[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jregsc/v61y2021i5p1002-1028.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Too close for comfort? Microgeography of agglomeration economies in the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Katiuscia Lavoratori
  • Davide Castellani
Abstract
The issue of whether firm productivity is affected by agglomeration externalities is a longstanding area of research. However, the appropriate geographical level to better detect the effects of agglomeration economies and at which level these externalities work is still unclear. Using detailed firm‐level longitudinal data on 4927 manufacturing firms in the United Kingdom over the period 2008–2016, we investigate the relation between the microgeography of external agglomeration economies and firm productivity. We compare different geographical levels: city‐wide and narrowly defined neighborhoods around a firm. Results from a multilevel (mixed‐effect) model show that urbanization externalities play a role at a higher level of geographical aggregation, such as the city, whereas localization externalities operate at a finer level, within the city and in a closer neighborhood to the firm. Failing to control for more granular levels of geography results in confounding the two types of externalities. We also provide novel evidence that these externalities vary across firm (such as age, size, and productivity) and location (such as population density) characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Katiuscia Lavoratori & Davide Castellani, 2021. "Too close for comfort? Microgeography of agglomeration economies in the United Kingdom," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1002-1028, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:61:y:2021:i:5:p:1002-1028
    DOI: 10.1111/jors.12531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12531
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jors.12531?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pierre‐Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon & Diego Puga & Sébastien Roux, 2012. "The Productivity Advantages of Large Cities: Distinguishing Agglomeration From Firm Selection," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(6), pages 2543-2594, November.
    2. Sergio Mariotti & Marco Mutinelli & Marcella Nicolini & Lucia Piscitello, 2015. "Productivity Spillovers from Foreign Multinational Enterprises to Domestic Manufacturing Firms: To What Extent Does Spatial Proximity Matter?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(10), pages 1639-1653, October.
    3. Giulio Cainelli & Andrea Fracasso & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2015. "Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 39-67, November.
    4. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    5. Feldman, Maryann P. & Audretsch, David B., 1999. "Innovation in cities:: Science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 409-429, February.
    6. Alexander Schmitt & Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 2013. "Proximity strategies in outsourcing relations: The role of geographical, cultural and relational proximity in the European automotive industry," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(5), pages 475-503, June.
    7. J. Myles Shaver & Fredrick Flyer, 2000. "Agglomeration economies, firm heterogeneity, and foreign direct investment in the United States," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(12), pages 1175-1193, December.
    8. Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2003. "Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(2), pages 377-393, May.
    9. Martin, Philippe & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I P, 2001. "Growth and Agglomeration," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(4), pages 947-968, November.
    10. Andrea Caragliu & Laura de Dominicis & Henri L.F. de Groot, 2016. "Both Marshall and Jacobs were Right!," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 92(1), pages 87-111, January.
    11. Daan P. Van Soest & Shelby Gerking & Frank G. Van Oort, 2006. "Spatial Impacts Of Agglomeration Externalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 881-899, December.
    12. Giulia Faggio & Olmo Silva & William C. Strange, 2017. "Heterogeneous Agglomeration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(1), pages 80-94, March.
    13. Henderson, Vernon & Kuncoro, Ari & Turner, Matt, 1995. "Industrial Development in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 1067-1090, October.
    14. Andersson, Martin & Larsson, Johan P & Wernberg, Joakim, 2019. "The economic microgeography of diversity and specialization externalities – firm-level evidence from Swedish cities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1385-1398.
    15. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2001. "Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation, and the Life Cycle of Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1454-1477, December.
    16. Beaudry, Catherine & Schiffauerova, Andrea, 2009. "Who's right, Marshall or Jacobs? The localization versus urbanization debate," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 318-337, March.
    17. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    18. John M. Quigley, 1998. "Urban Diversity and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 127-138, Spring.
    19. Juan Alcácer & Wilbur Chung, 2007. "Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 760-776, May.
    20. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    21. Henderson, J. Vernon, 2003. "Marshall's scale economies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-28, January.
    22. Mohammad Arzaghi & J. Vernon Henderson, 2008. "Networking off Madison Avenue," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(4), pages 1011-1038.
    23. 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.
    24. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    25. Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau, 2018. "Distance-based agglomeration externalities and neighbouring firms’ characteristics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(7), pages 922-933, July.
    26. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    27. Nigel Driffield, 2006. "On the search for spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) with spatial dependency," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 107-119.
