Export Concentration from The New Economic Geography Perspective: The Case of The European Union

Year 2025, Volume: 59 Issue: 1, 199 - 222, 22.01.2025

Nihal Altun , Aykut Şarkgüneşi

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the existence of export concentration in the European Union and to assess its explainability from the perspective of New Economic Geography. The study aims to examine why and how exports are concentrated and the economic and geographical factors affecting this process.
Methodology: Within the framework of the New Economic Geography theoretical background, export concentration for the period 2005-2019 is analyzed using Static and Dynamic Panel Data methods for 20 European Union countries. Export concentration was calculated with the location coefficient and then analyzed with New Economic Geography components.
Findings: The New Economic Geography components significantly explain export concentration in the European Union. While labor productivity and knowledge externalities in the region positively affect export concentration, exchange rates, economies of scale, distance and average wage negatively affect export concentration.
Originality: While studies in the literature address agglomeration as export performance or sector concentration, this study investigates the ability of the theoretical background of export concentration in the European Union and New Economic Geography to explain this phenomenon.

Keywords

New Economic Geography, Agglomerations, Export Concentration

Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya Perspektifinden İhracat Yoğunlaşması: Avrupa Birliği Örneği

Abstract

Amaç: Avrupa Birliği'nde ihracat yoğunlaşmasının varlığını araştırmak ve Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya perspektifinden açıklanabilirliğini değerlendirmektir. Çalışma, ihracatın neden ve nasıl yoğunlaştığını, bu süreci etkileyen ekonomik ve coğrafi faktörleri incelemeyi hedeflemektedir.
Yöntem: Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya teorik arka planı çerçevesinden 2005-2019 yılları aralığında ihracat yoğunlaşması 20 Avrupa Birliği ülkesi için Statik ve Dinamik Panel Veri yöntemleri kullanılarak analiz edilmektedir. İhracat yoğunlaşması lokasyon katsayısı ile hesaplandıktan sonra Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya bileşenleri ile analiz edilmiştir.
Bulgular: Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya bileşenleri Avrupa Birliği’nde, ihracat yoğunlaşmasını anlamlı şekilde açıklamaktadır. Bölgedeki işgücü verimliliği, bilgi dışsallıkları ihracat yoğunlaşmasını pozitif etkilerken, döviz kurları, ölçek ekonomileri, mesafe ve ortalama ücret ihracat yoğunlaşmasını negatif etkilemektedir.
Özgünlük: Literatürdeki çalışmalar, yığılmaları ihracat performansı ya da sektör yoğunlaşması olarak ele alırken bu çalışmada Avrupa Birliği’nde ihracatın yoğunlaşması ve Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya teorik arka planının bu olguyu açıklayabilme kabiliyeti araştırılmıştır.

Keywords

Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya, Yığılmalar, İhracat Yoğunlaşması

