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What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?

Stef Proost¹; Jacques-François Thisse²

¹ Department of Economics, KULeuven. · ² CORE-UCLouvain, HSE University and CEPR.

Spatial economics aims to explain why there are peaks and troughs in the spatial distribution of wealth and people, from the international and regional to the urban and local. The main task is to identify the microeconomic underpinnings of centripetal forces, which lead to the concentration of economic activities, and centrifugal forces, which bring about the dispersion of economic activities at the regional and urban levels. Transportation matters at both scales, but in a different way. The emphasis is on the interregional flows of goods and passenger trips at the regional level and on individual commuting at the urban level. ( JEL F12, L13, R12, R23, R30, R40)

DOI

10.1257/jel.20181414

Volume

57 (3)

Pages

575-643

Language

en

Export

BibTeX

Sources

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