The Spatial Economy: Cities Regions and International Trade

About this book

Winner 43rd Nikkei Prize for Excellent Books in Economic Science. Since 1990 there has been a renaissance of theoretical and empirical work on the spatial aspects of the economythat is where economic activity occurs and why. Using new toolsin particular modeling techniques developed to analyze industrial organization international trade and economic growththis "new economic geography" has emerged as one of the most exciting areas of contemporary economics. The authors show how seemingly disparate models reflect a few basic themes and in so doing they develop a common "grammar" for discussing a variety of issues. They show how a common approach that emphasizes the three-way interaction among increasing returns transportation costs and the movement of productive factors can be applied to a wide range of issues in urban regional and international economics. This book is the first to provide a sound and unified explanation of the existence of large economic agglomerations at various spatial scales.