References

• Arellano, M., ve Bond, S. (1991). “Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations”. The Review of Economic Studies, 58(2), 277-297.
• Arrow, K.J. (1962). "Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention," in Richard R. Nelson, ed., The rate and direction of inventive activity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 609 26.
• Aiginger, K., ve Pfaffermayr, M. (2004). “The Single Market and Geographic Concentration in Europe”, Review of International Economics, 12(1), 1-11.
• Alfaro, L., Chen, M.X. ve Fadinger, H. (2019). “Spatial Agglomeration and Superstar Firms: Firm-Level Patterns from Europe and US”. ECB Forum on Central Banking, 17-19 June 2019, Sintra, Portugal: 20 years of European Economic and Monetary Union: Conference Proceedings, Frankfurt.
• Altıntaş, H. ve Mercan, M. (2015). “Ar-Ge Harcamaları ve Ekonomik Büyüme İlişkisi: OECD Ülkeleri Üzerine Yatay Kesit Bağımlılığı Altında Panel Eşbütünleşme Analizi”, Ankara Üniversitesi Sbf Dergisi, 70(2), 345-376.
• Antonietti, R. ve Cainelli, G. (2011). “The Role of Spatial Agglomeration in a Structural Model of Innovation, Productivity and Export: A Firm-Level Analysis”, The Annals of Regional Science, 46, 577-600.
• Audretsch, D.B. ve Feldman, M.P. (1996). “R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production”, The American Economic Review, 86(3), 630-640.
• Baltagi, B.H., (2021). “Econometric Analysis of Panel Data Springer”, 6. Basım, Nature, Switzerland
• Blalock, G. ve Gertler, P.J. (2004). “Learning from Exporting Revisited in a Less Developed Setting”, Journal of Development Economics, 75(2), 397-416.
• Blundell, R. ve Bond, S. (2000). “GMM Estimation with Persistent Panel Data: An Application to Production Functions”, Econometric Reviews, 19(3), 321-340.
• Bosker, M. (2007). “Growth, Agglomeration and Convergence: A Space-Time Analysis for European Regions”, Spatial Economic Analysis, 2(1), 91-100.
• Bosker, M. ve Garretsen, H. (2010). “Trade Costs in Empirical New Economic Geography”, Papers in Regional Science, 89(3), 485-512.
• Branstetter, L.G. (1998). “Looking for International Knowledge Spillovers A Review of The Literature with Suggestions for New Approaches”, The Economics and Econometrics of Innovation, 495-518.
• Brunow, S., Pestel, L. ve Partridge, M. (2019). “Exports of Firms and Diversity: An Empirical Assessment for Germany”, Empirica, 46(1),151-175.
• Brülhart, M. (2001). “Evolving Geographical Concentration of European Manufacturing Industries”, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 137(2), 215-243.
• Brülhart, M. ve Sbergami, F. (2009). “Agglomeration and Growth: Cross-Country Evidence”, Journal of Urban Economics, 65(1), 48-63.
• Brülhart, M. (1998). “Trading places: Industrial Specialization in the European Union”. JCMS. Journal of Common Market Studies, 36(3), 319-346.
• Cainelli, G., Di Maria, E. ve Ganau, R. (2017). “Does Agglomeration Affect Exports? Evidence from Italian Local Labour Markets”, Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie, 108(5), 554-570.
• Campos, A.C., Lopes, L. ve Carreira, C. (2023). “Spatial Location and Agglomeration Economies in Exports: Empirical Evidence by Technological Intensities in Brazil”, Journal of Applied Economics, 26(1), 2272112.
• Cassey, A.J. ve Schmeiser, K.N. (2012). “The Agglomeration of Exporters by Destination”, The Annals of Regional Science, 51(2),495-513.
• Ciccone, A., Hall, R.E. (1993). “Productivity and The Density of Economic Activity”, The American Economic Review, 86(1), 54-70.
• Cromley, R.G. ve Hanink, D.M. (2012). “Focal Location Quotients: Specification and Applications”. Geographical Analysis, 44(4), 398-410.
• Çalışkan, E.T. (2014). “Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya Yaklaşımının Uluslararası Ticareti Açıklayıcılığı Üzerine Ampirik Bir Analiz”. Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Ege Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İzmir.
• Çevirmez, E.O. (2021). “Türkiye’nin İhracatında Bölgesel ve Sektörel Yoğunlaşma”, Ekonomi Bilimleri Dergisi, 13(1), 1-15.
• Deviren, V.N. (2004). “Yeni Dış Ticaret Teorileri”, Mevzuat Dergisi, 7(81).
• Disdier, A.C. ve Head, K. (2008). “The Puzzling Persistence of The Distance Effect on Bilateral Trade”, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(1), 37-48.
• Driscoll, J.C. ve Kraay, A.C. (1998). “Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation with Spatially Dependent Panel Data”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 80(4), 549-560.
• Dünya Bankası. (2023a). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.CD?locations=EU, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• Dünya Bankası. (2023a). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.MKTP.CD , (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023
• Dünya Bankası. (2023b). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS?locations=EU, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• Dünya Bankası. (2023c). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=EU, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• Forte, R.P. ve Sá, A.R. (2021). “The Role of Firm Location and Agglomeration Economies on Export Propensity: The Case of Portuguese SMEs” Euromed Journal of Business, 16(2), 195-217.
