英语论文网

Public goods:

The supply of public goods and services provides benefits to consumers. These benefits are non-rivalrous and non-excludable in consumption. Public goods or services thus have external benefits that lower costs and enhance efficiency, giving rise to increasing returns in the aggregate. (Luus et al, 2005:14) also notes that economic externalities not only affect the production function, but also a firm’s output decisions through price effects that are conveyed via the market.

In both these cases it is important to note the importance of proximity. The concentration of consumers and producers at a specific location makes it possible to capture the spillovers of knowledge and indirectly so also create infrastructure, which increase productivity and lower costs. These are the spatial complementarities which cities and regions offer, and which may drive growth and development. (Luus et al, 2005:14)

Finally, in the case of external economies, a further distinction is possible between localisation economies and urbanisation economies. Localisation economies are industry-specific external economies. Urbanisation economies are external economies that apply to firms across industries and capture the concept of positive spillovers for a firm as a result of total economic activity at a location. (Luus et al, 2005:15)

It is these localisation and urbanisation economies that have been the focus of empirical work that seek to quantify the importance of spatial complementarities for growth and development. Typically, concentration ratios are used to measure the extent of agglomeration and the existence of localisation or urbanisation economies. The conclusions drawn from the empirical studies are concerned with whether certain regions should specialise in a certain industry or whether it should diversify more to promote growth and development. (Luus et al, 2005:15)

Theoretical models of agglomeration investigate the responsibilities of congestion, static factors and market size in spatial growth and development. Empirical approaches use absorption indices to quantify the extent of agglomeration. For the purpose of this paper a theoretical approach will be followed to determine, firstly, what the drivers and attributes for location decisions are to, secondly, establish whether policies assist and contribute to regional location. Thirdly, an example will be given to motivate that there are more measures available to enhance such methods of growth and development. In the last section the research in this paper will be reflected upon the situation in the Vaal-Triangle as the research has been carefully reviewed from the view point that it is all relevant to the current climate that is ongoing in the Vaal-Triangle.

Instruments Affecting Location Decisions:

沪ICP备10026080号-1