Catherine Baumont

Spatial Analysis of Employment and Population Density: The Case of the Agglomeration of Dijon 1999

The aim of this paper is to analyze the intraurban spatial distributions of population and employment in the agglomeration of Dijon (regional capital of Burgundy, France). We study whether this agglomeration has followed the general tendency of job decentralization observed in most urban areas or whether it is still characterized by a monocentric pattern. To that purpose, we use a sample of 136 observations at the communal and at the IRIS (infraurban statistical area) levels with 1999 census data and the employment database SIRENE (INSEE). First, we study the spatial pattern of total employment and employment density using exploratory spatial data analysis. Apart from the CBD, few IRIS are found to be statistically significant, a result contrasting with those found using standard methods of subcenter identiÞcation with employment cut-offs. Next, in order to examine the spatial distribution of residential population density, we estimate and compare different specifications: exponential negative, spline-exponential, and multicentric density functions. Moreover, spatial autocorrelation, spatial heterogeneity, and outliers are controlled for by using the appropriate maximum likelihood, generalized method of moments, and Bayesian spatial econometric techniques. Our results highlight again the monocentric character of the agglomeration of Dijon.

A Spatial Econometric Analysis of Convergence Across European Regions, 1980–1995

The convergence of European regions has been largely discussed in the macroeconomic and the regional science literature during the past decade. Two observations are often emphasized. First, the convergence rate among European regions appears to be very slow in the extensive samples considered (Barro and Sala-iMartin 1991, 1995; Armstrong 1995a; Sala-i-Martin 1996a, 1996b). Second, as shown in Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2), the geographical distribution of European per capita GDP is highly clustered.

Spatial Convergence Clubs and the European Regional Growth Process,1980–1995

In international cross-country studies, evidence for club convergence has often been found using different methodologies (Baumol 1986; Durlauf and Johnson 1995; Quah 1996a, 1997). In the case of the European regions, Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2) and Le Gallo et al. (see Chap. 3) have shown that the convergence rate among European regions is slow and that GDP disparities seem to be persistent despite the European economic integration process and higher growth rates of some poorer regions, as highlighted as well in the European Commission reports (1996, 1999). Moreover, over the 1980–1995 period, Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2) found that the geographical distribution of European regions exhibits a persistent polarization pattern between rich regions in the north and poor regions in the south.

Theory of possibility as a basis for analysing business experience process

Abstract The aim of this paper is to introduce the theory of possibility in the analysis of professional abilities creations by the labor market. When an individual performs a job, he can acquire new abilities and is able to obtain other jobs. It is shown how career possibilities secure a dynamic property of the labor market structure due to the business experience process. The model we have defined indicates that the labor market structure ‘converges in possibility’ towards a stable state.

An Economic Definition of the City

Cities are a universal phenomenon which first appeared at several points around the planet after the Neolithic revolution (Bairoch, 1985) before spreading worldwide, growing and changing. The city-states of the ancient world, the fortified cities of the Middle Ages, the industrial cities of the 19th century and the world metropolises of the end of this millennium with their immense diversity of shape, function and development, all go by the name of city. But just what are these cities that so attract people, that fascinate and frighten, that bring progress but also nuisances, that nowadays group together the greater proportion of the world’s population and the bulk of economic and cultural output? Beyond the simple fact that human societies have become urbanized, and because of the very scope and diversity of the process, there is a need for theoretical reflection if we want to understand and master the city. But understanding the city means identifying it first.

The Organization of the Defense Support System: An Economic Geography Perspective

Abstract In the context of restricted budgetary resources and the growing cost of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities, a major issue for modern armed forces is to sustain defense platforms. A possible method consists of realizing economies of scale through the concentration of maintenance activities, which involves the spatial reorganization of existing industrial sites dedicated to MRO. This article provides a formalized framework to discuss the optimal organization for the MRO of defense platforms in space. The public planner organizes the maintenance of defense platforms with only two possible spatial configurations. In the dispersed configuration, two industrial production units in charge of the maintenance optimally cover space, whereas in the concentrated configuration, a unique industrial unit covers space. Focusing on the tipping point between the two configurations, the balance of forces between agglomeration and dispersion in defense support activities is described and discussed. On the one hand, economies of scale provide an opportunity to optimize defense support costs, favoring concentration in a unique industrial unit. On the other hand, space causes dispersion to reduce both transport costs and operational social costs. This trade-off illustrates a general principle in spatial economics with an application to MRO production in the French case.

Spatial Weights Configuration and Impact of Environmental Externalities on Housing Prices

This paper highlights, from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view, how the choice of neighborhood and spatial weight affects the direct and indirect effects of environmental housing attributes on house price in environmental hedonic models.An original empirical investigation is herein undertaken for the area of the lower Loire estuary (France), in order to illustrate and complement our theoretical analysis. The first thing it shows is that as the radius of the neighborhood increases, the spatial specification changes from the Spatial Durbin to the SLAG model, which could modify the MWTP of the environmental attribute and therefore affect welfare analysis. It shows also that the indirect effects of environmental attributes, i.e., proximity to the sea or to a noisy road, should be taken into account in hedonic environmental valuations when the matrix of spatial weights is distance-dependent.