PPS and EU Regional Price Level Problem

In this paper we use the NEG framework of the Helpman model to investigate the spatial distribution of wages across German labour market regions based on different assumptions. As the assumptions of equal regional price level and equal real wages are strongly rejected for the German economy, standard approaches may fail to reveal the role of market access in explaining regional wage disparities. In part substantial changes occur when market potential is measured with the aid of regional price levels. With the so-called price index approach, the importance of market access in explaining regional wage differentials is clearly revealed. When controlling for heterogeneity of labour force and spatial dependence, the relationship still remains highly significant. From the price index approach, limited demand linkages of reasonable reach are inferred.

Cross-sectional evidence on price levels is scarce for all countries. However, several studies suggest that there might exist considerable differences in price levels within countries, which has obvious welfare implications. A sample of price levels in 50 German cities in 1993 is used to analyse the determinants of inter-city price level differentials. The most important explanatory variables for price level differentials are population size and density and the average wage level. Using this information, the price levels are predicted in all 440 German districts and aggregated to the state level. At the state level convergence of the price levels to a common mean is found, but at a very low speed. The estimated half-life is about 19 years.

Policy coherence in climate governance in Caribbean Small Island Developing States

Regional and Sectoral Varieties of VAT Pass Through in Japan

Analysis on the difference of regional carbon emission trading price level from China

In this chapter the different terms and concepts implemented in the study are introduced. In all cases not only is the concept itself introduced but it is as well discussed in how far it can be measured and which data sourced were used to measure it.Starting with an basic description of economic growth the problem with regional price levels which not only effects output variables like GRP but all monetary variables has been discussed and a solution that is later on implemented proposed.After introducing knowledge as a concept it is discussed how it differs from human capital and innovations and in how patents provide a suitable measure for the level of available knowledge. Furthermore, it is discussed how knowledge can be generated and by which channels it can be transmitted, whereas the focus lies on the traditional channels patents, labor mobility, FDI and trade. Building on these mechanisms the idea of the national innovation system is introduced.As one of the basic ideas of Alois Schumpeter has been that small enterprises are essential for the generation of new knowledge it is discussed how they come to be. Taking into account the Russian industry structure the idea of cluster are introduced to account for the respective dynamics. The chapter concludes with a view on the absorptive capacity – whether a region is really able to absorb and use the knowledge available to it.

Italy exhibits pronounced territorial economic disparities, making an accurate measurement of regional price level differences essential for assessing inequalities in real income, household consumption expenditure, and poverty. To this end, the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) is carrying out a project to compute Sub-national Spatial Price Indices (SSPIs) for the 12 Divisions of the ECOICOP (European Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose) classification. These indices are crucial for enabling more robust regional comparisons in economic analysis and for supporting evidence-based policymaking. Initial results, based on 2022 data, have been produced for five divisions and reveal substantial differences in price levels across Italian regions. Work is currently underway for Division 04 “Housing, Water, Gas, Electricity and Other Fuels”. In this paper, we present the first results of SSPI estimation for two Basic Headings (BHs) within Division 4: “Water supply” and “Sewage collection.” The analysis is based on 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, whose characteristics vary depending on the municipality of observation. To ensure the comparability required for SSPI computation, these data are standardized prior to estimation. The indices are estimated using a Regional Product Dummy (RPD) model, taking into account differences in consumption levels in accordance with Eurostat methodology. Preliminary findings highlight substantial regional disparities in price levels for the services examined, underscoring the importance of sub-national price measurement for understanding real consumption and household living conditions.

