Agglomeration Economies, Technology Spillovers and Company Productivity Growth

Paul A. Geroski and Hossein Samiei
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Chris Walters

No 1867, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper examines some of the determinants of total factor productivity growth using a sample of 216 large UK firms observed over the period 1974–90, and then using three further samples which were used to check the robustness of the results. The main focus of the paper is on identifying the size of agglomeration economies and technology spillovers between firms. Both types of externality should drive the productivity growth rates of individual firms together (and, in the second case, link them to the incidence of innovation). The overwhelming feature of the data, however, is that productivity growth rates, at the level of the firm, are very idiosyncratic. Not only are they extremely hard to predict using their own history, but they are also very difficult to predict using information on the productivity growth or innovative activity of their rivals. We conclude that agglomeration economies and technological spillovers are, at best, of very modest size.

Keywords: agglomeration economies; Productivity Growth; technology spillovers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L2 L7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998-04

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP1867.asp (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1867

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP1867.asp

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers
Address: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 53--56 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DG
Series data maintained by ().