The current empirical entrepreneurship literature mainly shows a positive correlation between entrepreneurship (measured as the number of startups) and economic growth. However, the mechanisms by which entrepreneurship exerts its positive influence are not obvious. The net result of startups on...

This paper analyses the determinants of growth of American cities, understood as growth of the population or of per capita income, from 1990 to 2000. This empirical analysis uses data from all cities with more than 25,000 inhabitants in the year 2000 (1154 cities). The results show that while a...

Our proposal is linked with an European cooperation project bound to Mediterranean agriculture. The paper aims to develop a partially renewed approach of the district concept as a development model for rural areas, applied to the organization of the agroenergy sector. Originally developed by...

This paper introduces Information Theoretic - based methods for estimating a target variable in a set of small geographical areas, by exploring spatially heterogeneous relationships at the disaggregate level. Controlling for spatial effects means introducing models whereby the assumption is that...

The equilibrium set of housing units (alternatives) can be characterized from the standpoint of both the demander and the supplier. The current work describes an application of the multicriteria single price model to the ranking of alternatives. By a generalization of the single price model and...

Agent-based microsimulation models for land use or transportation simulate the behavior of agents over time, although at different time scales and with different goals. For both kinds of models, the initial step is the definition of agents and their relationships. Synthesizing the population of...

One of the main goals of the European Research Area (ERA) concept is to improve coherence and integration across the European research landscape by removing barriers for collaborative knowledge production in a European system of innovation. The cornerstone of policy instruments in this context...

Regional labor markets are characterized by huge disparities of unemployment rates. Models of the New Economic Geography explain how disparities of regional goods markets endogenously arise but usually assume full employment. This paper discusses regional unemployment disparities by introducing...

Our paper emphasizes the role of social capital in French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale (PER). Social capital is considered as highly valuable when considering the development of these particular rural areas. More precisely the French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale" are the perfect example of...

University researchers are now considered by many as key actors in the building of knowledge economies in their regions, as universities are assumed to be important engines of regional economic well-being. Yet within the academy not all faculty are accepting of these roles for their...