Technological Change and Distance between Firms: An Approach of Economic Geography

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520897
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Human geography
• Research Institution: Osaka City University
• Principal Investigator: NAGAO Kenkichi 大阪市立大学, 大学院経済学研究科, 教授 (50301429)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TATEMI Junya 大阪市立大学, 大学院創造都市研究科, 准教授 (50422762)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 経済地理学 / 技術 / 距離 / 近接性 / 産業集積 / 国際分業

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research presents a perspective of economic geography to examine the localization of economic activities in the global economy. Much of the literature on globalization notes that the contemporary economies have become placeless. Spatial economics gives an insight to explain geography of the global economy across cities, regions, and nation states with a special interest on the economies of scale and transportation cost. This approach, however, has not grasped the dynamics of technological change of production. Technological change from traditional television sets using cathode ray tubes (CRTs) to flat panel displays well illustrates the empirical evidence. To examine localization, we must more carefully into the relationship between geographical distance and institutional distance. Industrial development and location of LCD panel are examined at three layers of spatial scale: global, regional (East Asia) and local.

Free Research Field

経済地理学