Although it is well known that Markov process theory, frequently applied in the literature on income convergence, imposes some very restrictive assumptions upon the data generating process, these assumptions have generally been taken for granted so far. The present paper proposes, resp. recalls...

Several recent econometric investigations found externalities related to the density of economic activity to account for one fifth to one half of total regional variations in average labor productivity in the U.S. and big European countries, including Germany. The present paper shows for German...

<Para ID="Par1">We show that key functions are spatially clustered with, or dispersed from, each other even within manufacturing industries in West Germany, and that these clustering or dispersion patterns have changed significantly during recent decades. Estimating levels and changes (1992–2007) of...</para>

This article extends the methodological toolbox of measures of regional concentration of industries and industrial specialization of regions. It first defines disproportionality measures of concentration and specialization and proposes a taxonomy of these measures. This taxonomy is based on...

Night lights could be a valuable proxy of economic activity at the subnational level when GDP data are lacking or of poor quality. Supplementing Henderson et al.’s (2012) analysis at the national level, we assess the stability of the elasticity of GDP with regard to night lights across regions...

This paper substantiates the debate following Richard Florida’s suggestion to measure regional human capital by creative occupations rather than education. Consistent with Florida’s notion of creativity, it suggests a microfoundation that relates creativity to workers’ cognitive and...

Deutschland weist seit mehreren Jahren einen anhaltenden Leistungsbilanzüberschuss auf. Im Vorfeld der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise stieg der Überschuss über mehrere Jahre deutlich an und hatte im Jahr 2007 über 7 Prozent des Bruttoinlandsprodukts (BIP) erreicht. Neben Deutschland wiesen...

In den letzten Jahren wurden Regionen, verstanden als räumliche Einheiten unterschiedlicher Größen innerhalb eines Landes, durch das Aufgreifen regionaler Entwicklungskonzepte, die Thematisierung von Innovationsnetzwerken sowie durch die Popularisierung des Cluster-Ansatzes zunehmend...