The incoming European Programming Period 2014-2020 addresses to the New Cohesion Policy the role of effective promotion of regional development. The principle of concentration on few strategic issues appears to be reached a mature approach through local Managing Authorities. This concentration affects several dimension of cohesion policy: economic development, social inclusion, labour market, place based instances, infrastructures, private investments. The spatial dimension of EU Regional Policies, since the first European programming cycle 1989s-1993, has not been analysed in deep due to the lack of data concerning programs implementation at regional level. During last years new tools have become available under the umbrella phenomena of open-data, VGI etc. In particular we refer to the project ‘opencoesione’ by Italian Ministry for Territorial Cohesion providing open data on Operative Programs funded by EU Structural funds. The service, with the general objective of improving Citizen Engagement on investments policies, offers a data set with specific information concerning each project (operative program, beneficiary, budget, funds etc.). The paper, after a general position of the actual issues of improving effectiveness of public investments in regional developing programs, describes the spatial data analysis process for the evaluation of spatial concentration of investments in the 2007-2013 programming period. The results are interesting for the opportunity to evaluate ‘ex-post’ aggregation of public and private investments. Conclusion regards possible application in developing incoming New Cohesion Policies at national and regional level.

(Analysis of Inflation Processes in Russian Regions)

This paper presents an integrated model for the economic and environmental assessment of the use of natural resources when new activities (i.e. biomass crops for energy production) are introduced into the farm production plan. The methodology is based on the integration of positive mathematical programming (PMP) with the AquaCrop model developed by FAO. PMP represents farmer decision processes and evaluates how farms react to the biomass-sorghum activity option at different price levels. AquaCrop evaluates the relationship between water needs and biomass production and assesses the effect of the land allocation on water requirements at regional level. The integration of these two models assists global policy evaluation at regional level as it makes it possible to identify the economic threshold for biomass crops, the change in land allocation and total water requirement. The model can help policy makers to evaluate the impacts of variations in crop profitability and market innovations on farm profitability, land use and water consumption and the sustainability of the market scenario.

Twenty years after the beginning of the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy in Greece in the current programming period, 2007–13, for the first time Greek regions have been excluded from Objective 1 ‘Convergence’, a situation that it seems will continue in the next period. As it appears, Cohesion Policy has helped the country and its regions to converge to the European average. However, at an intra-national level, it seems that this is not the case, since internal inter-regional disparities appear to have increased in recent years. To these developments should be added the impact of the economic crisis, which according to early indications has negative repercussions for almost all Greek regions, with varying levels of intensity. These findings, combined with the constantly deteriorating economic situation at national and regional level, sustain the argument that Cohesion Policy will continue to be one of the most important policies of the EU and should constitute a powerful tool against the crisis and its regional dimensions.

It is important to explore the correlation characteristics of land markets among cities in order to promote coordinated developments. Based on the residential land prices in 168 counties in Hebei Province, this study used spatial econometric models and social network analysis to analyze the regional correlation effect and network structure evolution characteristics of residential land prices. The results indicated that: 1) the regional residential land price level has significant global spatial autocorrelation and local autocorrelation. High-High clusters were concentrated in cities around Beijing and Tianjin and provincial capitals, while Low-Low clusters were mostly distributed in central and southern Hebei. 2) The direct effect and spillover effect of influencing factors of residential land price were significantly different. The residents’ purchasing power, the socioeconomic level, and the land resources had significant impacts on the residential land price of the county itself, while the level of infrastructure and the policy environment had significant impacts on the residential land price of neighboring counties. 3) The degree centrality and betweenness centrality of residential land price in central counties of Hebei Province was generally high, showing a trend of agglomeration. However, the peripheral cities of Hebei Province lacked important central nodes in the network structure. From 2013 to 2020, increasing numbers of counties had shown the transmission function of “bridge,” and the balance of land price in the whole region had been constantly improved. The study found that the regional residential land price itself had spatial autocorrelation, and the spillover effect of its related factors was also the driving force that affects the transmission and diffusion of land price between counties. The change in the spatial network of county residential land price was primarily manifested in the transmission process starting from the central cities. The tightness of the spatial network was related to the number and distribution of central nodes. Hebei Province should focus on cultivating urban central nodes with development potential in marginal areas, create more land market growth poles according to local conditions, and accelerate the integration of land factor markets in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei to achieve healthy and balanced development of residential land prices. This study made up for the shortcomings of previous studies on land price correlations. The combination of correlation feature analysis and spatial network structure analysis was more helpful to reveal the characteristics of regional land price development, and the results could provide a reference for the formulation of urban land market regulation policies.

