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Regional industrial structure and agglomeration economies: An analysis of productivity in three manufacturing industries

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  • Drucker, Joshua
  • Feser, Edward

Abstract

We investigate whether a more concentrated regional industrial structure – the dominance of a few large firms in a given industry in a region – limits agglomeration economies and ultimately diminishes the economic performance of firms in that industry, especially small ones. In an application to three industries using establishment-level production functions and a combination of confidential and publicly available data sources, we find a consistently negative and substantial direct productivity effect associated with regional industrial structure concentration and only mixed and relatively weak evidence that agglomeration economies are a mediating factor in that effect.

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  • Drucker, Joshua & Feser, Edward, 2012. "Regional industrial structure and agglomeration economies: An analysis of productivity in three manufacturing industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:42:y:2012:i:1:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2011.04.006
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industrial structure; Agglomeration economies; Manufacturing; Productivity; Small firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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