Economics of Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Globalization

Description

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.

Masahisa Fujita, a member of the Japan Academy and the President of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, has been a major contributor to spatial economic theory during his twenty-year tenure at the University of Pennsylvania and more recently at Kyoto University and Konan University. Professor Fujita is the author or co-author of three books: Spatial Development Planning (1978); Urban Economic Theory (Cambridge, 1989), which remains to this day the most authoritative graduate textbook on urban economics; and The Spatial Economy (1999, co-authored with Paul Krugman and A. J. Venables), which defines the field of new economic geography. Jacques-Francois Thisse, a fellow of the Econometric Society and of the Regional Science Association International, is Professor of Economics at the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and the Higher School of Economics (Russia). He has published in numerous journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, the Journal of Political Economy, the International Economic Review, Management Science, Exploration in Economic History, and the Journal of Economic Geography. He is the co-author of Discrete Choice Theory of Product Differentiation, Economic Geography, and Economic Geography and the Unequal Development of Regions. Professors Fujita and Thisse co-authored the first edition of Economics of Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Regional Growth (Cambridge, 2002).

'Two of the best regional scientists share with us what they have learned about the economics of agglomeration. This splendid book shows that different strands in the literature rely on the same common principles that define agglomeration economies. The authors show how these common principles can help us to understand the spatial distribution of economic activity. Although the book is mostly about theory, lucid and stylized examples illustrate the theories. Economics of Agglomeration, Second Edition is essential reading for graduate students in regional and urban economics for years to come.' Steven Brakman, University of Groningen 'The first edition of Economics of Agglomeration by Masa Fujita and Jacques Thisse was a masterful integration of nearly 200 years of research in regional and urban economics. It educated graduate students and researchers alike for more than a decade. This new and thoroughly revised edition integrates the most recent developments of a booming field while keeping a unified perspective. I have no doubt this new edition will educate anyone interested the field for another ten years or more.' Gilles Duranton, University of Pennsylvania 'The first edition of this book was a gem and the second edition is even more wonderful. Agglomeration plays an important role in the formation of urban areas, industrial structures, regional and international trade, and more. Fujita and Thisse masterfully review these issues with rare analytical clarity and insightful commentary. This is a highly recommended book.' Elhanan Helpman, Harvard University 'Fujita and Thisse provide an exhaustive and rigorous account of what microeconomic theory has to say about the basic economic forces that give rise to cities. This new edition, substantially updated and with an increased emphasis on issues in the intersection of spatial economics and international trade, will be the standard reference in the field for years to come.' Robert Helsley, University of British Columbia