• Fujita, M. (2010). “The Evolution of Spatial Economics: From Thünen to The New Economic Geography”, Japanese Economic Review, 61(1),1-32.
• Fujita, M. ve Thisse, J.F. (2009). “New Economic Geography: an Appraisal on the Occasion of Paul Krugman's 2008 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences”, Regional Science and Urban Economics, 39(2), 109-119.
• Fujita, M. ve Krugman, P. (2004). “The New Economic Geography: Past, Present And The Future”, Fifty Years of Regional Science, 139-164.
• Fujita, M. ve Thisse, J.F. (1996). “Economics of Agglomeration”, Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 10(4), 339-378.
• Glaeser, E.L. (2010). “Agglomeration Economics”, University of Chicago Press.
• Goschin, Z. (2020). “Economic Specialization of Romanian Regions and Counties. Insights Drawn from Static and Dynamic Location Quotients”, Revista Romana de Economie, 50(1(59)), 84-112.
• Greenaway, D. ve Kneller, R. (2008). “Exporting, Productivity and Agglomeration”, European Economic Review, 52(5), 919-939.
• Grossman, G.M. ve Helpman, E. (1990). “Trade, Innovation, and Growth”, The American Economic Review, 80(2), 86-91.
• Grossman, G.M. ve Helpman, E. (1994). “Technology and Trade”, Handbook of International Economics, 3, 1279-1337.
• Haaland, J.I.M., Kind, H.J., Midelfart, K.H. ve Torstensson, J. (1998). “What Determines the Economic Geography of Europe?”, CEPR Discussion paper no. 2072.
• Hausman, J.A. ve Taylor, W.E. (1981). “Panel Data and Unobservable Individual Effects”, Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 1377-1398.
• He, C., Ye, X. ve Wang, J. (2012). “Industrial Agglomeration and Exporting in China: What Is the Link?”, Regional Science Policy & Practice, 4(3),317-333.
• Hesse, H. (2009). Export Diversification and Economic Growth, Breaking Into New Markets: Emerging Lessons for Export Diversification, (Editörler: R. Newfarmer, W. Shaw, P. Walkenhorst), 55-80, Dünya Bankası, Washington.
• Hildebrandt, A. ve Wörz, J. (2004). “Determinants of Industrial Location Patterns”, CEECs (No. 32). WIIW Working Paper.
• Hoover, E. (1948). The Location of Economic Activity, Mc-Graw-Hill, New York. Imbs, J. ve Wacziarg, R. (2003). “Stages of Diversification”, American Economic Review, 93(1): 63-86.
• Isard, W (1956). “Location and Space-Economy”, Wiley, New York.
• Isard, W. (1960). “Methods of Regional Analysis: An Introduction to Regional Sciences”. The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge.
• Kaldor, N. (1970). “The Case for Regional Policies”, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 17(3), 337-348.
• Karaalp, H.S. ve Erdal, F. (2012). “Sanayileşmenin Bölgesel Yığılması ve Komşu İllerin Büyümesi Gelir Farklılıklarını Artırır mı? Türkiye için Bir Beta Yakınsama Analizi”, Ege Akademik Bakış, 12 (4), 475-486.
• Koo, J. (2005). “Technology Spillovers, Agglomeration, and Regional Economic Development”, Journal of Planning Literature. 20 (2),99-115.
• Krenz, A. (2013). “Services Sectors’ Concentration: the European Union and the New Economic Geography”, Applied Econometrics and International Development, 13(2), 29-44.
• Krugman, P. (1980). “Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and The Pattern of Trade”, American Economic Review, 70(5), 950-959.
• Krugman, P. (1991). “Increasing Returns and Economic Geography”. Journal of Political Economy. 99(3),483-499.
• Krugman, P. (1998a). “The Role of Geography in Development”, International Regional Science Review, 22(2) 142-161.
• Krugman, P. (1998b). “What's New about the New Economic Geography?”, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 14(2), 7-17.
• Krugman, P.R. (1979). “Increasing Returns, Monopolistic Competition, and International Trade”, Journal of international Economics, 9(4), 469-479.
• Krugman, P., Obstfeld, M. ve Melitz, M. (2017). “Uluslararası İktisat”, Çev. Ed. Onur Özsoy, Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık, Ankara.
• Lovely, M.E., Rosenthal, S.S. ve Sharma, S. (2005). “Information, Agglomeration, and the Headquarters of US Exporters”, Regional Science and Urban Economics, 35(2), 167-191.
• Malmberg, A., Malmberg, B. ve Lundequist, P. (2000). “Agglomeration and Firm Performance: Economies of Scale, Localisation, and Urbanisation among Swedish Export Firms”, Environment and Planning, 32 (2), 305-321.
• Marshall, A. (1980). “Principles of Economics”, McMillan and Co., Limited, London.
• Martin, P., Mayer., T. ve Mayneris, F. (2011). “Spatial Concentration and Plant-Level Productivity in France”, Journal of Urban Economics, 69(2), 182-195.
• Martin, R. (2011). “The “New Economic Geography”: Credible Models of The Economic Landscape”. The SAGE Handbook of Economic Geograph, 53-71.
• Meilak, C. (2008). “Measuring Export Concentration: The Implications for Small States”, Bank of Valletta Review, 37(3), 35-48.
