Spatial and Regional Economics Research Centre - Journal Articles

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    Evaluation of an informal rule for the allocation of sports capital funding
    (Springer Verlag, 2016-07-23) Considine, John; Doran, Justin
    Significant empirical research has highlighted the existence of pork barrel politics. This is where public expenditure is targeted at particular regions based on the logic of collective action: political entrepreneurs maximize their chances of re-election by searching for and implementing programs or projects characterized by ‘concentrated benefits’ for key constituents and broadly dispersed costs. Using data on capital grants to Irish sports teams for 1998–2015, this paper analyzes the extent to which an informal rule can correct this bias. The case of allocating sports capital grants is particularly interesting since academic research, media commentary, and ministerial statements all seem to confirm the existence of political bias with such allocations in Ireland. Specifically, the geographical distribution of the grants are clearly linked to the Minister for Sport: that minister’s constituent county receives significantly higher per capita grant allocation than any other county. The grants were suspended in 2009 because of a fiscal crisis arising from the recession. When the grants were restored in 2012, a new informal rule for allocations was introduced. That informal rule was introduced to reduce the extent of pork barrel politics by ensuring that no county received less than 75 % or more than 150 % of the national average of the per capita grant allocations. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of that informal rule in reducing pork barrel politics in Irish sports capital grant allocations.
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    The importance of the diverse drivers and types of environmental innovation for firm performance
    (Wiley, 2014-07-04) Doran, Justin; Ryan, Geraldine
    Today, firms are faced with a number of environmental challenges, such as global warming, pollution control and declining natural resources. While there is increasing pressure to deliver environmentally friendly products and services, little is known about what drives the many different types of environmental innovation, or how such pursuits' impact firm performance. Using a sample of 2181 firms, this paper examines the factors that drive nine different types of eco‐innovation in Ireland, and assesses how such innovations impact firm performance. We find that, while demand‐side, supply‐side and regulatory drivers impact on the likelihood of a firm engaging in eco‐innovation, the relative magnitudes of these impacts vary across the types of eco‐innovation considered. Moreover, we find that only two of the nine types of eco‐innovation positively impact firm performance. The results point to regulation and customer pressure as viable mechanisms through which firms can be encouraged to eco‐innovate.
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    Decomposing US regional income inequality from 1969 to 2009
    (Taylor & Francis, 2015-11-16) Doran, Justin; Jordan, Declan
    This article analyses changes in levels and composition of income inequality among US counties from 1969 to 2009. It also decomposes inequality using the Theil coefficient into between-State and within-State inequality. The article finds that income inequality has increased in the period studied with between-State inequality decreasing and within-State inequality increasing. We subsequently decompose income inequality into the proportion arising from differences in productivity and employmentâ population ratios across counties. The results suggest that inequality arising from differentials in labour productivity has fallen over the period studied while those arising from employmentâ population ratio differences have increased.
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    Entrepreneurship and employment growth across European regions
    (Taylor & Francis, 2016-01-28) Doran, Justin; McCarthy, Nóirín; O'Connor, Marie
    This research focuses on the impact of regional entrepreneurial activity on employment growth. Specifically it analyses whether new firm formation in European NUTS-2 regions can stimulate job creation and drive employment growth.
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    The role of entrepreneurship in stimulating economic growth in developed and developing countries
    (Cogent OA, 2018-03-02) Doran, Justin; McCarthy, Nóirín; O'Connor, Marie
    This paper analyses whether different measure of entrepreneurship can explain economic growth. It utilises 14 difference indicators of entrepreneurship to analyse the contribution of entrepreneurial activity, aspirations, and attitudes to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. It also examines whether the importance of entrepreneurship varies across high-income and middle/low-income countries. An unbalanced panel of 55 countries over the time period 2004–2011 is used. Fourteen different indicators of entrepreneurship are utilised and are condensed into three components using principle components analysis. Regression analysis is then used to assess whether these three different components of entrepreneurship drive economic growth. The results indicate that entrepreneurial attitudes are found to stimulate GDP per capita in high-income countries while entrepreneurial activity is found to have a negative effect in middle/low-income economies.