Inter-firm transaction networks, transport infrastructure development and urban spatial structure

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14320
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Civil engineering project/Traffic engineering
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Otazawa Toshimori 神戸大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (30374987)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 大平 悠季 鳥取大学, 工学研究科, 助教 (60777994)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 土木計画 / 交通基盤整備 / 企業間取引 / 企業立地 / 生産性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between geographical and relation-based distances of economic agents. Using micro data of inter-firm transactions in metropolitan areas of Japan, we demonstrate that the more central firms in transaction networks tend to locate at more accessible places within the city. We also investigate how the inter-firm transaction network changes, which might be triggered by transportation investment, affect the performance of firms. Regarding the whole line opening of Kyushu Shinkansen in 2011 as an external shock, we use the difference in difference propensity score matching (DID-PSM) method to estimate the effect of the increase in the number of transactions with suppliers on the productivity of firms. Results show that improvement of transportation networks tends to enhance the density of the inter-firm transaction networks. Furthermore, we find that the increase in the number of suppliers raises firm-level productivity.

Free Research Field

土木計画学