Are the observed spatial distributions of firms decided mostly by market-mediated, economy-wide locational forces, or rather by non-pecuniary, sector-specific ones? This work finds that the latter kind of forces weight systematically more than the former in deciding firm location. The analysis...

This paper presents a model of firm localization allowing for non-linear, quadratic externalities. The model and its numerical estimation procedure manage to disentangle localization externalities from the intrinsic advantages of regions. Moreover, the introduction of a quadratic term can...

Are the observed spatial distributions of firms decided mostly by market-mediated, economy-wide locational forces, or rather by non-pecuniary, sector-specific ones? This work finds that the latter kind of forces weight systematically more than the former in deciding firm location. The analysis...

This paper presents a model of firm localization allowing for non-linear, quadratic externalities. The model and its numerical estimation procedure manage to disentangle localization externalities from the intrinsic advantages of regions. Moreover, the introduction of a quadratic term can...

Was the spinning jenny profitable <i>only</i>in England? No. The present work finds that the jenny was profitable also in France. Such result contrasts recent findings on the topic by revising basic computations on the profitability of the spinning jenny.

Why was England the cradle of the Industrial Revolution? The present work shows that scale economies and demand, combined with the conditions of the relative prices of input factors, allow to provide a purely economic answer to this question. The labor-saving innovations of the Industrial...

This paper provides a description of the production process by comparing different frameworks in which to analyze the relations between inputs and output. The analysis is performed on a representative sample of Italian manufacturing firms. We employ both parametric and non-parametric analysis....

Since the seminal work of Pareto, many empirical analyses suggested that the distribution of firms size is characterized by an asymptotic power like behavior. At the same time, recent investigations show that the distribution of annual growth rates of business firms displays a remarkable...

In an economic geography model where both a negative pecuniary and a positive technological externality are present, we introduce an explicit dynamics of firms locational choice and we characterize its long run distribution. Our analysis shows that economic activities evenly distribute when the...