Regional growth literature indicates that the relations between the core and the peripheral regions, and the process by which growth is transmitted between regions are of prime importance in discussing growth disparities. Northeastern Ontario is a peripheral region, economically subordinate to the Ontario core region, and exhibits adverse growth conditions. Diversification of the region's resource dependent economy has been called for by many groups but has been hindered by the perception of higher manufacturing production costs. However, these costs have not been investigated. In this thesis, Northeastern Ontario centers' factor costs in manufacturing are compared with core centers' costs by utilizing a cost accounting method. The results indicate that some Northeastern locations may be cost attractive locations. However, low costs derived for Toronto would indicate continued manufacturing concentration in the principle centers of the core region. When costs are calculated for hypothetical firms, the importance of the factor requirement structure is indicated in determining location. Northeastern locations would be attractive to firms with large land, and low labour requirements. If future analyses verify these results, alternative explanations of the development problem of the Northeast should be explored. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Na literatura econômica, há um grande interesse no estudo sobre a dinâmica do crescimento das cidades e os fatores que a influenciam. A motivação principal dos pesquisadores é verificar por que algumas cidades crescem enquanto outras permanecem estagnadas, e quais são os fatores que contribuem para o fluxo de migração de fatores de produção para os grandes centros urbanos. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho procura avaliar o impacto da infraestrutura pública sobre o crescimento econômico das cidades brasileiras - mensurado por meio do crescimento populacional e salarial. O acesso à infraestrutura é um dos principais fatores que determinam o desenvolvimento econômico e é considerado um dos maiores entraves para a o crescimento econômico do Brasil. Boa infraestrutura pode garantir serviços básicos, bem como externalidades positivas sobre a saúde, meio ambiente, produtividade e possibilidades de investimento. Os dados dos Censos Demográficos, utilizados nesta dissertação, mostraram que o país experimentou um forte crescimento no acesso à infraestrutura no período de 1970 a 2010. O acesso ao bastecimento de água, a coleta de esgoto, energia elétrica e a telefonia mais do que dobrou no período analisado. Tendo em vista que os municípios brasileiros são suscetíveis a diversas formas de interações entre si, é de se esperar que existam efeitos espaciais entre estes. Portanto, para analisar os impactos da infraestrutura sobre o crescimento econômico regional, foi utilizada a metodologia econométrica de dados em painel com dependência espacial. Como esperado, os resultados mostram que as variáveis de infraestrutura afetam positivamente o crescimento econômico regional, sendo o acesso à energia elétrica e a telefonia as variáveis com maior impacto. / In the economic literature there is a great interest in the study of the dynamics of the growth of cities and the factors that influence it. The main attraction of the researchers is to check why some cities grow while others remain stagnant, and what are the factors that contribute to the migration flow of production factors to the major urban centers. In this sense, this paper seeks to assess the impact of public infrastructure on economic growth of Brazilian cities - measured by population and wage growth. Since the access to infrastructure is one of the main factors determining economic development and is considered one of the greatest barriers to the economic growth in Brazil. Good infrastructure can guarantee basic services, as well as positive externalities in health, environment, productivity and possibilities for investment. Data from Demographic Censuses, used in this paper, showed that the country experienced strong growth in the access to infrastructure in the period of 1970-2010. The access to water supply, the sewage collection, electricity and telecommunications more than doubled during the period analyzed. In order to measure the effects of infrastructure on regional economic growth, we used the econometric analysis of panel data with spatial dependence, since the Brazilians\' municipalities are susceptible to diverse forms of interactions among them, is to be expected that exist spatial effects between them. As expected, the results show that the infrastructure variables positively affect the variation of income, being the access to electricity and telecommunications the variables with the greatest impact.

This thesis presents an examination of the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for economic growth and examines how sensitive employment in SMEs is to business cycle fluctuations in Brazil. The thesis uses different empirical techniques to investigate the role of SMEs in the Brazilian regional economic growth, using a panel dataset from 1980 to 2004 for 508 Brazilian micro-regions. It first uses standard panel data estimators (OLS, LSDV, system and first differenced GMM) to analyse the (augmented) Solow growth model encompassing the importance of the relative size of the SME sector measured by the share of the SME employment in total formal employment and the level of human capital in SMEs measured by the average years of schooling of SME employees. The results show that the size of the SME sector is not significantly important for regional economic growth, but that human capital embodied in SMEs is more important in this process.