Smart specialization strategies are a new EU approach to cohesion policy, meant to deliver growth and development at EU national and regional level. Bearing in mind its focus on place-based development strategies, this paper intends to shed some light on its appropriateness to tackle uneven development and regional growth divergence. The paper showcases Spanish Extremadura growth trajectory. Extremadura is a poor region in the European context that between 2008 and 2014 diverged from the EU average, despite being eligible for EU funding as a convergence region by cohesion policy. In the 2014–2020 programming period, there was a positive dynamic at the beginning, but from 2017 onwards convergence stopped, which indicates that thematic and regional programmes have not delivered results or have not compensated for higher growth level of other Spanish regions. Moreover, research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) seem to have limited impacts on place-based economic transformation in less developed regions. From this example, the suitability of the smart specialisation strategy as the core of cohesion policy in the programming period is discussed. It concludes that this strategy is interesting for intermediate development regions with some industrial base but does not seem appropriate as a convergence driver for poorer regions.

Purpose: To aim of the study was to analyze the policy coherence in multi-level governance and its influence on the enforcement of environmental protection laws. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Policy coherence in multi-level governance significantly enhances the enforcement of environmental protection laws by improving coordination, reducing regulatory conflicts, and clarifying enforcement responsibilities across national, regional, and local levels. Jurisdictions with aligned policies record higher compliance rates, more consistent enforcement actions, and better environmental outcomes compared to fragmented governance systems. Conversely, weak policy coherence undermines accountability, leads to uneven enforcement, and limits the effectiveness of environmental protection efforts. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Multi-level governance theory, institutional theory & policy integration theory may be used to anchor future studies on the policy coherence in multi-level governance and its influence on the enforcement of environmental protection laws. Practically, environmental enforcement agencies should strengthen intergovernmental coordination mechanisms. From a policy perspective, governments should adopt integrated environmental policy frameworks.

The Author discussed, explored, evaluated and diagnosed the disparities of economic activity on regional level.The study embraced five peripheral regions of Poland, namely five Eastern provinces (voivodships), i.e.Lublin Province, Podlasie Province, Subcarpathia Province, Świętokrzyskie Province and Warmia-Masuria Province.The aforementioned five voivodships were compared to Poland and Poland's central region, i.e.Masovia Province.The following elements were taken into consideration: employment rate and employment by sectors, unemployment rate, GDP per capita, number of economic entities and number of natural persons conducting economic activity, investment outlays and gross expenditure on R&D activity, as well as net internal and external migration for permanent residence.In order to observe the possible changes over the time the situation in 2005 and 2017 was studied.Additionally, the total value of projects co-financed by the European Union through Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund within 2007-2013 period and 2014-2020 perspective was presented and analyzed.The research tools used in the article included literature studies, critical thinking, descriptive analysis and comparative analysis, in that the selected statistical method of multivariate comparative analysis, i.e.Hellwig's taxonomic measure of development.Statistical material provided by Central Statistical Office (Warsaw, Poland) and taken from Statistical Yearbooks of the Regions 2006Regions , 2007Regions , 2017Regions and 2018 was used for the analysis.The obtained results indicate the persistence of huge regional disparities of economic activity, economic potential and socioeconomic development despite the implementation of EU Policy of Social, Economic and Territorial Cohesion.Hence, it was possible to positively verify the research hypotheses: both the first hypothesis assuming that the gap between the studied peripheral regions and the rest of Poland was not reduced and the second hypothesis assuming that the participation in the processes of regional economic integration, and in particular in EU Policy of Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, had only limited impact on the reduction of disparities between Poland's regions.