Jacques-François Thisse

An authoritative and cutting-edge exploration of how land, transportation, and economic forces shape cities, regions, and the distribution of economic activities from a local to a global scale. Land, by its very nature, is immobile and unproduced, creating competition for prime locations that drives disparities in economic outcomes. Transportation, meanwhile, serves as the mechanism for overcoming spatial frictions but imposes costs that influence where firms and individuals choose to locate. Together, these factors explain the emergence and persistence of cities, regional disparities, and even global patterns of economic concentration. In Spatial Economics, Hans R. A. Koster, Stef Proost, and Jacques-François Thisse explore how cities, regions, and the global economy are shaped by the interplay between location, land use, and transportation. The authors examine why economic activities are clustered in large metropolitan areas and dispersed in vast areas, driven by the balance between the gains from concentration and various congestion and pollution costs. Blending classical theories with modern data and modeling approaches, the book addresses urbanization, spatial inequality, and the effects of policies like infrastructure investments and land regulations. Accessible yet rigorous, it offers valuable insights for understanding the geographic organization of economic activity in today's interconnected world.

An authoritative and cutting-edge exploration of how land, transportation, and economic forces shape cities, regions, and the distribution of economic activities from a local to a global scale. Land, by its very nature, is immobile and unproduced, creating competition for prime locations that drives disparities in economic outcomes. Transportation, meanwhile, serves as the mechanism for overcoming spatial frictions but imposes costs that influence where firms and individuals choose to locate. Together, these factors explain the emergence and persistence of cities, regional disparities, and even global patterns of economic concentration. In Spatial Economics, Hans R. A. Koster, Stef Proost, and Jacques-François Thisse explore how cities, regions, and the global economy are shaped by the interplay between location, land use, and transportation. The authors examine why economic activities are clustered in large metropolitan areas and dispersed in vast areas, driven by the balance between the gains from concentration and various congestion and pollution costs. Blending classical theories with modern data and modeling approaches, the book addresses urbanization, spatial inequality, and the effects of policies like infrastructure investments and land regulations. Accessible yet rigorous, it offers valuable insights for understanding the geographic organization of economic activity in today's interconnected world.

Behind the mystery of economic growth stands another mystery: why do some places fare better than others? Casual evidence shows that sizable differences exist at very different spatial scales (countries, regions and cities). This book aims to discuss the main economic reasons for the existence of peaks and troughs in the spatial distribution of wealth and people, with a special emphasis on the role of large cities and regional agglomerations in the process of economic development.

Economic activities are not concentrated on the head of a pin, nor are they spread evenly over a featureless plane. On the contrary, they are distributed very unequally across locations, regions and countries. Even though economic activities are, to some extent, spatially concentrated because of natural features, economic mechanisms that rely on the trade-off between various forms of increasing returns and different types of mobility costs are more fundamental. This book is a study of the economic reasons for the existence of a large variety of agglomerations arising from the global to the local. This second edition combines a comprehensive analysis of the fundamentals of spatial economics and an in-depth discussion of the most recent theoretical developments in new economic geography and urban economics. It aims to highlight several of the major economic trends observed in modern societies. The first edition was the winner of the 2004 William Alonso Memorial Prize for Innovative Work in Regional Science.

Economic activities are not concentrated on the head of a pin, nor are they spread evenly over a featureless plane. On the contrary, they are distributed very unequally across locations, regions and countries. Even though economic activities are, to some extent, spatially concentrated because of natural features, economic mechanisms that rely on the trade-off between various forms of increasing returns and different types of mobility costs are more fundamental. This book is a study of the economic reasons for the existence of a large variety of agglomerations arising from the global to the local. This second edition combines a comprehensive analysis of the fundamentals of spatial economics and an in-depth discussion of the most recent theoretical developments in new economic geography and urban economics. It aims to highlight several of the major economic trends observed in modern societies. The first edition was the winner of the 2004 William Alonso Memorial Prize for Innovative Work in Regional Science.

Behind the mystery of economic growth stands another mystery: why do some places fare better than others? Casual evidence shows that sizable differences exist at very different spatial scales (countries, regions and cities). This book aims to discuss the main economic reasons for the existence of peaks and troughs in the spatial distribution of wealth and people, with a special emphasis on the role of large cities and regional agglomerations in the process of economic development.

Economic Geography is the most complete, up-to-date textbook available on the important new field of spatial economics. This book fills a gap by providing advanced undergraduate and graduate students with the latest research and methodologies in an accessible and comprehensive way. It is an indispensable reference for researchers in economic geography, regional and urban economics, international trade, and applied econometrics, and can serve as a resource for economists in government. Economic Geography presents advances in economic theory that explain why, despite the increasing mobility of commodities, ideas, and people, the diffusion of economic activity is very unequal and remains agglomerated in a limited number of spatial entities. The book complements theoretical analysis with detailed discussions of the empirics of the economics of agglomeration, offering a mix of theoretical and empirical research that gives a unique perspective on spatial disparities. It reveals how location continues to matter for trade and economic development, yet how economic integration is transforming the global economy into an economic space in which activities are performed within large metropolitan areas exchanging goods, skills, and information. Economic Geography examines the future implications of this evolution in the spatial economy and relates them to other major social and economic trends. * Provides a complete introduction to economic geography * Explains the latest theory and methodologies * Covers the empirics of agglomeration, from spatial concentration measurement to structural estimations of economic geography models * Includes history and background of the field * Serves as a textbook for students and a resource for professionals

These volumes combine to provide a comprehensive overview of this key area of applied economics.