Convergence across Russian regions: a spatial econometrics approach

This paper analyses the process of convergence across the regions of Russia using spatial econometrics tools in addition to the traditional β-convergence techniques as derived from the neoclassical theoretical setting. The spatial component appears to be non-negligible and, consequently, conventional convergence estimates suffer a bias due to spatial dependence across observations. Furthermore, variables such as hydrocarbon supply, openness to trade and FDI per capita are found to have an unambiguous, positive and statistically significant impact on growth (Results are also confirmed by the panel counterpart of the model. Estimates for this last are presented in the Appendix E)

Oil and gas: a blessing for few hydrocarbons and within-region inequality in Russia

Building on earlier work on regional inequality in Russia (Fedorov 2002; Gaddy and Ickes 2005; Bradshaw 2006 and others) we investigate a novel line of research, i.e. to demonstrate that the regional oil and gas abundance is associated with high within-region inequality. We show empirically that hydrocarbons represent one of the leading determinants of an increased gap between rich and poor in the producing regions. We discuss a possible cluster of geographic, economic and political factors underlying the phenomenon

Foreign direct investments distribution in the Russian Federation: do spatial effects matter?

In this paper we explore the hypothesis of spatial effects in the distribution of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) across Russian regions. We make use of a model, which describes FDI inflows as resulting from an agglomeration effect (the level of FDI in a given region depends positively on the level of FDI received by the regions in its neighbourhood) and remoteness effect (the distance of each Russian regions from the most important outflows countries). Considering a panel of 68 Russian regions over the period 2000-2004 we find that the two effects play a significant role in determining FDI inflows towards Russia. The two effects are also robust to the inclusion of other widely used explanatory variables impacting the level of FDI towards countries or regions (e.g. surrounding market potential, infrastructures, investment climate)

China, India and Russia: economic reforms, structural change and regional disparities

This paper studies the different patterns of growth of China, India and Russia by exploring and comparing the processes of reforms that have generated and accompanied their high and sustained rates of growth. Focusing on the sector transformations involved into the three economies, we show that the growth strategies implemented present specific characteristics in terms of gradualism and policy choices. We analyze the effects of economic growth on regional income disparities and to what extent the recent increase in prosperity has been homogeneously distributed within the three giants. Making use of Theil's T statistics and transition probability matrices, our findings reveal that income disparities within the Indian states and Chinese provinces have increased and, more in particular, landlocked and rural areas are in general still far from reducing the income gap from coastal and richest regions. In the case of Russia, the great divide is fuelled by the presence of hydrocarbons resources, which tend to be concentrated in the West Siberia

Endogeneity in Interlocks and Performance Analysis: A Firm Size Perspective

This paper contributes to the literature on interlocking directorates (ID) by providing a new solution to the two econometric issues arising in the joint analysis of interlocks and firm performance which are the endogenous nature of ID and sample selection bias due to the exclusion of isolated firms. Some key determinants of ID network formation are identified and used to check for endogeneity. We analyze the impact of the positioning in the network on firms’ performance and inspect how the impact varies across firms of different sizes drawing on information relating to 37,324 firms in the interlocking network which, to our knowledge, is the widest dataset ever used in approaching the study of ID. Our results, made robust for endogeneity and sample selection bias, suggest that eigenvector centrality and the clustering coefficient have a positive and significant impact on all the performance measures and that this effect is more pronounced for small firms

Oil and gas:a blessing for the few. Hydrocarbons and inequality within regions in Russia

Building on earlier work on regional inequality in Russia the article seeks to demonstrate that the regional oil and gas abundance is associated with high within-region inequality. It provides empirical evidence that hydrocarbons represent one of the leading determinants of an increased gap between rich and poor in the producing regions. The discussion focuses on a possible cluster of geographic, economic and political factors underlying the phenomenon

Visitor expenditure estimation for grocery store location planning: a case study of Cornwall

Visitor expenditure is an important driver of demand in many local economies, supporting a range of services and facilities which may not be viable based solely on residential demand. In areas where self-catering accommodation is prevalent visitor demand makes up a considerable proportion of sales and revenue within grocery stores, yet this form of visitor consumption is commonly overlooked in supply and demand-side estimates of visitor spend. As such, store location planning in tourist resorts, decisions about local service provision and the local economic impacts of tourism are based on very limited demand-side estimates of visitor spend. Using Cornwall, South West England as a study area, we outline a methodology and data sources to estimate small-area visitor grocery spend. We use self-catering accommodation provision, utilisation and visitor expenditure rates as key factors driving visitor spend. We identify that the use of visitor accommodation accounts for the spatial and temporal complexities of visitor demand that may be overlooked when using alternative approaches, such as the up-scaling of residential demand. Using a spatial interaction model, we demonstrate that our expenditure estimates can be used to generate store level revenue estimation within tourist resorts, and we make a number of recommendations for service provision and store location planning in these areas