Na literatura econômica, há um grande interesse no estudo sobre a dinâmica do crescimento das cidades e os fatores que a influenciam. A motivação principal dos pesquisadores é verificar por que algumas cidades crescem enquanto outras permanecem estagnadas, e quais são os fatores que contribuem para o fluxo de migração de fatores de produção para os grandes centros urbanos. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho procura avaliar o impacto da infraestrutura pública sobre o crescimento econômico das cidades brasileiras - mensurado por meio do crescimento populacional e salarial. O acesso à infraestrutura é um dos principais fatores que determinam o desenvolvimento econômico e é considerado um dos maiores entraves para a o crescimento econômico do Brasil. Boa infraestrutura pode garantir serviços básicos, bem como externalidades positivas sobre a saúde, meio ambiente, produtividade e possibilidades de investimento. Os dados dos Censos Demográficos, utilizados nesta dissertação, mostraram que o país experimentou um forte crescimento no acesso à infraestrutura no período de 1970 a 2010. O acesso ao bastecimento de água, a coleta de esgoto, energia elétrica e a telefonia mais do que dobrou no período analisado. Tendo em vista que os municípios brasileiros são suscetíveis a diversas formas de interações entre si, é de se esperar que existam efeitos espaciais entre estes. Portanto, para analisar os impactos da infraestrutura sobre o crescimento econômico regional, foi utilizada a metodologia econométrica de dados em painel com dependência espacial. Como esperado, os resultados mostram que as variáveis de infraestrutura afetam positivamente o crescimento econômico regional, sendo o acesso à energia elétrica e a telefonia as variáveis com maior impacto. / In the economic literature there is a great interest in the study of the dynamics of the growth of cities and the factors that influence it. The main attraction of the researchers is to check why some cities grow while others remain stagnant, and what are the factors that contribute to the migration flow of production factors to the major urban centers. In this sense, this paper seeks to assess the impact of public infrastructure on economic growth of Brazilian cities - measured by population and wage growth. Since the access to infrastructure is one of the main factors determining economic development and is considered one of the greatest barriers to the economic growth in Brazil. Good infrastructure can guarantee basic services, as well as positive externalities in health, environment, productivity and possibilities for investment. Data from Demographic Censuses, used in this paper, showed that the country experienced strong growth in the access to infrastructure in the period of 1970-2010. The access to water supply, the sewage collection, electricity and telecommunications more than doubled during the period analyzed. In order to measure the effects of infrastructure on regional economic growth, we used the econometric analysis of panel data with spatial dependence, since the Brazilians\' municipalities are susceptible to diverse forms of interactions among them, is to be expected that exist spatial effects between them. As expected, the results show that the infrastructure variables positively affect the variation of income, being the access to electricity and telecommunications the variables with the greatest impact.

This research aims to measure the contribution of public investment in transport and communications infrastructure to economic growth in the regions of Peru. This is done on the basis of different estimations using panel data for the 24 regions of Peru, over the period 2004- 2014. First, a conventional fixed-effect panel data method is used for the estimations, whereby investment in transport and communications infrastructure is found to have a positive effect on GDP and GDP per worker in the regions. Then, a spatial panel data methodology is followed, which takes into account the direct effects of investment in infrastructure within a region, as well as the indirect effects that occur between regions. Here, the results suggest that investment in transportation has a direct positive effect on regional GDP, while investment in communications contributes to GDP indirectly. / La presente investigación busca el aporte de la inversión pública en infraestructura de transportes y comunicaciones sobre el crecimiento económico de las regiones del Perú. Esto se realiza sobre la base de diversas estimaciones con datos de panel para las 24 regiones del Perú en el periodo 2004-2014. En primer lugar, para las estimaciones se usa una metodología convencional de datos de panel con efectos fijos. Se encuentra un aporte positivo de la inversión en infraestructura de transportes y comunicaciones sobre el PBI y el PBI por trabajador de las regiones. Luego, se sigue una metodología espacial de datos de panel, la cual toma en cuenta los efectos directos de la inversión en infraestructura dentro de una región, así como los efectos indirectos que ocurren entre regiones. Los resultados sugieren que la inversión en transportes afecta positivamente el PBI regional de forma directa, mientras que la inversión en comunicaciones aporta al PBI de manera indirecta.

