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on Economic Geography |
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Issue of 2025–05–26
seven papers chosen by Andreas Koch, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |
| By: | Gianandrea Lanzara; Matteo Santacesaria |
| Abstract: | Are there multiple equilibria in the spatial economy? This paper develops a unified framework that integrates systems of cities and regional models to address this question within a general geographic space. A key feature is the endogenous formation of commuting areas linking a continuum of residential locations to a finite set of potential business districts. Using tools from computational geometry and shape optimization, we derive sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of spatial equilibria. For plausible parameter values, urban location is indeterminate, but, conditional on an urban system, city sizes are uniquely determined. The framework reconciles seemingly conflicting empirical findings on the role of geography and scale economies in shaping the spatial economy. |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2504.21819 |
| By: | Duygu Buyukyazici; Olivier Brossard; Ron Boschma |
| Abstract: | The transition toward a circular economy (CE) represents not only an economic shift but also a profound social transformation that fundamentally redefines production, consumption, and policy patterns; thus, it necessitates comprehensive institutional change. This study presents the first macro-level empirical assessment of the CE transition across European regions over recent decades. Afterwards, it examines how regional regulative, normative, and cultural/cognitive institutions influence regional CE performance by also considering crucial confounding factors including EU cohesion funds, regional decentralisation, and the EU Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). The results reveal strong spatial and temporal heterogeneity as well as the diverse effects of different institutions. Regulative institutions exhibit the most consistent positive effect across and within countries. Normative values matter most within regions, while cultural-cognitive factors modestly support CE efforts. Importantly, combination of all institutional pillars yields the greatest circularity gains. EU cohesion funds significantly boost CE progress, especially in less developed regions, while CEAP marks a structural shift in the role of institutions post-2015. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of coordinated institutional frameworks and targeted policy support for advancing the regional CE transition. |
| Keywords: | circular economy, circular transition, institutions, institutional theory, regions |
| JEL: | Q01 Q50 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2513 |
| By: | Etienne Capron (HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal); Elie Saaoud (HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal) |
| Abstract: | While some studies have sought to clarify the role of spatial settings in organizing creativity, this relationship remains theoretically ambiguous, specifically when we consider the capacity for action offered by places. Therefore, we propose to revisit this issue through the concept of affordances, which originally refers to actors' relationship to their physical environments and how it generates possibilities for action. This conceptual chapter proposes a framework for place-based affordances that theorizes the material, social, and institutional possibilities for creative practices that emerge from one's attendance of a place. This framework is exemplified through a vignette of place attendance and usage by an artist practicing projection mapping in Montreal. Through this example drawn from artistic creation, the place-based affordances framework offers a new look at the generative power of places for organizing creativity. |
| Keywords: | Place-based affordances affordance theory organizing creativity places projection mapping, Place-based affordances, affordance theory, organizing, creativity, places, projection mapping |
| Date: | 2025–04–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05034010 |
| By: | Frick, Susanne A.; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | Growth pole policies, despite claims otherwise, remain highly relevant and widely applied across the globe. Over recent years, they have emerged as a key instrument in development strategies, often under different names. However, the concept of growth pole policies has remained somewhat elusive, and few studies have systematically evaluated their effectiveness. This has resulted in a lack of comprehensive analysis, particularly regarding their viability and impact in developing countries. The main aim of this paper is to examine the key advantages and challenges involved in the design and implementation of growth pole policies. It outlines the theoretical foundations of these policies and reviews their recent application in various developing regions. Ten case studies were analysed to identify six key lessons, differentiating between successful initiatives —those that met their objectives— and less successful ones. |
| Keywords: | developing countries; growth pole policies; local economic development |
| JEL: | R10 R58 O14 O20 |
| Date: | 2025–05–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:127644 |
| By: | César Ducruet; Barbara Polo Martin |
| Abstract: | Based on untapped data on vessel movements and urban population, this paper investigates the changing relationship between ports and cities since the late 19th century. We refer to a number of models in maritime geography and history that converge about port-city spatial and functional disconnection. The principal results show that the average distance between ports and cities doubled over the period, from 4.9 km in 1880 to 10.1 km in 2020. While the correlation between vessel traffic and city size grew since 1880, it declined rapidly from 0.66 in 1946 to 0.33 in 2020. In turn, vessel traffic became more and more correlated with the size of city-regions, of which port and non-port. Such trends are differentiated across regions of the world, due to historical legacies and specific patterns of port hinterlands. |
| Keywords: | globalization; hinterlands; port city; maritime transport; regionalization |
| JEL: | R12 R40 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2025-25 |
| By: | Tomoya Mori (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University); Daisuke Murakami (Institute of Statistical Mathematics) |
| Abstract: | This study develops a statistical model that integrates economic agglomeration theory and power-law distributions of city sizes to project future population distribution on 1-km grid cells. We focus on Japan - a country at the forefront of rapid population decline. Drawing on official population projections and empirical patterns from past urban evolution in response to the development of high-speed rail and highway networks, we examine how ongoing demographic contraction and expected reductions in distance frictions may reshape urban geography. Our analysis suggests that urban economies will consolidate around fewer and larger cities, each of which will experience a flattening of population density as the decentralization of urban populations accelerates, while rural areas are expected to experience further depopulation as a result of these spatial and economic shifts. By identifying sustainable urban cores capable of anchoring regional economies, our model provides a framework for policymakers to manage population decline while maintaining resilience through optimized infrastructure and resource allocation focused on these key urban centers. |
| Keywords: | Population decline, Cities, Agglomeration, Sustainability, Distance friction, Power law |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R23 R58 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:1117 |
| By: | Ziqi Li |
| Abstract: | This chapter discusses the opportunities of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) within the realm of spatial analysis. A key objective in spatial analysis is to model spatial relationships and infer spatial processes to generate knowledge from spatial data, which has been largely based on spatial statistical methods. More recently, machine learning offers scalable and flexible approaches that complement traditional methods and has been increasingly applied in spatial data science. Despite its advantages, machine learning is often criticized for being a black box, which limits our understanding of model behavior and output. Recognizing this limitation, XAI has emerged as a pivotal field in AI that provides methods to explain the output of machine learning models to enhance transparency and understanding. These methods are crucial for model diagnosis, bias detection, and ensuring the reliability of results obtained from machine learning models. This chapter introduces key concepts and methods in XAI with a focus on Shapley value-based approaches, which is arguably the most popular XAI method, and their integration with spatial analysis. An empirical example of county-level voting behaviors in the 2020 Presidential election is presented to demonstrate the use of Shapley values and spatial analysis with a comparison to multi-scale geographically weighted regression. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the challenges and limitations of current XAI techniques and proposes new directions. |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2505.00591 |