Abstract - This article expounds the main findings of a research program on the reflation of local economies in West Africa. It was developed by the Municipal Development Program (MDP) in collaboration with the Sahel Club, and aims at implementing local information systems. This program does not...

The aim of this article is to investigate the issue of the railway network in a theoretical perspective. The railway network, that has long been considered as the symbol of the Central State, is traditionally based on a national, spatially integrated and central regulated management. Modern...

This paper examines the evolution of the geographical distribution of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in China during its opening process. We measure the concentration degree of FDIs at different geographical levels. At the inter-provincial level, we find that the concentration degree of FDIs...

Using Local Labor Systems (LLSs) data, we assess the effect of the local productive structure on employment growth in Italy during the period 1981-2008. Italy represents an interesting case study because of the high degree of spatial heterogeneity in local labor market performances and of the...

The negative relationship between wages and unemployment, embodied within the so-called wage curve, has an extensive literature and has been referred to as ‘an empirical law of economics’. However there are newer alternative theories that seek to explain the variation in wages without...

An important literature has focused on then rank size rule and the Zipf’s law without delivering significant results. Among the reasons for this low scientific productivity, one can find ommisions and misunderstandings between different scientific fields, the generalization of physical and...

Starting from the dynamic externalities debate presented by Glaeser and al. in 1992, many recent econometric studies attempt to assess the impact of specialization and of the sector-based diversity of agglomerations on local growth dynamics. Contrary to theoretical approaches however, these...

The development of urbanization and a high population growth rate in large cities are a major feature of Turkey between 1950 and 2000. The degree of urban primacy - whether we consider the share of the largest city or of the two largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara - in the national urban...

This article examines the impacts of the initial industrial structure of Moroccan provinces on their economic growth between 1985 and 1999 using a panel data model dealing with heterogeneous parameters. Results show the importance of both specialization (MAR externalities) and diversity (Jacob...

The main issue in this paper is cities’ size distribution and urban hierarchy. The aim of the paper is to study whether different regions or countries follow Zipf's law in the long term. By applying this analysis on the Balkan Peninsula, a region which has gone through a major political,...