• Melitz, M.J. (2003). “The Impact of Trade on Intra‐Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity”, Econometrica, 71(6), 1695-1725.
• Moineddin, R., Beyene, J. ve Boyle, E. (2003). “On The Location Quotient Confidence Interval”, Geographical Analysis, 35(3), 249-256.
• OECD. (1996). “The Knowledge-Based Economy”, OECD Publishing, Paris.
• OECD. (2009a). “How Regions Grow? Trend and Analysis”, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264039469-en, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• OECD. (2023a). https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/data/oecd-productivity-statistics_pdtvy-data-en, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• OECD. (2023b). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/?tm=exchange%20rate&pg=0&snb=52, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• OECD. (2023c). https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/average-wages/indicator/english_cc3e1387-en, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.04.2023).
• Ohlin, B. (1933) Interregional and International Trade, Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.
• Ögel, C. ve Avcı, S. (2023). “Gaziantep İmalat Sanayinin Yoğunlaşma Katsayısı ile Analizi”, Abant Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 23(2), 1000-1016.
• Özdemir, M. ve Başkol, M.O. (2010). “Thünen’den Krugman’a: Yeni Ekonomik Coğrafya (Gerçekten) Yeni Mi?”, TÜCAUM VI. Ulusal Coğrafya Sempozyumu, 3-5 Kasım 2010, Ankara.
• Öztürk, N. (2003). “Diş Ticaret Kuramında Yeni Yaklaşımlar”, Öneri Dergisi, 5(19), 109-126.
• Polat, M. ve Akyıldırım, A. (2022). “İşbirliği Destek Programının KOBİ’ler Üzerindeki Etkisinin Ölçek Ekonomisi Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi”, Düzce İktisat Dergisi, 3(1), 8-29.
• Prim, A. L., Amal, M. ve Carvalho, L. (2016). “Regional Cluster, Innovation and Export Performance: an Empirical Study”. BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 13, e160028.
• Ramos, R. ve Moral-Benito, E. (2017). “Agglomeration by Export Destination: Evidence from Spain”. Journal of Economic Geography. 18 (3),599-625.
• Rodríguez-Pose, A., Tselios, V., Winkler, D. ve Farole, T. (2013). “Geography and the Determinants of Firm Exports in Indonesia”. World Development. 44, 225-240.
• Rosenthal, S.S. ve Strange, W.C. (2001). “The Determinants of Agglomeration”. Journal of Urban Economics, 50(2), 191-229.
• Romer, P.M. (1986). “Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth”. Journal of Political Economy, 94(5), 1002-1037.
• Romer, P.M. (1990). “Endogenous Technological Change”. Journal of Political Economy, 98(5, Part 2), S71-S102.
• Scheuerer, J. (2019). “The Role of Agglomeration for Firms’ Export Behavior: Evidence from India”, Doktora Tezi, Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel.
• Schmutzler, A. (1999). “The New Economic Geography”, Journal of Economic Surveys, 13(4), 355-379.
• Sforzi, F. ve Boix, R. (2015). “What about Industrial District(s) in Regional Science?”, Investigaciones Regionales-Journal of Regional Research, (32), 61-73.
• Shin, M.E., Agnew, J., Breau, S., ve Richardson, P. (2006). “Place and the Geography of Italian Export Performance”. European Urban and Regional Studies, 13(3), 195-208.
• Sölvell, Ö., Ketels, C. ve Lindqvist, G. (2008). “Industrial Specialization And Regional Clusters in The Ten New EU Member States. Competitiveness Review”, An International Business Journal, 18(1/2), 104-130.
• Sun, C., Yu, Z. ve Zhang, T. (2012). “Agglomeration and Trade with Heterogeneous Firms”. MPRA Paper 49001, 1-47. Sunay, E.B. (2022). “Yığılma Ekonomileri: Teorik Bir İnceleme”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi İİBF Dergisi (10), 96-104.
• Türkcan, B. (2014). “Kavramsal Olarak Bilgi Dışsallıkları ve Bilgi Dışsallıklarının İktisadı Etkileri”. İktisat ve Toplum, 50, 47-52.
• Uçak, H. ve Arısoy, İ. (2011). “Türkiye Ekonomisinde Verimlilik, İhracat ve İthalat Arasındaki Nedensellik İlişkisinin Analizi”, Ege Akademik Bakış, 11(4), 639-651.
• Uluyol, O. ve Türk, V.E. (2013). “Finansal Rasyoların Firma Değerine Etkisi: Borsa İstanbul (Bist)’da Bir Uygulama”, Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 15(2), 365-384.
• Usanmaz, D. (2022). “Türkiye’de Gayrisafi Milli Hasıla Doğrudan Yabancı Yatırımlar ve Enflasyon Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi”, Hukuk ve İktisat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 14(2), 202-223.
• Uslu, H. (2018). “Marshall-Lerner Koşulu Çerçevesinde Reel Döviz Kuru Değişimlerinin Türkiye’nin Dış Ticaret Performansına Etkileri: Yapısal Kırılmalı Bir Analiz”, Uluslararası Bilimsel Araştırmalar Dergisi (IBAD), 3(2), 792-820.
• Yerdelen Tatoğlu F. (2018). “Panel Veri Ekonometrisi: Stata Uygulamalı”, Beta Basım Yayım, İstanbul.
• Yüksel, E. ve Sarıdoğan, E. (2011). “Uluslararası Ticaret Teorileri ve Paul R. Krugman’ın Katkıları”, Öneri Dergisi, 9(35), 199-206.
• Zhao, H. ve Zou, S. (2002). “The Impact of Industry Concentration and Firm Location on Export Propensity and Intensity: An Empirical Analysis of Chinese Manufacturing Firms”, Journal of International Marketing, 10(1), 52-71.