Urban Growth and Innovation Spatially Bounded Externalities in the Netherlands

Knowledge externalities - i.e. intellectual gains made by exchange of information for which no direct compensation is given to the producer of the knowledge - result in higher economic growth rates across urban areas, as well as higher degrees of innovation intensity in those locations where economic activity is dense. By combining theories and methodologies on localised growth and innovation density from the fields of geography and economics, he puts forward an innovative spatial econometric model which contributes to a clearer understanding of actual processes of growth and innovation and their linkages to industry and spatially determined agglomeration factors. In doing so, the book acknowledges the increasing importance of geographical composition and distance for the transmission of knowledge and skills in a society in which information becomes easier to access.

Contents: Introduction; Agglomeration in economic and geographical theories; Heterogeneity in localized economic growth; Exploratory spatial data analysis; Location-industry employment dynamics; Sectoral employment dynamics; Innovation intensity; Summary and conclusions; Appendix A: data on employment dynamics; Appendix B: data on innovation intensity; Bibliography; Index.

Frank G. van Oort is Professor of Urban and Regional Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Urban Economics at Utrecht University.