European policy makers may have asked too much from regional policies: to decrease inequalities between regions, to increase efficiency at the national and European levels and to decrease inequalities between countries. This paper argues that these policies face a trade-off between equity and...

Spatial concentration of economic activities is one of the most salient features of economic development. The almost parallel urge by policymakers to counteract such a trend through public polices is also striking. This is not only reserved to those countries, especially in Europe, which have a...

Biographical note: Richard Baldwin is Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International Economics in Geneva. Rikard Forslid is Associate Professor of Economics at Stockholm University. Philippe Martin is Professor of Economics at the University of Paris 1...