This paper presents a meta-analysis of the empirical literature on the Rank-Size Rule for the size distribution of cities. Our analysis covers 1669 estimates derived from 59 studies. As such, our analysis presents a substantial extension of an earlier meta-analysis by Nitsch (2004) performed on...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of energy- and labour-productivity convergence at a detailed sectoral level for 14 OECD countries, covering the period 1970-1997. A -convergence analysis shows that the development of cross-country variation in productivity performance depends on the...

Large shocks, such as natural disasters, are often found to have little or no effect on the equilibrium distribution of economic activity across space. Two apparently competing theoretical explanations for this phenomenon are the increasing returns theory and the locational fundamentals theory....

Discussion on the possibilities for and barriers to income convergence and catch-up growth is at the heart of the debate on European regional economic policy. This study presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of regional productivity growth in Europe, using the most recent Cambridge...

This paper empirically examines the heterogeneity in the effects of multiple dimensions of distance on trade across detailed product groups. Using finite mixture modelling on bilateral trade data at the 3-digit SITC level, we endogenously group product categories into an, a priori unknown,...

There is large variation in trade patterns across the world. Despite the popular discussion on the ‘death of distance’, distance is still the most important variable explaining this variation. In explaining trade patterns across the worls, it is important to acknowledge the multiple...