Both Sweden and the European Union have set numerous goals to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. At the same time, regional growth is desired in most, if not all of Sweden’s counties. With economic- and population growth being essential for reaching this desire, there is a potential conflict brewing. Is it feasible to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses while at the same time actively working on growing the economy and the population?This paper has explored this idea in Sweden largest counties Stockholm, Skåne and Västra Götaland. The development in these counties over the last decade or so show that reduced emissions and regional growth in fact have been compatible. Not only that, the county with the largest population, population growth and largest gross regional product, Stockholm, has also had the largest decrease in greenhouse gas emission over the period. The trend of the emission reductions in these three counties are also compatible with the Swedish and European emission targets. However, the trend does indicate the actual development of greenhouse gas emission over a longer period. The findings indicate that reduced greenhouse gas emission can and have coexisted with regional growth.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the impact of the EU’s Structural Fund (SF) policy between 2000-2007 on regional economic growth in Sweden. A regional convergence analysis is performed in order to examine if the SF policy’s overall aim of convergence is reached. Furthermore the study examines the growth of important Structural Fund goal indicators as employment, education and new firm formation in the Objective 1, 2 and 3 areas. The main growth- and convergence theories and their connection to regional policies such as the SF policy is used as the theoretical framework and form the study’s hypothesis. The results show that absolute β-convergence exists between the Swedish urban areas. The growth of the goal indicators show that the Objective 1 and 2 areas, which received most part of the SF support have achieved their aims in increasing employment and new firm creation. In addition the Objective 2 areas have increased their share of population with higher education compared to the areas that did not receive either Objective 1 or 2 support. The Objective 3 areas, which received the least part of the SF support had a lower mean growth in employment than the areas that received no direct Objective 3 support. In addition the urban areas that only received Objective 3 support had a lower growth in share of population with higher education. From the results we can reach the overall conclusion that the positive impact of the SF policy on the goal indicators seem to be the largest in the areas that received most part of the funding. The final conclusion is that the SF are effective in enhancing economic growth in the areas of intervention. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera EU:s Strukturfondspolitiks inverkan på regional ekonomisk tillväxt i Sverige mellan 2000-2007. En regional konvergensanalys utförs för att undersöka om Strukturfondspolitikens övergripande konvergens mål uppnås. Vidare undersöker studien viktiga Strukturfondmålindikatorers tillväxt, såsom sysselsättning, utbildning och nyföretagande, i Mål 1, 2 och 3 områdena. De viktigaste tillväxt- och konvergensteorierna och deras koppling till regional politik, såsom Strukturfondspolitiken används som den teoretiska bakgrunden och formar studiens hypotes. Resultaten visar att absolut β-konvergens existerar mellan de svenska kommunerna. Resultaten för målindikatorernas tillväxt visar att Mål 1 och 2-områdena som har mottagit största delen av Strukturfondsstödet har uppnått sina mål att öka sysselsättningen och starta nya företag. Dessutom har Mål 2-områdena haft en högre ökning av andelen av befolkningen med högre utbildning jämfört med områdena som inte mottog något Mål 1 eller 2-stöd. Mål 3- områdena som har mottagit den minsta delen av Strukturfondsstödet hade en lägre tillväxt av sysselsättning jämfört med de områden som inte mottog något direkt Mål 3-stöd. De områden som enbart mottog Mål 3-stöd hade dessutom en lägre tillväxt av befolkning med högre utbildning. Utifrån resultaten kan vi dra den övergripande slutsatsen att den positiva påverkan av Strukturfondspolitiken på målindikatorerna verkar vara störst i de områden som har mottagit största delen av Strukturfondsstödet. Den slutgiltiga slutsatsen är att Strukturfondspolitiken sannolikt främjar den ekonomiska tillväxten i insatsområdena.

