Agglomeration economies and the location of industries: a comparison of three small European countries

Abstract

We investigate and compare the spatial distribution of manufacturing activity and its determinants in Belgium, Ireland, and Portugal using comparable, exhaustive micro-level data sets. We find some similarities between Portugal and Belgium, but little for Ireland. Moreover, there is some evidence that forward and backward linkages, R&D activity, and labour market pooling of skilled labor can be important determinants of agglomeration, although this crucially depends on the country examined.