Research Highlights（FUKUDA, Ryo）

1. Financial institutions and firm location

The first of my research topics is the relationship between the location of financial institutions and the relocation behavior of firms. In Fukuda, Kidokoro, Seta and Sato (2019), I examined the pattern of the location of individual firms and the location of financial institutions at two time points, as shown in Figure 1. As a result, they found that when a financial institution with a main bank relationship is located in the same region as a firm, it is unlikely to move out of that region. 

Figure 1. Location patterns of firms and financial institutions

2. Geographical background and innovation

The second research theme is the effect of the geographical background of the founders on the innovation activities of the companies. Based on published company histories, I typified the geographic background of the founders of companies founded in rural areas and examined the relationship between the geographic background of the founders and the novelty of the innovations they triggered at the time of founding, as shown in Figure 2. I showed the importance of both knowledge and skills acquired in metropolitan areas and social relationships in rural areas.

Figure 2: Typology of geographic background of founders

3. Urban system

The third research topic is the description of urban systems through inter-firm networks. Fukuda, Kidokoro, and Seta (2017) showed the coupling between cities through inter-firm transaction networks. As shown in Figure 3, the dependency between cities was revealed, which is different from what is shown by conventional indicators such as the relationship between head office and branch offices.

Figure 3. Inter-city dependency based on transaction networks

References 

[1] Fukuda, R., Kidokoro, T., Seta, F. and Sato, R. (2019) Relocations are determined by firms’ relationships with financing institutions: A paper based on network data for Japanese firms. Papers in Regional Science, 98(4), 1685-1712

[2] Fukuda, R. and Kidokoro, T. (2019) Geographical backgrounds of the founders and innovations at the times of the establishment. Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan 54 (3), 1379-1386

[3] Fukuda, R., Kidokoro, T. and Seta, F. (2017) Mutual Connections of Economic Zones Based on Inter-Firm Relationships in Japan. Annals of the Association of Economic Geographers 63 (3), 201-216