Regional Science Policy and Practice最新文献

{"title":"Regional disparities, social welfare and economic development","authors":"Carolina Guevara-Rosero","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100252","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100252","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 10","pages":"Article 100252"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145048756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional green economy efficiency and population aging in China: An empirical data envelopment analysis – Tobit model approach","authors":"Yue Zhao ,&nbsp;Qifeng Ma ,&nbsp;Fan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100249","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100249","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents an indicator system to assess the green economy efficiency (GEE) of China’s provinces and explores its relationship with population aging. Based on panel data covering 30 provincial-level regions from 2000 to 2020, a slacks-based measure–data envelopment analysis (SBM–DEA) model is employed to evaluate GEE followed by a Tobit regression model to examine the influence of demographic aging on regional performance. The results reveal three key findings: (1) At the national level, GEE shows an overall declining trend, with pronounced spatial disparities. The Eastern region consistently outperformed others, while the Western and Northeastern regions lagged behind. (2) Population aging exhibits a statistically significant positive effect on GEE. Robustness checks confirm the stability of this result. (3) Mechanism analysis suggests that aging primarily improves economic output efficiency rather than environmental performance. (4) Clear regional heterogeneity is observed: in the Eastern region, the relationship follows a U-shaped pattern; in the Central region, a stable positive correlation persists; while in the Western and Northeastern regions, an inverted U-shaped trajectory emerges. These findings underscore the need for regionally differentiated policies that integrate demographic realities with green development strategies, ensuring that aging populations contribute to both economic productivity and environmental sustainability. The study provides evidence to support differentiated population and environmental strategies aimed at promoting a sustainable, low-carbon economy in China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 12","pages":"Article 100249"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Policymaking for circular urban food systems: A systematic literature review of policy instruments and governance arrangements","authors":"Daniel Polman","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100250","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100250","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban food systems impact environmental, economic, and social aspects of city life. However, the current organization of the food system is recognized as unsustainable, leading to increasing interest in circular food systems that aim to break away from linear consumption patterns. Despite this, the governance arrangements and policy instruments supporting circular food systems remain underexplored. This paper addresses that gap by reviewing existing literature on governance arrangements and policy instruments used by local governments to promote circular food systems, identifying practices, gaps, and potential pathways toward circular urban food systems. The results of the review indicate that many articles lack clear definitions of circularity, indicating the conceptual openness of circularity. Waste management dominates the policy objectives, including both recycling and reducing food waste. But also social aspects are targeted, such as food security and food sovereignty. Regarding policy instruments, informational and financial instruments are most commonly studied, while regulatory and organizational tools are less prominent. Governance arrangements are mostly collaborative, involving multi-stakeholder partnerships, but the political dynamics and effectiveness of these arrangements for more circular outcomes should be further investigated. In this regard, the article discusses the potential for more engagement with governance and public policy theorization to understand the role of urban circular food policies in governance, policy formulation, and implementation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 11","pages":"Article 100250"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"","authors":"Minxuan Lan","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100248","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100248","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 12","pages":"Article 100248"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145020531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards inclusive path transplantation: Local agency for green hydrogen linkage creation in Namibia","authors":"Tom Schnurr ,&nbsp;Linus Kalvelage","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100246","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100246","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many countries of the Global South struggle to achieve inclusive growth paths despite investment in the exploitation of rich resources. Resource-based industrialization literature stresses the potential for achieving broader development effects via the development of production linkages with local enterprises. The focus lies on market-driven outsourcing dynamics that foster linkage development, such as efficiency, location-specific knowledge, and technology and scale complexity. However, little is known about the opportunity space for both policy making and local firms to create these linkages. To address this issue, we incorporate the concept of change agency, stemming from the path development literature, into the