The document discusses the role of labor qualifications in urban competitiveness and geography. It argues that qualified labor is important for three reasons: it improves incomes and employment probabilities for individuals; increases productivity and competitiveness for employers; and leads to social cohesion and economic growth for cities. Cities that invest in developing skills through education will have more competitive firms and sustainable jobs, making their labor forces and overall economies more productive. Human capital in the form of an educated workforce is a core factor driving urban and regional economic growth.

1. Industrial & Labor Geography 2008
Discuss the role and impact of labour qualifications to
the competitiveness of cities and the dynamics of
urban geographies.
Nikolaos Spyropoulos
Departement of Geography
17 september 2007
Dias 1

2. Competitiveness
Making sense of the competitiveness:
• At one level is equated with the “performance” of an
economy.
• At another level it implies that the city has to undercut its
rivals, in other words, defending its market-share.
• More generally we can say that competitiveness is the
production of goods or services which meet the test of
markets while expanding the income of its people over the
long term.
17 september 2007
Dias 2

3. Competitiveness of Cities
Places compete in the following basic kinds of markets:
• Product markets, through facilitating the competitive
success of firms based or operating in the area.
• Inward investment by businesses and other sources of
employment.
• Desirable residents who can bring in economically valuable
recourses.
Spending power Human capital
• Recognition and favours from higher level of government, in
terms of public projects, events or assistance.
17 september 2007
Dias 3

4. Competitiveness of Cities and Labor Market
• In addition to efficiency gains deriving from the goods
market, there are also gains from operating in a large labor
market.
• The larger the pool of workers that a firm can access the
more likely it is to be able to find the exact skills that suits
its needs.
• More importantly, a large labor market will increase the
incentives for workers to undertake training.
17 september 2007
Dias 4

5. Competitiveness of Cities and Labor Market
Why skills matters:
• Individuals – improved payment and increased probability of
employment.
• Employers – greater productivity, greater competitiveness,
higher profits and improved share prices.
• Society - social cohesion.
• The City - productivity and growth.
17 september 2007
Dias 5

6. Competitiveness of Cities (Education)
• The concentration of population and economic activity in
cities is matched by the concentration of education and skills
providers, and of individual and corporate learners.
• Cities are the places where policies for learning have the
greatest opportunity to achieve traction in terms of
imparting knowledge on a significant scale and linking that
knowledge to economic activity in ways which produce:
1. competitive businesses.
2. sustainable jobs.
17 september 2007
Dias 6

7. Competitiveness of Cities (Education)
• The demand for skills in the cities is wide – but the
‘economic driver’ character of cities means that demand for
critical new skills on which future competitiveness depends,
arises first.
• Given the inherent difficulties supplying emerging high
technology skills, the efficiency of learning networks is of
major economic significance.
• The importance of formal labor qualifications understood as
human capital is the basis of urban economic growth.
Glaeser (2003).
17 september 2007
Dias 7

8. Competitiveness of Cities (Knowledge)
In the knowledge economy, the competitiveness of firms depends on
their ability to innovate, improve their productivity (process
innovation, including new forms of organisation), product quality or
produce new products (David and Foray, 2002). (The Spatial Division of Labour
and Talent in City Regions: Location Dynamics of Business Services in Copenhagen, Høgni Hansen, Lars
Winther)
Relationalists Vs. Regionalists.
Firm as the focus of knowledge The geographical proximity
production. plays a vital role for the
production of knowledge.
Urban and regional
competitiveness and
growth.
17 september 2007
Dias 8

9. Competitiveness of Cities (Firms)
A way to understand the relation between firms and cities
competitiveness we can think that firms use the following
three assets:
• First is the company specific assets, technology,
management, design, finance and reputation.
• Second is the assets which follow from location in relation to
the material inputs, space, labor and markets.
• Third is assets involving proximity to various kinds of local
resources such as customer availability, available skill and
human capital.
17 september 2007
Dias 9

10. Labor, Human Capital & Urban-Regional Growth
The traditional view of city growth suggests that a city is
developing and therefore being competitive if:
Is near to transportation Has natural resources.
routes (a logistics point
of view).
(Cost-related factors)
The human capital theory argue that the key to regional
growth lies in endowments of educated and productive
people.
17 september 2007
Dias 10

11. Labor, Human Capital & Urban-Regional Growth
Human capital is the central factor in urban growth.
Clustering of human capital is the ultimate source of regional
agglomerations of firms (inward investment).
Reap the advantages Take advantage of
of common labor pools. common networks
17 september 2007
Dias 11

12. Measurement of competitiveness (?)
There are three sorts of measure closely related ton an
areas competitive position in the market:
• Export performance.
• Growth.
1. Effects of business.
2. Success of the city to attract new business.
3. Growth of employment.
• Productivity.
17 september 2007
Dias 12

13. Conclusion
• It is important that there must be investment in assets such
as knowledge entrepreneurship especially in areas which are
technologically advanced.
• Innovation and learning are important sides of the
competitive position of the city.
• Geography matters and cities have once again become vital
places of innovation and creativity making them important
strongholds in the national and global economy. (The Spatial
Division of Labour and Talent in City Regions: Location Dynamics of Business Services in
Copenhagen, Høgni Hansen, Lars Winther)
17 september 2007
Dias 13

14. Conclusion
• Understanding the dynamics and location of the economy is
dependent on the relation between firms, talent and human
capital
• Qualified labor is a vital factor for localization of firms.
• Human capital is an important factor for economic growth in
city regions.
17 september 2007
Dias 14