Agglomeration Economies and the Location of Industries: A Comparison of Three Small European Countries

Luisito Bertinelli (1) , Eric Strobl (2) , Salvador Barrios (3) , Antonio-Carlos Teixeira (4)

1 Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
2 X - École polytechnique
3 IPTS - JRC Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
4 European Commission

We investigate and compare the spatial distribution of manufacturing activity and its determinants in Belgium, Ireland, and Portugal using comparable, exhaustive micro-level data sets. We find some similarities between Portugal and Belgium, but little for Ireland. Moreover, there is some evidence that forward and backward linkages, R&D activity, and labour market pooling of skilled labor can be important determinants of agglomeration, although this crucially depends on the country examined.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Luisito Bertinelli, Eric Strobl, Salvador Barrios, Antonio-Carlos Teixeira. Agglomeration Economies and the Location of Industries: A Comparison of Three Small European Countries. Regional Studies, 2009, 43 (05), pp.721-738. ⟨10.1080/00343400801922822⟩. ⟨hal-00516196⟩