Accessibility and location decisions in a peripheral region of Europe: A logit analysis

This paper analyses the links between accessibility to markets and factors of production and firms' location decisions in a peripheral region. Following a brief discussion of the European Union policy context, logit analysis involving binary response variables and categorical explanatory variables is used to analyse data from a survey of 939 firms in Strathclyde, a region on the geographical periphery of the European Union. A series of models are established which indicate that there are significant differences in the influence of different forms of accessibility on the location decisions of different types of firm. Accessibility to staff is relatively important for large firms, accessibility to suppliers important for inward investors and accessibility to markets is important for firms in larger premises and those in the central city. Policy implications for investment in transport infrastructure and local economic development policies are considered.