IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/uwe/wpaper/0913.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Microeconomic foundations of geographical variations in labour productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Don J. Webber

    (Department of Business Economics, Auckland University of Technology and Department of Economics, UWE, Bristol)

  • Michael Horswell

    (Faculty of the Built and Natural Environment, University of the West of England, UK)

Abstract

This paper initially presents an exploratory spatial data analysis which indicates the presence of small-scale geographical variations in levels and standard deviations of labour productivity across England and Wales in 2005. We identify the presence of spatial autocorrelation for both measures. This finding motivates a subsequent review and extension of theories which suggest the possible presence of small-scale geographical patterns of labour productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Don J. Webber & Michael Horswell, 2009. "Microeconomic foundations of geographical variations in labour productivity," Working Papers 0913, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
  • Handle: RePEc:uwe:wpaper:0913
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://carecon.org.uk/DPs/0913.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2009
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Whelan, Karl T., 2009. "Technology shocks and hours worked: Checking for robust conclusions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 231-239, June.
    3. Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano & Diego Puga, 1998. "Agglomeration in the Global Economy: A Survey of the ‘New Economic Geography’," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(6), pages 707-731, August.
    4. Azar, Ofer H., 2008. "The effect of relative thinking on firm strategy and market outcomes: A location differentiation model with endogenous transportation costs," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 684-697, November.
    5. Piet Rietveld & Roger Vickerman, 2004. "Transport in regional science: The “death of distance” is premature," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Raymond J. G. M. Florax & David A. Plane (ed.), Fifty Years of Regional Science, pages 229-248, Springer.
    6. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Azar, Ofer H., 2007. "Relative thinking theory," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-14, February.
    8. Barr, Abigail, 2000. "Social Capital and Technical Information Flows in the Ghanaian Manufacturing Sector," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 539-559, July.
    9. Chad Syverson, 2008. "Markets: Ready-Mixed Concrete," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 217-234, Winter.
    10. Manish Pandey & John Whalley, 2009. "Social networks and trade liberalization," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(17), pages 1747-1749.
    11. Sylaja Srinivasan & Geoff Stewart, 2004. "The Quality of Life in England and Wales," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 66(1), pages 1-22, February.
    12. Mark Doms & Eric J. Bartelsman, 2000. "Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 569-594, September.
    13. G Ottaviano & Diego Puga, 1997. "Agglomeration in a global Economy: A Survey," CEP Discussion Papers dp0356, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Martin Boddy & John Hudson & Anthony Plumridge & Don Webber, 2005. "Regional Productivity Differentials: Explaining the Gap," Working Papers 0515, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    15. John Haltiwanger, 1997. "Measuring and analyzing aggregate fluctuations: the importance of building from microeconomic evidence," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue May, pages 55-78.
    16. Choi, E. Kwan & Harrigan, James, 2003. "Handbook of International Trade," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11375, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    17. Babutsidze, Zakaria & Cowan, Robin, 2008. "Habit Formation, Information Exchange and the Social Geography of Demand," MERIT Working Papers 2008-047, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Don J. Webber & Michael Horswell, 2009. "Winners and Losers: Spatial variations in labour productivity in England and Wales," Working Papers 0912, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberto Franco Pozzolo, 2004. "Research and Development, Regional Spillovers and the Location of Economic Activities," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 72(4), pages 463-482, July.
    2. José Miguel Albert & Jorge Mateu & Vicente Orts, 2007. "Distribución Espacial De La Actividad Económica En La Union Europea," Working Papers. Serie EC 2007-02, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    3. Clain-Chamosset-Yvrard, Lise & Raurich, Xavier & Seegmuller, Thomas, 2024. "Entrepreneurship, growth and productivity with bubbles," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Stéphane Riou, 2003. "Géographie, croissance et politique de cohésion en Europe," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 17(3), pages 171-220.
    5. Sai Ding & Alessandra Guariglia & Richard Harris, 2016. "The determinants of productivity in Chinese large and medium-sized industrial firms, 1998–2007," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 131-155, April.
    6. Richard Harris & Shengyu Li, 2016. "Government Assistance and Total Factor Productivity: Firm-level Evidence from China, 1998-2007," CEMAP Working Papers 2016_04, Durham University Business School.
    7. repec:rza:wpaper:027 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    9. Baldwin, John R. Beckstead, Desmond Brown, W. Mark Rigby, David, 2007. "Économies urbaines et productivité," Série de documents de recherche sur l'analyse économique (AE) 2007045f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    10. Baldwin, John R. Beckstead, Desmond Brown, W. Mark Rigby, David, 2007. "Urban Economies and Productivity," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2007045e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    11. repec:rza:wpaper:039 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Hyytinen, Ari & Maliranta, Mika, 2013. "Firm lifecycles and evolution of industry productivity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 1080-1098.
    13. Srinivas, Goli, 2014. "Demographic convergence and its linkage with health inequalities in India," MPRA Paper 79823, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Dec 2014.
    14. Evert Meijers & Krister Sandberg, 2006. "Polycentric Development to Combat Regional Disparities? the Relation Between Polycentricity and Regional Disparities in European Countries," ERSA conference papers ersa06p287, European Regional Science Association.
    15. Zeljko Bogetic & Johannes Fedderke, 2005. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Benchmarking, Productivity and Investment Needs, paper presented at Economic Society of South Africa (ESSA) Conference, Durban, 9/7-9/2005," Public Economics 0510006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Fritsch, Michael & Changoluisa, Javier, 2017. "New business formation and the productivity of manufacturing incumbents: Effects and mechanisms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 237-259.
    17. Cristián Larroulet Vignau & Couyoumdjian, Juan Pablo, 2009. "Entrepreneurship and Growth: A Latin American Paradox?," Past Working Papers 07, Universidad del Desarrollo, School of Business and Economics, revised 2009.
    18. Goswami, Diti, 2024. "Aggregate productivity, economic fluctuations, and export orientation: Evidence from India," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 581-593.
    19. Raouf Boucekkine & Fernando Del Río & Omar Licandro, 2003. "Embodied Technological Change, Learning‐by‐doing and the Productivity Slowdown," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(1), pages 87-98, March.
    20. Mikhail Y. Afanasyev & Alexander V. Kudrov, 2021. "Economic Complexity, Embedding Degree and Adjacent Diversity of the Regional Economies," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 17(2), pages 7-22.
    21. repec:rza:wpaper:029 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. John Bound & Breno Braga & Joseph M. Golden & Gaurav Khanna, 2015. "Recruitment of Foreigners in the Market for Computer Scientists in the United States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 187-223.
    23. Wilson, E.J. & Chaudhri, D.P., 2000. "Endogeneity, Knowledge and Dynamics of Long Run Capitalist Economic Growth," Economics Working Papers wp00-03, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour productivity; standard deviation; districts and local authorities; geographical autocorrelation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R39 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Other

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uwe:wpaper:0913. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jo Michell (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/seuweuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.