Related variety and economic development: a literature review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Overview of outcomes of empirical studies on the effect of MAR (specialization) vs. Jacobs (diversity) externalities on regional growth. Note that competition is often taken as a third explanatory variable. Source: De Groot et al. (2016).

Table 1. Related-variety studies.

Author(s)	Unit	Coverage	Period	Data source	Main iV(s)	Digits	dV(s)	RV	UV
Frenken et al. (2007)	NUTS3	Netherlands	1996–2002	CBS	Related variety Unrelated variety	RV = 5 in each 2 UV = 2	Employment growth	+	0
							Productivity growth	−	0
							Unemployment growth	0	−
Saviotti and Frenken (2008)	National	OECD	1964–2003	OECD trade data	Unrelated export variety Semi-related export variety Related export variety	UV = 1 SV = 2 in each 1 RV = 3 in each 2	GDP per cap	+	−
							Labour productivity	+	−
Boschma and Iammarino (2009)	NUTS3	Italy	1995–2003	ISTAT	Export variety Related export variety Unrelated export variety Import variety Related trade variety	Variety = 3 RV = 3 in each 2 UV = 1	Employment growth	M	0
							Value-added growth	+	+
							Labour-productivity growth	M	0
Bishop and Gripaios (2010)	Subnational	Great Britain	1995–2002	NOMIS	Related variety Unrelated variety	RV = 4 in each 2 UV = 2	Employment growth at two-digit industry level	M	M
Quatraro (2010)	NUTS2	Italy	1981–2002	ISTAT EPO	Total variety Unrelated variety Related variety	RV = 3 in each 1 UV = 1 TV = 3	Productivity growth	M	0
Bosma et al. (2011)	NUTS3	Netherlands	1990–2002	CBS Chambers of Commerce	Related variety	RV = 5 in each 2	Productivity growth	M
Falcioglu (2011)	NUTS2	Turkey	1980–2000	Turkish statistical institute	Variety Related variety	Variety = 3 RV = 3 in each 2	Productivity growth	+
Boschma et al. (2012)	NUTS3	Spain	1995–2007	INE, Ivie and Agencia Tributaria	Related variety Unrelated variety Porter relatedness measure Hidalgo relatedness measure	RV = 6 in each 2 UV = 1	Value-added growth	+	0
Hartog et al. (2012)	NUTS4	Finland	1993–2006	Statistics Finland	Related variety RV-HiTech RV-LowTech Unrelated variety	Variety = 5 RV = 5 in each 2 UV = 2	Employment growth	M	0
Mameli et al. (2012)	Local labour market	Italy	1991–2001	ISTAT	Variety Related variety Unrelated variety	Variety = 3 RV = 3 in each 2 UV = 1	Employment growth	+	+
Cortinovis and Van Oort (2015)	NUTS2	Europe	2004–2012	ORBIS, Bureau van dijk	Unrelated variety Related variety Specialization Technological regime	UV = 1 RV = 4 in each 2	Employment growth	M	0
							Unemployment growth	M	M
van Oort et al. (2015)	NUTS2	Europe	2000–2010	Amadeus	Related variety Unrelated variety	RV = 4 in each 1 UV = 2	Employment growth	+	M
							Productivity growth	0	0
							Unemployment growth	0	0
Caragliu et al. (2016)	NUTS2	Europe	1990–2007	Cambridge Econometrics	Related variety Unrelated variety	RV = 2 in each 1 UV = 1	Employment growth at the industry level	0	+

Notes: iV stands for independent variable; dV stands for dependent variable. The columns RV and UV show the significance of related and unrelated variety on the dependent variables shown in the column dV(s). + and – indicate significant positive or negative effects, respectively, whereas 0 and M indicate no significant and mixed results, respectively.

Table 2. Branching studies.

Author(s)	Unit	Coverage	Period	Data source	Digits	Main iV(s)	dV(s)
Hidalgo et al. (2007)	National	132 countries	1990–1995	NBER	SITC-4	Density	Entry
Neffke et al. (2011)	A-region	Sweden	1969–2002	Statistics Sweden	SNI69-6	Closeness	Membership Entry Exit
Boschma et al. (2013)	NUTS3	Spain	1988–2008	NBER World Trade Agencia Tributaria	SITC-4	Density at the country level Density at the province level	Entry
Bahar et al. (2014)	National	World	1962–2008	World Trade Flows UN & COMTRADE & WDI & UNCTAD	SITC-4	Density RCA neighbour	Entry
Boschma, Martin, and Minondo (2016)	State	U.S.	2000–2012	US Census Bureau Comtrade	HS-4	Density RCA neighbour	RCA growth
Boschma and Capone (2015a)	National	23 countries	1970–2010	World Trade Flows and CEPII	6-digits	Density Institution indicator	Entry
Boschma and Capone (2015b)	National	EU27 ENP16	1995–2000	BACI	4-digits	Density Import density	Entry
Essleztbichler (2015)	Metropolitan areas	U.S.	1975–1997	Bureau of Economic Analysis	SIC-4	Closeness	Membership Entry Exit

Notes: iV stands for independent variable; dV stands for dependent variable. All studies showed a significant effect of density or closeness on the probability of entry into a new product or industry, or a rise of the RCA.

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Falcioglu, P. (2011). Location and determinants of productivity: The case of the manufacturing industry in Turkey. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 47(Suppl. 5), 86–96. doi:10.2753/REE1540-496X4706S506

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