IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ers/journl/vxvy2012i2p81-104.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban Advantages and Disadvantages in Southeastern Europe: An Appreciation of Industrial Firms by Using Exploratory Factor Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore Metaxas

Abstract

The article aims to define the connection between the characteristics of the urban/ regional environment and competitiveness of industrial firms. The article introduces the diamond theory of M. Porter, so as to examine this connection through a primary empirical study realised in 168 industrial firms (> 30 employees) in four cities of Southeastern Europe, Bari (Italy), Varna (Bulgaria) and Volos, Larissa (Greece). By using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis, the study awards the importance of some particular factors of the four cities environment, such as agglomeration factors and access to markets, also qualitative and labour factors, which along with the firms we study, may contribute to their competitiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore Metaxas, 2012. "Urban Advantages and Disadvantages in Southeastern Europe: An Appreciation of Industrial Firms by Using Exploratory Factor Analysis," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 81-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:ers:journl:v:xv:y:2012:i:2:p:81-104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ersj.eu/repec/ers/papers/12_2_p6.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crozet, Matthieu & Mayer, Thierry & Mucchielli, Jean-Louis, 2004. "How do firms agglomerate? A study of FDI in France," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 27-54, January.
    2. Panagiotis G. Liargovas & Konstantinos S. Skandalis, 2008. "Motives and Marketing Strategies of Greek Companies Exporting to South-East European Markets," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 6(2), pages 227-244.
    3. Gao, Ting, 2004. "Regional industrial growth: evidence from Chinese industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 101-124, January.
    4. Redding, Stephen & Venables, Anthony J., 2004. "Economic geography and international inequality," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 53-82, January.
    5. Luciana Lazzeretti & Rafael Boix & Francesco Capone, 2008. "Do Creative Industries Cluster? Mapping Creative Local Production Systems in Italy and Spain," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(5), pages 549-567.
    6. Simona Iammarino & Christos Pitelis, 2000. "Foreign Direct Investment and 'Less Favoured Regions': Greek FDI in Bulgaria and Romania," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 155-171, August.
    7. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 1999. "Country size and tax competition for foreign direct investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 121-139, January.
    8. Iammarino, Simona & McCann, Philip, 2006. "The structure and evolution of industrial clusters: Transactions, technology and knowledge spillovers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1018-1036, September.
    9. Francesca Governa & Carlo Salone, 2005. "Italy and European spatial policies: polycentrism, urban networks and local innovation practices1," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 265-283, January.
    10. Polidano, Charles, 2000. "Measuring Public Sector Capacity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 805-822, May.
    11. Chang, Shih-Chia & Yang, Chen-Lung & Cheng, Hsin-Chia & Sheu, Chwen, 2003. "Manufacturing flexibility and business strategy: An empirical study of small and medium sized firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 13-26, January.
    12. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    13. R.W. Vickerman, 1994. "Transport Infrastructure and Region Building in the European Community," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 1-24, March.
    14. Luciana Lazzeretti & Rafael Boix & Francesco Capone, 2008. "Do creative industries cluster? Mapping Creative Local Production Systems in Italy," Working Papers wpdea0805, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    15. Nachum, Lilach & Keeble, David, 2003. "MNE linkages and localised clusters: foreign and indigenous firms in the media cluster of Central London," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 171-192.
    16. Pison, Greet & Rousseeuw, Peter J. & Filzmoser, Peter & Croux, Christophe, 2003. "Robust factor analysis," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 145-172, January.
    17. Papadaskalopoulos, Athanasios & Karaganis, Anastasios & Christofakis, Manolis, 2005. "The spatial impact of EU Pan-European transport axes: City clusters formation in the Balkan area and developmental perspectives," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 488-499, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Metaxas, Theodore & Kallioras, Dimitris, 2013. "Small and medium-sized firms' competitiveness and territorial characteristics/assets: The cases of Bari, Varna and Thessaloniki," MPRA Paper 52446, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Metaxas, Theodore & Duquenne, Marie Noelle, 2015. "Small and Medium Sized Firms’ Competitiveness and Territorial Characteristics by using a MLR approach," MPRA Paper 66848, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Aikaterini Kokkinou & Yannis Psycharis, 2005. "Foreign Direct Investment and Regional Attractiveness in Southeastern European countries," ERSA conference papers ersa05p382, European Regional Science Association.
    4. Puig, Francisco & Debón, Ana & Cantarero, Santiago & Marques, Helena, 2023. "Location, profitability, and international trade liberalization in European textile-clothing firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    5. Neil Lee & Andr�s Rodr�guez-Pose, 2014. "Innovation in Creative Cities: Evidence from British Small Firms," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(6), pages 494-512, August.
    6. Théodore METAXAS & Marie-Noëlle DUQUENNE, 2017. "Partnerships and development policies for small-medium enterprises in Greece: a CFA approach," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 45, pages 131-158.
    7. METAXAS, Theodore, 2011. "Territorial Assets And Firms’ Competitiveness In Southern Europe: Industrial Vs Commercial Firms Using Exploratory Factor Analysis," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 11(1).
    8. Fikri Zul Fahmi, 2016. "Business networks, social capital and the productivity of creative industries in Indonesia," ERSA conference papers ersa16p351, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Alfredo Monte & Luca Pennacchio, 2020. "Historical roots of regional entrepreneurship: the role of knowledge and creativity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 1-22, June.
    10. Tanja Sinozic & Franz Tödtling, 2015. "Adaptation and Change in Creative Clusters: Findings from Vienna's New Media Sector," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(10), pages 1975-1992, October.
    11. John S. Hill & Myung-Su Chae & Jinseo Park, 2012. "The Effects of Geography and Infrastructure on Economic Development and International Business Involvement," Journal of Infrastructure Development, India Development Foundation, vol. 4(2), pages 91-113, December.
    12. Rafael Boix & José Luis Hervás-Oliver & Blanca De Miguel-Molina, 2013. "“I want creative neighbours”. Do creative service industries spillovers cross regional boundaries?," Working Papers 1315, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    13. Koenig, Pamina & MacGarvie, Megan, 2011. "Regulatory policy and the location of bio-pharmaceutical foreign direct investment in Europe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 950-965.
    14. Thierry Mayer, 2006. "Policy Coherence for Development : A Background paper on Foreign Direct Investment," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01065640, HAL.
    15. Niccolò Innocenti & Luciana Lazzeretti, 2018. "Relatedness and growth: The impact of creative industries to the wider economy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1819, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Apr 2018.
    16. Anne Musson, 2012. "Construire l'attractivité durable régionale: l'exemple de l'Aquitaine," Working Papers hal-00704414, HAL.
    17. Diana-Cristina SAVA & Alina BADULESCU, 2018. "Dimensions And Performances Of The Creative Economy In Romania," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(1), pages 223-232, November.
    18. Homero Rodríguez-Insuasti & Néstor Montalván-Burbano & Otto Suárez-Rodríguez & Marcela Yonfá-Medranda & Katherine Parrales-Guerrero, 2022. "Creative Economy: A Worldwide Research in Business, Management and Accounting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-27, November.
    19. Modrego, Félix & Berdegué, Julio A., 2015. "A Large-Scale Mapping of Territorial Development Dynamics in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 11-31.
    20. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban Advantages / Disadvantages; Industrial Firms; Research; Exploratory Factor Analysis; Southeastern Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ers:journl:v:xv:y:2012:i:2:p:81-104. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marios Agiomavritis (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ersj.eu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.