    28. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2004. "Evidence on the nature and sources of agglomeration economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 49, pages 2119-2171, Elsevier.
    29. Andres Rodriguez-Pose & Riccardo regstdcenzi, 2008. "Research and Development, Spillovers, Innovation Systems, and the Genesis of Regional Growth in Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 51-67.
    30. Davide Castellani & Katiuscia Lavoratori, 2020. "The lab and the plant: Offshore R&D and co-location with production activities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(1), pages 121-137, February.
    31. Andrew Bell & Malcolm Fairbrother & Kelvyn Jones, 2019. "Fixed and random effects models: making an informed choice," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 1051-1074, March.
    32. Diego Puga, 2010. "The Magnitude And Causes Of Agglomeration Economies," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 203-219, February.
    33. Stefano Menghinello & Lisa De Propris & Nigel Driffield, 2010. "Industrial districts, inward foreign investment and regional development," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 539-558, July.
    34. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00812695 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Roberta Capello & Peter Nijkamp (ed.), 2009. "Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12874.
    36. Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano, 2011. "'New' new economic geography: firm heterogeneity and agglomeration economies," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 231-240, March.
    37. Glenn Ellison & Edward L. Glaeser & William R. Kerr, 2010. "What Causes Industry Agglomeration? Evidence from Coagglomeration Patterns," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 1195-1213, June.
    38. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    39. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter Zwaneveld, 2018. "Complexities in the spatial scope of agglomeration economies," CPB Discussion Paper 376.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    40. Juan Alcácer & Wilbur Chung & Ashton Hawk & Gonçalo Pacheco-de-Almeida, 2018. "Applying Random Coefficient Models to Strategy Research: Identifying and Exploring Firm Heterogeneous Effects," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 533-553, September.
    41. Katiuscia Lavoratori & Sergio Mariotti & Lucia Piscitello, 2020. "The role of geographical and temporary proximity in MNEs’ location and intra-firm co-location choices," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1442-1456, October.
    42. Nguyen, Huong, 2016. "Does Proximity to Foreign Invested Firms Stimulate Productivity Growth of Domestic Firms? Firm-level Evidence from Vietnam," Papers 1001, World Trade Institute.
    43. Ilke Van Beveren, 2012. "Total Factor Productivity Estimation: A Practical Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 98-128, February.
    44. Johan Larsson, 2014. "The neighborhood or the region? Reassessing the density–wage relationship using geocoded data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(2), pages 367-384, March.
    45. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    46. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter J. Zwaneveld, 2019. "Complexities in the spatial scope of agglomeration economies," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 29-55, January.
    47. Maryann Feldman, 2014. "The character of innovative places: entrepreneurial strategy, economic development, and prosperity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 9-20, June.
    48. Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 2007. "Robustness Of Productivity Estimates," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 529-569, September.
    49. Ram Mudambi & Lee Li & Xufei Ma & Shige Makino & Gongming Qian & Ron Boschma, 2018. "Zoom in, zoom out: Geographic scale and multinational activity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(8), pages 929-941, October.
    50. Pierre Desrochers, 2001. "Local Diversity, Human Creativity, and Technological Innovation," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 369-394.
    51. Stephan Kyburz, Huong Quynh Nguyen, 2017. "Does Proximity to Foreign Invested Firms Stimulate Productivity Growth of Domestic Firms? Firmlevel Evidence from Vietnam," Diskussionsschriften credresearchpaper16, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft - CRED.
    52. Stefano Colombo (ed.), 2021. "Spatial Economics Volume II," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-40094-1, June.
    53. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter Zwaneveld, 2018. "Complexities in the spatial scope of agglomeration economies," CPB Discussion Paper 376, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    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. Fantechi, Federico & Fratesi, Ugo, 2024. "Spatial patterns of territorial competitiveness: The role of peripherality, urbanization and physical geography," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Nigel Driffield & Katiuscia Lavoratori & Yama Temouri, 2021. "Inward investment and UK productivity," Working Papers 014, The Productivity Institute.
    3. Jan Ženka & Luděk Krtička & Lenka Paszová & Tereza Pundová & Kateřina Rudincová & Simona Šťastná & Veronika Svetlíková & Jan Matula, 2021. "Micro-Geographies of Information and Communication Technology Firms in a Shrinking Medium-Sized Industrial City of Ostrava (Czechia)," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-26, July.
