Agglomeration economies, interregional commuting and innovation in the peripheries

ABSTRACT

Regional development and innovation are often studied in the context of agglomeration economies, leading to a perception bias regarding the virtues of cities. Recent work on interregional connectivity has explored alternative mechanisms for economic growth, such as borrowed size and regional embeddedness, but there are limited studies examining these in the context of peripheries. The paper addresses this by examining the spatial relations of industry, commuting and agglomeration to innovation in Japan peripheries, finding dynamics between and within communities vary in how these factors increase innovation. Such understandings are critical in policy redressing core–periphery imbalances and industry competitiveness.

KEYWORDS:

• innovation
• economic geography
• regional development policy
• periphery
• labour commuting
• Japan

JEL:

• O1
• O2
• O40

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Using prefecture would have masked dynamics of smaller units.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge Australian Research Council (ARC) [grant number DE170100727].