ABSTRACT

The economic geography of capital cities is unique in the sense that the public sector drives economic development dynamics through public procurement. Secondary capital cities (SCCs) not only represent themselves through symbolic architecture, but also through an economic structure, which has unique spatial expressions. Firms that work on government contracts are not only concentrated at the regional level, but are unevenly distributed within capital cities. Bern and The Hague differ from Ottawa and Washington, DC as far as the location patterns of firms are concerned. Due to their smaller size, the exact location within the capital city does not appear to play an important role. Government contractors use spatial proximity to achieve a decisive time advantage in the procurement process. They constantly interact with government officials to find out about potential procurement projects as early as possible. Intra-firm linkages are not restricted to a firm's public-sector division.