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New Economic Geography: Endogenizing Location in an International Trade Model

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Handbook of Regional Science

Abstract

In this chapter we first briefly discuss how the new economic geography literature (NEG) follows from and builds on international trade theory. We then turn to the main empirical implications of NEG. We highlight that the main problem with empirical applications of NEG is that a single test of the implications of the model combined is illusive because of the structure of the model. As a result the main consequences of the model are usually tested separately. And some of the implications of the model are also consistent with other models. We stress, therefore, that despite a real surge in empirical NEG inspired research, the empirical evidence is still rather sketchy and also that so far NEG-based policy advice is still mostly qualitative.

This chapter is partially based on earlier work by the authors. We do not give detailed references to our own work but readers interested in further details can consult our book on geographical economics (Brakman et al. 2009) for more extensive and detailed discussions and references, see in particular Chaps. 3, “Labor Market Theory and Models” and 8, “Land Use, Real Estate, and Housing Markets”. We also make use of Brakman and Garretsen (2009)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, 800, AV, 9700, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Prof. Steven Brakman & Dr. Harry Garretsen

  2. Utrecht University School of Economics, University of Utrecht, 80125, TC, 3508, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Prof. Charles van Marrewijk

Authors
  1. Prof. Steven Brakman
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  2. Dr. Harry Garretsen
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  3. Prof. Charles van Marrewijk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven Brakman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Manfred M. Fischer

  2. and Business Administration Department of Spatial Economics, Free University Faculty of Economics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter Nijkamp

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Brakman, S., Garretsen, H., van Marrewijk, C. (2014). New Economic Geography: Endogenizing Location in an International Trade Model. In: Fischer, M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23430-9_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23430-9_39

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23429-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23430-9

  • eBook Packages: Business and Economics

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