<p> </p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the impact of the EU’s Structural Fund (SF) policy between 2000-2007 on regional economic growth in Sweden. A regional convergence analysis is performed in order to examine if the SF policy’s overall aim of convergence is reached. Furthermore the study examines the growth of important Structural Fund goal indicators as employment, education and new firm formation in the Objective 1, 2 and 3 areas. The main growth- and convergence theories and their connection to regional policies such as the SF policy is used as the theoretical framework and form the study’s hypothesis.</p><p>The results show that absolute β-convergence exists between the Swedish urban areas. The growth of the goal indicators show that the Objective 1 and 2 areas, which received most part of the SF support have achieved their aims in increasing employment and new firm creation. In addition the Objective 2 areas have increased their share of population with higher education compared to the areas that did not receive either Objective 1 or 2 support. The Objective 3 areas, which received the least part of the SF support had a lower mean growth in employment than the areas that received no direct Objective 3 support. In addition the urban areas that only received Objective 3 support had a lower growth in share of population with higher education. From the results we can reach the overall conclusion that the positive impact of the SF policy on the goal indicators seem to be the largest in the areas that received most part of the funding. The final conclusion is that the SF are effective in enhancing economic growth in the areas of intervention.</p><p> </p> / <p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera EU:s Strukturfondspolitiks inverkan på regional ekonomisk tillväxt i Sverige mellan 2000-2007. En regional konvergensanalys utförs för att undersöka om Strukturfondspolitikens övergripande konvergens mål uppnås. Vidare undersöker studien viktiga Strukturfondmålindikatorers tillväxt, såsom sysselsättning, utbildning och nyföretagande, i Mål 1, 2 och 3 områdena. De viktigaste tillväxt- och konvergensteorierna och deras koppling till regional politik, såsom Strukturfondspolitiken används som den teoretiska bakgrunden och formar studiens hypotes.</p><p>Resultaten visar att absolut β-konvergens existerar mellan de svenska kommunerna. Resultaten för målindikatorernas tillväxt visar att Mål 1 och 2-områdena som har mottagit största delen av Strukturfondsstödet har uppnått sina mål att öka sysselsättningen och starta nya företag. Dessutom har Mål 2-områdena haft en högre ökning av andelen av befolkningen med högre utbildning jämfört med områdena som inte mottog något Mål 1 eller 2-stöd. Mål 3- områdena som har mottagit den minsta delen av Strukturfondsstödet hade en lägre tillväxt av sysselsättning jämfört med de områden som inte mottog något direkt Mål 3-stöd. De områden som enbart mottog Mål 3-stöd hade dessutom en lägre tillväxt av befolkning med högre utbildning. Utifrån resultaten kan vi dra den övergripande slutsatsen att den positiva påverkan av Strukturfondspolitiken på målindikatorerna verkar vara störst i de områden som har mottagit största delen av Strukturfondsstödet. Den slutgiltiga slutsatsen är att Strukturfondspolitiken sannolikt främjar den ekonomiska tillväxten i insatsområdena.</p>

abstract: In the study of regional economic growth and convergence, the distribution dynamics approach which interrogates the evolution of the cross-sectional distribution as a whole and is concerned with both the external and internal dynamics of the distribution has received wide usage. However, many methodological issues remain to be resolved before valid inferences and conclusions can be drawn from empirical research. Among them, spatial effects including spatial heterogeneity and spatial dependence invalidate the assumption of independent and identical distributions underlying the conventional maximum likelihood techniques while the availability of small samples in regional settings questions the usage of the asymptotic properties. This dissertation is comprised of three papers targeted at addressing these two issues. The first paper investigates whether the conventional regional income mobility estimators are still suitable in the presence of spatial dependence and/or a small sample. It is approached through a series of Monte Carlo experiments which require the proposal of a novel data generating process (DGP) capable of generating spatially dependent time series. The second paper moves to the statistical tests for detecting specific forms of spatial (spatiotemporal) effects in the discrete Markov chain model, investigating their robustness to the alternative spatial effect, sensitivity to discretization granularity, and properties in small sample settings. The third paper proposes