discussion on production linkages to show how both (local) firm agency and system-level agency can achieve linkage creation for inclusive path transplantation. We illustrate the framework by scrutinizing the potential inclusion of solar energy companies in Namibia’s emerging green hydrogen economy. The study finds that while the potential for renewable energy companies in Namibia to participate in the value chain is limited, an integrated bundle of measures relying on firm- and system-level agency could address peripheral contextual factors, overcome entry barriers, and leverage further potential for linkage creation in the solar energy sector: mobilizing the local workforce, fostering inter-firm cooperation, leveraging local advantages, creating knowledge institutions, enhancing the regulatory framework, upgrading infrastructure, and enforcing local content regulations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 10","pages":"Article 100246"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145009543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Targeted impacts of salary subsidies: A developing country perspective","authors":"Aomar Ibourk ,&nbsp;Karim El Aynaoui","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Among the employability support programs, there are those that promote employability through training and those that offer wage subsidies to reduce costs. This study evaluates the impact of the Moroccan 'IDMAJ' program, which falls into the latter category. The results reveal a positive impact of 10.3 % on the employment of beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries. From a qualitative perspective, the program also influences job quality and the alignment between training and employment, with effects moderated by three key variables: gender, region, and age, which are crucial for targeting. For men, the program improved employment probability by 12.27 % and reduced unemployment by 9.49 %, while for women, these figures were 10.66 % and 7.23 %, respectively. The program's effects varied by age, positively impacting employment and job quality for those under 25 and those over 30. Regionally, beneficiaries from the Grand Casablanca area saw a 7.93 % increase in employment probability and a 16.3 % increase in access to social security compared to non-beneficiaries. From the employers' perspective, the program led 23.8 % of employers to recruit more candidates, 10.2 % to hire different profiles than they would have otherwise, and 31.4 % to recruit earlier than planned. The contribution of this article is that it evaluates the impact of this program on downgrading and employment quality from a subnational perspective and across different strata, with an additional focus on employer perceptions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 11","pages":"Article 100245"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring local poverty and food insecurity: Developing an affordability index for healthy diets","authors":"Davide Marino ,&nbsp;Daniela Bernaschi ,&nbsp;Francesca B. Felici ,&nbsp;Federica Scannavacca ,&nbsp;Bianca Minotti","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100244","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100244","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The article examines inequalities in access to a healthy diet through the development of a Food Affordability Index (FAI). The analysis integrates both national and local perspectives, with a particular focus on the city of Rome. At the national level, rising food prices and stagnant wages have exacerbated disparities, with more pronounced effects in peripheral areas and Southern Italy. At the local level, the characteristics of the food environment, shaped by differences in costs and food procurement opportunities, further intensify the <em>food insecurity premium</em>, placing a disproportionate burden on low-income households. The study highlights how variations in food prices significantly influence the economic accessibility of a healthy diet, with notable differences across distribution channels. The findings indicate that access to healthy food is determined by economic and territorial factors that create disparities in consumption patterns across different population groups and geographic areas. The proposed index serves as a valuable analytical tool for assessing such imbalances and evaluating the impact of structural factors on food costs and affordability. This analysis contributes to the ongoing debate on the economic sustainability of healthy diets in urban contexts, providing insights for the development of strategies aimed at reducing disparities in food access.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 12","pages":"Article 100244"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144989469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Governance models and the socio-ecological role of community gardens in post-socialist Krakow","authors":"Fanny Téoule","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100243","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100243","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Community gardens are increasingly recognized as critical nodes for socio-ecological learning and innovation, particularly in post-socialist cities navigating historical legacies and contemporary urban challenges. This study investigates how governance models -bottom-up, top-down, and hybrid - influence the inclusivity, ecological adaptability, and long-term sustainability of community gardens in Krakow, Poland. Drawing on qualitative research conducted across three distinct sites - a grassroots initiative (Salwator), a municipally-led project (Pychogród), and a hybrid model (Jagiellonian University Campus) - this paper explores the interplay between governance arrangements and socio-ecological outcomes. Ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviews, co-design workshops, and action research were employed to capture governance dynamics and the evolving role of gardens as transformative infrastructures. Findings reveal that grassroots initiatives foster strong community ownership and flexible ecological practices, yet face challenges related to resource instability and volunteer fatigue. Conversely, top-down models provide structural security and institutional support but risk alienating participants by limiting local agency. Hybrid approaches, exemplified by the Jagiellonian University Campus garden, blend institutional legitimacy with participatory processes, fostering inclusive decision-making and ecological experimentation, although they grapple with sustaining engagement amidst transient populations. The results underscore the necessity of adaptive governance frameworks that balance institutional support with community agency, particularly in post-socialist urban contexts characterized by fragmented social trust and uneven civic engagement. By conceptualizing community gardens as socio-ecological infrastructures, this study contributes to understanding how urban food systems can integrate sustainability goals with local cultural and environmental specificities. The findings offer actionable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and practitioners aiming to harness the transformative potential of community gardens to address broader sustainability challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 10","pages":"Article 100243"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145009538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatial bootstrapping using deep clustering methods: Spatial machine learning applied to Lombardy high-tech businesses","authors":"Bumbea Alessio ,&nbsp;Mazzitelli Andrea ,&nbsp;Giuffrida Annamaria ,&nbsp;Espa Giuseppe","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100242","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100242","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bootstrap and clustering techniques are foundational tools across scientific disciplines, playing a particularly important role in spatial analysis. However, traditional bootstrap methods often fall short in preserving spatial dependencies and complex attribute relationships during resampling. In this work, we introduce a novel framework in the Spatial Machine Learning domain that leverages deep learning techniques to enhance stratified bootstrap procedures for spatial data. Deep learning has already revolutionized prediction and classification tasks in data with temporal and spatial dependencies. In this work we want to extend the scope of application to bootstrap analysis by using tools like entity embeddings and autoencoders. By encoding high-cardinality categorical variables into continuous representations, entity embeddings facilitate the discovery of meaningful spatial and attribute-based cluster. These embeddings are then passed to a Deep Embedded Clustering (DEC) algorithm that can use them to create clusters. This algorithm is able to handle high-dimensional big data using an autoencoder based architecture that performs dimensionality reduction and clustering simultaneously to avoid loss of information. These clusters can be finally used as strata that guide a stratified bootstrap approach which preserves spatial autocorrelation and heterogeneity. We demonstrate the utility of our framework by performing a bootstrap analysis of high-tech firm productivity in the Lombardy region. Our approach is able to analyze efficiently large amounts of high dimensional data with complex attributes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 12","pages":"Article 100242"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144989468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping local government priorities: a web-mining approach for regional research","authors":"Moritz Schütz ,&nbsp;Lukas Kriesch ,&nbsp;Sebastian Losacker","doi":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100240","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rspp.2025.100240","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The relevance of institutions for regional development has been well established in economic geography. In this context, local and regional governments play a central role, particularly through place-based and place-sensitive strategies. However, systematic and scalable insights into their priorities and strategies remain limited due to data availability. This paper develops a methodological approach for the comprehensive measurement and analysis of local governance activities using web mining, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning techniques. We construct a novel dataset by web scraping and extracting cleaned text data from German county and municipality websites, which provides detailed information on local government functions, services, and regulations. Our county-level topic modelling approach identifies 205 topics, from which we select 30 prominent topics to demonstrate the variety of topics found on county websites. An in-depth analysis of the three exemplary topics, Urban Development and Planning, Climate Protection Initiatives, and Business Development and Support, reveals how strategic priorities vary across space and how counties differ in their framing of similar topics. This study offers an explanatory framework for analysing the discursive dimensions of local governance and mapping regional differences in policy focus. In doing so, it expands the methodological toolkit of regional research and opens new avenues in understanding local governance through web data. We make an aggregated version of the data set freely available online.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45520,"journal":{"name":"Regional Science Policy and Practice","volume":"17 12","pages":"Article 100240"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144933904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}