Knowledge intensive business services and urban areas: an analysis of localization and productivity on Italian data

Valter Di Giacinto, Giacinto Micucci () and Alessandro Tosoni ()
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Giacinto Micucci: Bank of Italy
Alessandro Tosoni: Bank of Italy

No 443, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: We analyse the geographic localization and the productivity of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in Italy, using both census data and balance-sheet data at the firm level. We find that KIBS are generally agglomerated in urban areas where they attain significantly higher labour productivity levels. Urban productivity advantages are found to be strongly associated with the local availability of human capital and to standard proxies of Marshall-Arrow-Romer and Jacobs agglomeration economies. Forward demand linkages and some factors impacting on the thickness of the local labour market also appear to be relevant. On the whole, the set of explanatory factors considered could explain the entire urban productivity premium estimated for Italian KIBS firms.

Keywords: knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS); urban areas; agglomeration economies. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 L84 R30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-eur, nep-geo, nep-knm, nep-lma, nep-sbm and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_443_18

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