New Economic Geography (NEG) models do not typically account for the presence of regions other than the ones involved in the integration process. We explore such a possibility in a Footloose Entrepreneur (FE) model aiming at studying the stability properties of long-run industrial location equilibria. We consider a world economy composed by a customs union of two regions (regions 1 and 2) and an "outside region" which can be regarded as the rest of the world (region 3). The effects of economic integration on industrial agglomeration within the customs union are studied under the assumption of a constant distance between the customs union itself and the third region. The results show that higher economic integration does not always implies the standard result of full agglomeration of FE models. This incomplete agglomeration outcome is due to the fact that the periphery region keeps a share of industrial activities in order to satisfy a share of "external demand". That is, the deindustrialization process brought about by economic integration in the periphery of the union is mitigated by the demand of consumers living in the rest of the world. In general, the market size of the third region affects the number of the long-run equilibria, as well as their stability properties. In addition to the standard outcomes of FE models, we describe the existence of two asymmetric equilibria characterised by unequal distribution of firms between regions 1 and 2, with no full agglomeration though. Interestingly, these equilibria are stable and therefore can be regarded as a likely long-run equilibrium state of the economy. (author's abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:52:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 142099.PDF.jpg: 20928 bytes, checksum: 63bc27794a77bef56ae640e0cc7ff9d9 (MD5) 142099.PDF: 1098317 bytes, checksum: 0ff5e208e40dfa2ede2dc61bafa0e018 (MD5) 142099.PDF.txt: 360667 bytes, checksum: 2813a5acef6f6ca2c147734b1edfb795 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-02-21T00:00:00Z / Verifica-se hoje, no Brasil, a emergência de uma série de estudos, tanto no lado acadêmico quanto no lado governamental e empresarial, relacionados às aglomerações industriais, mais notadamente clusters e Arranjos Produtivos Locais (APLs). Contudo, a maioria destes se direciona a abordagens metodológicas qualitativas, deixando o aspecto quantitativo ainda pouco explorado. Outro fato também constatado sobre estes estudos é que poucos são aqueles que se direcionam a avaliar o desempenho das firmas localizadas em aglomerações industriais, em comparação com as não aglomeradas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo preencher parcialmente esta lacuna. Marcado por uma abordagem quantitativa, buscou-se avaliar como as firmas aglomeradas se desempenham economicamente em relação às não aglomeradas. Dado o aparente ganho de competitividade do setor de confecções brasileiro e a importância relativa na economia que este voltou a adquirir após décadas de decadência, as firmas deste setor localizadas no estado de São Paulo foram as escolhidas para a análise. Para alcançarmos este objetivo, foi utilizada uma base de dados secundários que, conjugada com informações relativas às aglomerações industriais existentes no estado de São Paulo, permitiu avaliar o desempenho das firmas de confecções através de medidas relacionadas ao conceito de Valor Adicionado. Contrariando as expectativas geradas pela revisão de literatura, foi constatada a ausência de evidências que confirmem que as firmas localizadas em aglomerações industriais se desempenhem melhor do que as firmas não aglomeradas. Opondo-se de forma mais intensa às expectativas, foi constatado que as firmas localizadas na cidade de São Paulo, região com a maior aglomeração de firmas do setor de confecções, possuem seu desempenho econômico prejudicado. Todavia, dado o caráter exploratório do estudo, os resultados não devem ser generalizados, ficando estes restritos às empresas componentes da amostra. / Nowadays in Brazil, a set of studies are emerging, as much from the academic side as from the governmental and corporative side, concerning to the industrial agglomeration, mainly clusters and Local Productive Arrangements (LPAs). However, the majority of those studies are conducted trough approaches of qualitative methodology. Another evidence about such studies is that they seldom develop research towards the performance of the firms located in industrial agglomerations compared to other firms not agglomerated. This work had as objective to partially fulfill that gap. Determined by a quantitative approach, it aimed to evaluate how the agglomerated firms perform economically when compared with the ones that are not. Considering the apparent competitive advantage of the Brazilian textile sector and the relative economic relevance that it rebuilt after decades of decadence, firms from this sector located in São Paulo state were selected for analysis. To reach this goal, a secondary data base was used, together with information concerning the industrial agglomerations existing in São Paulo state, which has allowed evaluating the firms’ performance trough measures related to the concept of Added Value. Contrary to all expectations raised by the bibliographic review and preparatory research, no evidence that confirms that firms located in industrial agglomerations have better performance than the not agglomerated firms was found. Moreover, the research revealed that the firms located in São Paulo city, the region with the biggest agglomeration of firms of the textile sector, have their performance jeopardized Nevertheless, taking into account the exploratory nature of this study, the results should not be generalized to all the textile industry sector, remaining such results strictly adequate to the firms of the sample.

Presented thesis deals with the evaluation of air quality in Ostrava industrial area, especially with regard to highly concentrated suspended particles and sorbed on them toxic polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Their above-limit concentrations are the main cause of negative effects on the health of humans and other organisms in one of the most outstanding European "hot- spot"regions, in the industrial agglomeration of Ostrava. The first part of the work is devoted to the evaluation of pollutant concentrations and contributions of identified types of air pollution sources in the wider influence area of a large industrial source in the Ostrava region. It was confirmed the concentrations of all pollutants show very significant inter-seasonal differences between the warm and cold parts of the year. The measured concentrations of PAHs in the cold season were 3 to 5 times higher than in the warm season. Less pronounced differences in concentration levels were seen between day and night samples. The air-pollution load was highest at the Radvanice site, compared to Vratimov and the background area of Poruba. The pollution caused by suspended particles originating from the emissions of the industrial complex in the annual scale contributes significantly to the resulting air quality image on the site, but is not an exclusive source. Other identified sources of the contributions to the PM2.5 concentrations are regional sources and operating seasonally sources (local heating). The second part of the thesis is an assessment of the character and regularities of air mass transmission in the ground-level layer of the troposphere in the Czech-Polish border area, as regional and long-range pollution transport plays a significant role, manifested in the resulting reduced air quality. The contribution of cross-border pollution sources is an important component of often alarming concentrations of atmospheric pollutants, especially during winter smog situations. It was shown within the northeast steady flow is dominated by the shift of higher concentrations of suspended particles from Poland to the Czech Republic. On the other hand, with the opposite prevailing direction of steady flow, particle concentrations on the Polish side of the territory are not increasing dramatically. At least half the year there are situations with variable wind direction, or low flow velocities during which the entire area on both sides of the border there are maximum concentrations of particles, including sorbed polyaromatics with the most serious health effects.