia de economías externas y, después, conocer el origen y naturaleza de las mismas. La evidencia empírica obtenida confirma la relevancia de las economías externas territoriales y su influencia positiva sobre los salarios, como resultado de las mejoras aportadas a la eficiencia productiva de las empresas localizadas en dicho territorio. En concreto, las economías externas más importantes son las generadas por el stock de capital humano provincial y por la especialización del territorio

Regional construction sector: sector implementation plan (SIP)

This Sector Implementation Plan (SIP) forms an integral part of the Regional Economic Strategy (RES), acting as a high level plan for the region’s construction sector, and providing an overview of the strategic actions and interventions which will deliver the outcomes required to achieve progress against each key challenge

Does Agglomeration Account for Process Innovation in Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises?

Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the Vietnamese economy, this sector’s growth is hindered by low level of technology and innovation. This paper uses firm-level panel data to examine whether process innovation activities in SMEs are influenced by their industrial environments. It measures the effects that agglomeration, the geographic concentration of firms within the same locality, has on firms’ total outputs and their propensity to introduce new technology. Using a logistic model with firm fixed-effects, I find that agglomeration decreases outputs of informal firms and the likelihood of new technology introduction in all firms. However, there are evidence of positive lagged effects of agglomeration on innovation and heterogeneous effects across industries

Reinventing the regions: Victoria’s changing regional economies

Regional Victoria accounts for around a quarter of the State\u27s population and economic output. In March 2013 Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan released the Reinventing the Regions report which documents the findings from a series of events held in 2011-2012 which CEDA, in collaboration with RDV, hosted. This report provides an overview of the changes taking place in five of Victoria\u27s regional economies, key policy and economic themes that emerged from discussions throughout the series of events, case studies from regional businesses and five individual event summaries. The event series provided an opportunity to engage key stakeholders including business, industry, government, communities and academia in a discussion of: The key economic drivers and prospects for growth; Challenges faced by businesses across five regions; How regional businesses are adapting to evolving economic conditions; and How they can capitalise on new opportunities. The series consisted of five events looking at the experiences of Ballarat and the Central Highlands, Hume,Geelong and Barwon South West, Loddon Mallee and the Latrobe Valley. This publication is a joint project of CEDA and Regional Development Victoria. &nbsp