Agglomeration Economies in Manufacturing Industries in Taiwan

一般聚集經濟可區分為內部規模經濟及外部經濟，而外部經濟又可區分為地方化經濟與都市化經濟兩種。由於製造業廠商或產業具有聚集經濟效果，因此產生了區位比較利益，影響廠商或產業之設置區位選擇，因為聚集經濟效果若以都市化經濟為主，則表示都市規模愈大，對產業的生產愈具效率，產業內各廠商依附都市發展的程度亦愈高，政府如欲以產業分散發展政策達到區域均衡發展之目的，較不容易成功。反之，產業的聚集經濟效果若以地方化經濟為主時，區域均衡發展透過產業分散發展政策之擬訂較易達成 。本研究運用生產函數的理論與模型，利用工商普查資料，針對臺灣地區中分類製造業進行實證分析，結果發現臺灣地區製造業的聚集經濟型態乃是以地方化經濟為主。 因此，以區域經濟均衡發展的觀點而言，臺灣地區在擬訂公共投資政策與工業區發展（製造業產業區位）政策時，應可考慮以製造業產業分散化政策為重要手段。In general, agglomeration economies has been devided intointerior scale economy and exterior economy, whereas the lattercan further be catoglorized into two kinds, namely localizationeconomy and urbanization economy. The agglomeration economieseffect of manufacturing industries or industries which createscomparative location advantages, will influence the choice oflocation for establishment of manufacturers' plants on thegrounds that if the agglomeration economies effect is dominatedby urbanization economics, the larger the city scale; the moreeffective the industry production, and the higher the adherencethe urban development. If the government's industrydecentralization development policy intends to achieve thepurposes of reginal balance development, that will not succeedeasily. On the contrary, if the agglomeration economies effectis dominated by localization economy, it will be easier toreach regional balance development through regulating industrydecentralization development policy. The present analysisincorporates the theory and model of production function andmakes use of data of Industrial and Commerce Censuses of Taiwan-Fukien District of The Republic of China to proceed theempirical analysis of manufacturing industries (classified atthe two digit SIC level) which results in the agglomerationeconomies model of the manufacturing industries of Taiwan isindeed dominated by localization economics. Therefore, from theviewpoint of balancing regional economy development, the TaiwanGovernment shall consider the industry decentralization policyas a vital measure to implement the public investment andIndustrial District policy