discrete kernel estimators with cross-validated bandwidths as an alternative to maximum likelihood estimators in small sample settings. It is demonstrated that the performance of discrete kernel estimators offers improvement when the sample size is small. Taken together, the three papers constitute an endeavor to relax the restrictive assumptions of spatial independence and spatial homogeneity, as well as demonstrating the difference between the small sample and asymptotic properties for conventionally adopted maximum likelihood estimators towards a more valid inferential framework for the distribution dynamics approach to the study of regional economic growth and convergence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2018

Nesta tese propõe-se responder a três principais questões: No primeiro ensaio estuda-se o impacto dos investimentos privados de multinacionais do setor automobilístico no Brasil sobre o crescimento da atividade econômica dos municípios. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que as cidades onde se instalam este tipo de investimentos alcançam um desempenho superior aos outros grupos de municípios sem este recurso. Estes resultados apontam para uma subprovisão de bens públicos esperada em todo agrupamento de cidades, e um crescimento da atividade industrial no grupo de municípios de domicílio dos investimentos em detrimento a um crescimento abaixo da média do grupo de controle dos municípios adjacentes. No segundo ensaio proposto nesta tese, levanta-se a questão sobre qual o impacto do investimento em infraestrutura viária sobre a economia dos municípios do estado de Santa Catarina. Para responder esta questão, o método de regressão de dados em painel foi utilizado para identificar e mensurar o efeito do investimento público em rodovias interestaduais sobre o crescimento econômico municipal. Os resultados apontam para um efeito positivo sobre os municípios adjacentes e aqueles cortados pela rodovia federal. O setor agropecuário tende a perder valor agregado dado uma possível realocação de recursos para o setor de serviços e indústria de transformação. No terceiro e último ensaio, sobre a dinâmica da distribuição espacial da população no Brasil, tem-se como ideia central testar a Lei de Zipf tendo por base as estimativas da dinâmica populacional dos municípios brasileiros e seus limites populacionais (K). Recentes trabalhos na área de economia regional e urbana, e da nova geografia econômica (NGE), retomam o tema sobre a distribuição espacial da população entre as cidades. A principal questão neste ensaio é descobrir sobre a existência de uma tendência na distribuição do tamanho dos municípios brasileiros a atender a Lei de Zipf. Após as estimativas para um estado estacionário na dinâmica populacional dos municípios brasileiros e as estimativas por regressão quantílica da lei de potência, rejeitou-se em quase a totalidade das amostras a existência de um expoente igual a -1. / In this thesis propose to reply three principals’ questions. In the first essay examines the impact of private investment of multinational automobile industry in Brazil about the growth of economic activity of municipalities. The results obtained suggest that the municipalities that settle the investments reach a performance superior to other groups of municipalities. These results point to a underprovision expected of public goods in all groups of municipalities and increasing industrial activity in the municipalities of domicile of the investment over a growth below the average of the control group of adjacent municipalities. In the second essay proposed in this thesis, the question is about what the impact of highway infrastructure investment on the economy of the municipalities in the State of Santa Catarina. To answer this question makes use of panel date regression method to identify and measure the effect of public investment on the municipal economic growth. The results does are positive on the neighbouring and crossways interstate highway, the agriculture sector loses added value due a possible relocation of resources to service and manufacture sector. In the third essay, on the dynamics of spatial distribution of population in the Brazil, the core insight this is to test the Zipf’s Law from estimates of population dynamics of Brazilian municipalities and their population limits (K). Lately, studies on the approach of urban and regional economy and of new economic geography (NEG) recovers’ theme on the spatial distribution of population among cities. The central question in this essay, is whether there is a trend in the distribution of sizes of municipalities meet Zipf's law? After estimates for a steady state in the population dynamics of Brazilian municipalities and estimates for regression quantiles power law rejected in almost all of the samples the presence of an exponent equal to-1.