    4. Rosalia Castellano & Gaetano Musella & Gennaro Punzo, 2023. "Does context matter? Exploring the effects of productive structures on the relationship between innovation and workforce skills’ complementarity," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1991-2011, June.
    5. Sugam Agarwal & Smruti Ranjan Behera, 2022. "Geographical concentration of knowledge and technology-intensive industries in India: empirical evidence from establishment-level analysis," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 513-552, December.
    6. René BELDERBOS & FUKAO Kyoji & IKEUCHI Kenta & KIM Young Gak & KWON Hyeog Ug, 2022. "Does Industry Agglomeration Attract Productive Firms? The role of product markets in adverse selection," Discussion papers 22105, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Minming Wei & Baiyu Dong & Pingbin Jin, 2023. "Do Science Parks Promote Companies’ Innovative Performance? Micro Evidence from Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Independent Demonstration Zone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Meihong Ke & Douglas Baker & Christy Collis, 2023. "Impact of Airports on Landside Industrial Development: A Case Study of Brisbane Airport," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, June.

    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. Andersson, Martin & Larsson, Johan P & Wernberg, Joakim, 2019. "The economic microgeography of diversity and specialization externalities – firm-level evidence from Swedish cities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1385-1398.
    2. Andersson, Martin & Larsson, Johan P. & Wernberg, Joakim, 2017. "The Economic Microgeography of Diversity and Specialization," Working Paper Series 1167, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    4. Frank G. van Oort & Martijn J. Burger & Joris Knoben & Otto Raspe, 2012. "Multilevel Approaches And The Firm-Agglomeration Ambiguity In Economic Growth Studies," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 468-491, July.
    5. Li, Jing & Li, Liyao & Liu, Shimeng, 2022. "Attenuation of agglomeration economies: Evidence from the universe of Chinese manufacturing firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    6. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & Stefano Usai, 2013. "Productivity Growth In The Old And New Europe: The Role Of Agglomeration Externalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 418-442, August.
    7. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Spatial concentration and plant-level productivity in France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 182-195, March.
    8. Andrew Perumal, 2017. "42 Years of Urban Growth and Industry Composition," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 45(2), pages 133-147, June.
    9. Coll Martínez, Eva, 2017. "Creativity and the City: Testing the Attenuation of Agglomeration Economies fo r the Creative Industries in Barcelona," Working Papers 2072/292435, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    10. Carlos Carreira & Luís Lopes, 2016. "Collecting new pieces to the regional knowledge spillovers puzzle: high-tech versus low-tech industries," GEMF Working Papers 2016-06, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    11. Mohamed Amara, 2023. "Agglomeration and firm performance in times of economic turmoil: Evidence from Tunisian firm‐level data," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 446-481, June.
    12. René BELDERBOS & FUKAO Kyoji & IKEUCHI Kenta & KIM Young Gak & KWON Hyeog Ug, 2022. "Does Industry Agglomeration Attract Productive Firms? The role of product markets in adverse selection," Discussion papers 22105, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    13. Eva Coll-Martínez, 2019. "Creativity and the city: testing the attenuation of agglomeration economies in Barcelona," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(3), pages 365-395, September.
    14. Amezcua, Alejandro & Ratinho, Tiago & Plummer, Lawrence A. & Jayamohan, Parvathi, 2020. "Organizational sponsorship and the economics of place: How regional urbanization and localization shape incubator outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    15. Guo, Di & Jiang, Kun & Xu, Chenggang & Yang, Xiyi, 2023. "Geographic clusters, regional productivity and resource reallocation across firms: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    16. Ricardo A. López & Jens Südekum, 2009. "Vertical Industry Relations, Spillovers, And Productivity: Evidence From Chilean Plants," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 721-747, October.
    17. Roberto Ganau & Andrés Rodríguez†Pose, 2018. "Industrial clusters, organized crime, and productivity growth in Italian SMEs," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 363-385, March.
    18. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    19. Ming He & Yang Chen & Ron Schramm, 2018. "Technological spillovers in space and firm productivity: Evidence from China’s electric apparatus industry," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(11), pages 2522-2541, August.
    20. Giulio Cainelli & Andrea Fracasso & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2015. "Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 39-67, November.

    More about this item

    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:bla:jregsc:v:61:y:2021:i:5:p:1002-1028. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-4146 .

    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.