Abstract
For centuries, distance was the economist’s anchor point for analyzing spatial-economic interactions in the form of transport, trade, migration, commuting, or tourism. The central role of distance in economic research originates from the economic costs of bridging geographic distances. This “truth” is clearly incorporated in all gravity models in economics, which are essentially inspired by Newtonian physics. The new economic geography (NEG) introduced by Paul Krugman and others takes the cost friction of distance as a cornerstone for analyzing economic interdependencies in space.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nijkamp, P. (2017). The Death of Distance. In: Frey, B., Iselin, D. (eds) Economic Ideas You Should Forget. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47458-8_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47458-8_40
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47457-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47458-8
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)