IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ctl/louvec/2005017.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A simple model of economic geography à la Helpman-Tabuchi

Author

Listed:
  • Yasusada, MURATA
  • Jacques-François, THISSE

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Department of Economics)

Abstract

This paper explores the interplay between commodities’ transportation costs and workers’ commuting costs within a general equilibrium framework à la Dixit-Stiglitz. Workers are mobile and choose a region where to work as well as an intraurban location to live. We sow that a more integrated economy need not be more agglomerated. Instead, low transportation costs lead to the dispersion of economic activities. This is because workers are able to alleviate the burden of urban costs by being dispersed, while retaining a good access to all varieties. By contrast, low commuting costs foster the agglomeration of economic activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Yasusada, MURATA & Jacques-François, THISSE, 2004. "A simple model of economic geography à la Helpman-Tabuchi," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2005017, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques, revised 15 Feb 2005.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvec:2005017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2005-17.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krugman, Paul & Elizondo, Raul Livas, 1996. "Trade policy and the Third World metropolis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 137-150, April.
    2. Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2004. "The Structure of Simple 'New Economic Geography' Models," CEPR Discussion Papers 4326, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Gianmarco Ottaviano & Takatoshi Tabuchi & Jacques-François Thisse, 2021. "Agglomeration And Trade Revisited," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 3, pages 59-85, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Pines,David & Sadka,Efraim & Zilcha,Itzhak (ed.), 1998. "Topics in Public Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521561365, October.
    5. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    6. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2001. "Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation, and the Life Cycle of Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1454-1477, December.
    7. Takatoshi Tabuchi & Jacques-François Thisse, 2006. "Regional Specialization, Urban Hierarchy, And Commuting Costs," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1295-1317, November.
    8. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    9. Murata, Yasusada, 2003. "Product diversity, taste heterogeneity, and geographic distribution of economic activities:: market vs. non-market interactions," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 126-144, January.
    10. Alex Anas, 2004. "Vanishing cities: what does the new economic geography imply about the efficiency of urbanization?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 181-199, April.
    11. Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano & Frédéric Robert-Nicoud, 2006. "The 'genome' of NEG models with vertical linkages: a positive and normative synthesis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 113-139, April.
    12. Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 1998. "Urban Agglomeration and Dispersion: A Synthesis of Alonso and Krugman," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 333-351, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. José M. Gaspar, 2018. "A prospective review on New Economic Geography," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(2), pages 237-272, September.
    2. Kristian Behrens & Frédéric Robert‐Nicoud, 2009. "Krugman's Papers in Regional Science: The 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk is gone and the 2008 Nobel Prize well‐deserved," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 467-489, June.
    3. Pflüger, Michael P. & Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 2008. "Trade and Location with Land as a Productive Factor," IZA Discussion Papers 3716, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Pflüger, Michael & Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 2010. "The size of regions with land use for production," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 481-489, November.
    5. Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2004. "Agglomeration and economic geography," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 58, pages 2563-2608, Elsevier.
    6. Fabien Candau, 2008. "Entrepreneurs' Location Choice And Public Policies: A Survey Of The New Economic Geography," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 909-952, December.
    7. Pierre Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Henry G. Overman, 2005. "Agglomeration and the adjustment of the spatial economy§," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(3), pages 311-349, August.
    8. Fabien Candau, 2011. "Is Agglomeration Desirable?," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 101-102, pages 203-227.
    9. José M. Gaspar, 2020. "Paul Krugman: contributions to Geography and Trade," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 99-115, April.
    10. Fabien Candau & Michaël Goujon & Jean-François Hoarau & Serge Rey, 2014. "Real exchange rate and competitiveness of an EU's ultra-peripheral region: La Reunion Island," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 137, pages 1-21.
    11. Olga Alonso‐Villar, 2008. "A model of economic geography with demand‐pull and congestion costs," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(2), pages 261-276, June.
    12. Marcus Berliant & Tomoya Mori, 2017. "Beyond urban form: How Masahisa Fujita shapes us," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 13(1), pages 5-28, March.
    13. Walid Chatti & Bassem Ben Soltane & Turki Abalala, 2019. "Impacts of Public Transport Policy on City Size and Welfare," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1097-1122, December.
    14. Maria Florencia Granato, 2011. "REGIONAL NEW ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY (refereed paper)," ERSA conference papers ersa10p747, European Regional Science Association.
    15. Akamatsu, Takashi & Takayama, Yuki & Ikeda, Kiyohiro, 2012. "Spatial discounting, Fourier, and racetrack economy: A recipe for the analysis of spatial agglomeration models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 1729-1759.
    16. Pflüger, Michael & Südekum, Jens, 2008. "Integration, agglomeration and welfare," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 544-566, March.
    17. Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2006. "Off-shoring of business services and de-industrialization: threat or opportunity - and for whom?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19847, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Fabien Candau, 2011. "Is Agglomeration Desirable?," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 101-102, pages 203-227.
    19. Hajime Takatsuka & Dao-Zhi Zeng, 2005. "Regional Specialization via Differences in Transport Costs," ERSA conference papers ersa05p448, European Regional Science Association.
    20. J. Vernon Henderson, 2003. "Urbanization and Economic Development," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 4(2), pages 275-341, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Commuting costs; urban costs; transportation costs; economic geography; agglomeration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ctl:louvec:2005017. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Virginie LEBLANC (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iruclbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.