Høgni Kalsø Hansen

The Spaces of Urban Economic Geographies: Industrial Transformation in the Outer City of Copenhagen

Abstract Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 107(2):45–58, 2007 The paper focuses on the transformation of the industrial structure and the location dynamics on the edge of the metropolitan region of Copenhagen with the aim of explaining the rise of new spaces in the urban economic geography. The main concern of the paper is the role the transformation of the outer city plays in the urban economy of Copenhagen. The centre of attention is on the changing industrial structure, the progressively higher complexity of firm location, and the division of labour that have emerged in the past decade of growth as a result of the resurgence of the metropolitan region of Copenhagen. The recent changes in the economic geographies of the outer city of Copenhagen are used as a launch pad for discussing the theoretical and analytical challenges in understanding the industrial change in new urban forms.

The Importance of Business Climate and People Climate on Regional Performance

Eriksson R. H., Hansen H. K. and Lindgren U. The importance of business climate and people climate on regional performance, Regional Studies. Creativity and talent are considered key factors in regional development due to the connection between growth, city-regions and human capital. To come to a deeper understanding of the relevance of recent amenity-driven theories and how they are related to employment and gross regional product per capita (GRP) at the regional level, this paper analyses the influence of business climate (business-friendly assets) and people climate (amenities). Based on panel-data regressions, it is shown that both business and people climate are related to regional performance. The exact nature of these relationships is, however, dependent on how both regional performance and business or people climate is defined.

Regional development and the impact of the public sector in Denmark: employment growth and human capital

This paper analyses the relationships between employment growth, human capital and regional development. To understand the spatial development of employment growth, we distinguish between the public and the private sector. The public sector has a major role in Denmark in the form of a large share of total employment and employment growth across space. We examine in particular the uneven geography of human capital and the relationships between the growth of human capital and total employment growth by Danish municipalities. It is moreover analysed, whether there is a concentration of human capital in the largest city-regions, and how such concentrations contribute to the uneven geography of employment growth. The paper concludes that both the public and private sectors are important regarding employment growth in Danish municipalities. Further, public and private human capital contributes to employment growth, and the public sector contributes, over time, to diminishing the uneven spatial distribution of human capital while the private sector increases the spatial inequality. Moreover, urbanisation has a significant effect on employment growth and human capital formation, both when it comes to the large city regions, and, in general, the distance to city centres.

Employment growth, human capital and educational levels: uneven urban and regional development in Denmark 2002–2012

Contemporary studies in urban and regional development stress the importance of large city-regions as key places in modern capitalism taking the form of agglomerations of economic activities by industries, firms and highly skilled people. In this article, we challenge the strong focus on academic human capital in understanding regional growth. We examine to what extent different labour competences and capabilities relate to municipal employment growth using nine stratified, educational categories as proxies for different levels of human capital. Dividing municipalities into four spatial categories ranging from the urban to the peripheral, we conclude that there is a strong spatial distinction of educational structures with an urban bias, and that educational categories other than academic human capital can make an important contribution to our understanding of what drives employment growth on the municipal level.

Employment growth and regional development: industrial change and contextual differences between Denmark and Sweden

ABSTRACT This paper explores the potential drivers behind uneven regional development in the context of employment growth in Denmark and Sweden. In particular, we are interested in the roles of urbanization, industrial change and the rise of the new economy as manifested in the growth of the two economies in 2002–2007. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to analyse the impact of a number of key industrial sectors on regional employment growth in the two countries. The empirical analysis is based on longitudinal matched employer–employee data retrieved from official registers in each economy from 2002 to 2007, a period of strong national growth following the crisis of early 2000. Our findings indicate that the two economies follow a similar pattern in addressing total employment growth; but looking at changes in employment levels across the national borders of these two relatively similar open economies, we find that, although in general these economies react relatively similarly to changes, embarking on a narrower analysis of the individual sectors reveals marked national differences. This indicates that context matters in the analysis of regional economic dynamics in terms of structure, system and policy.