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Regional industrial structure and agglomeration economies: An analysis of productivity in three manufacturing industries

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  • Drucker, Joshua
  • Feser, Edward

Abstract

We investigate whether a more concentrated regional industrial structure – the dominance of a few large firms in a given industry in a region – limits agglomeration economies and ultimately diminishes the economic performance of firms in that industry, especially small ones. In an application to three industries using establishment-level production functions and a combination of confidential and publicly available data sources, we find a consistently negative and substantial direct productivity effect associated with regional industrial structure concentration and only mixed and relatively weak evidence that agglomeration economies are a mediating factor in that effect.

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  • Drucker, Joshua & Feser, Edward, 2012. "Regional industrial structure and agglomeration economies: An analysis of productivity in three manufacturing industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:42:y:2012:i:1:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2011.04.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier.
    2. Brunow, Stephan & Blien, Uwe, 2015. "Agglomeration effects on labor productivity: An assessment with microdata," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 2, pages 33-53.
    3. Spyridon Stavropoulos & Dimitris Skuras, 2016. "Firm Profitability and Agglomeration Economies: An Elusive Relationship," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 107(1), pages 66-80, February.
    4. Matthias Duschl & Tobias Scholl & Thomas Brenner & Dennis Luxen & Falk Raschke, 2015. "Industry-Specific Firm Growth and Agglomeration," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(11), pages 1822-1839, November.
    5. Duschl Matthias & Brenner Thomas & Schimke Antje & Luxen Dennis, 2014. "Firm Growth and the Spatial Impact of Geolocated External Factors," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 234-256, April.
    6. repec:eee:ecosys:v:41:y:2017:i:2:p:165-178 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Han, Feng & Ke, Shanzi, 2016. "The effects of factor proximity and market potential on urban manufacturing output," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 31-45.
    8. repec:ura:ecregj:v:1:y:2018:i:1:p:176-189 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Jose Claudio Linhares Pires & Tulio Cravo & Simon Lodato & Caio Piza, 2013. "Industrial Clusters and Economic Performance in Brazil," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4771, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Fu, Xue & Lahr, Michael & Yaxiong, Zhang & Meng, Bo, 2017. "Actions on climate change, Intended Reducing carbon emissions in China via optimal industry shifts: Toward hi-tech industries, cleaner resources and higher carbon shares in less-develop regions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 616-638.
    11. Henry Renski, 2015. "Externalities or Experience? Localization Economies and Start-up Business Survival," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 458-480, September.
    12. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Laurent Gobillon, 2014. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Working Papers halshs-01071761, HAL.
    13. Hervas Oliver,Jose Luis & Gonzalez,Gregorio & Caja,Pedro, 2014. "Clusters and industrial districts: where is the literature going? Identifying emerging sub-fields of research," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201409, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV).
    14. Gabriel, Stuart A. & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2013. "Urbanization, agglomeration economies, and access to mortgage credit," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 42-50.
    15. Henry Renski, 2014. "The Influence of Industry Mix on Regional New Firm Formation in the United States," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1353-1370, August.
    16. Park, Jooyoun & Reynolds, C.L. & Rohlin, Shawn M., 2014. "The impact of import-related displacement on local business activity," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 94-109.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industrial structure; Agglomeration economies; Manufacturing; Productivity; Small firms;

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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