This paper reviews the evolution of trading structures by examining two pertinent strands in the literature on economics with interacting agents, one, works that presume a specified topology of interactions among agents, and two, works that let random mechanisms determine that topology. The papr...

This discussion paper resulted in an article in the 'American Economic Review' (2006). Volume 96, issue 2, pages 270-274.<P> Empirical studies of labor markets show that social contacts are an important source of job-related information [Ioannides and Loury (2004)]. At the same time, wage...</p>

This paper examines spatial effects in house price dynamics. Using panel data from 363 US Metropolitan Statistical Areas for 1996 to 2013, we find that there are spatial diffusion patterns in the growth rates of urban house prices. Lagged price changes of neighboring areas show greater effects...

This assessment of Scott Page's The Difference (Princeton University Press, 2007) emphasizes the depth and breadth of the book's coverage and arguments and checks them against existing empirical evidence, when available. It argues that the book navigates artfully between being a "manifesto" for...

While interest in social determinants of individual behavior has led to a rich theoretical literature and many efforts to measure these influences, a mature "social econometrics" has yet to emerge. This chapter provides a critical overview of the identification of social interactions. We...

While interest in social determinants of individual behavior has led to a rich theoretical literature and many efforts to measure these influences, a mature “social econometrics” has yet to emerge. This chapter provides a critical overview of the identification of social interactions. We...

The study of social interactions has enriched both the domain of inquiry of economists and the way economists conceptualize individual decision making. The review aims to introduce the classes of models that accommodate estimation of social interactions and to examine the key areas where...

The geographic concentration of economic activity occurs because transport costs for goods, people and ideas give individuals and organisations incentives to locate close to each other. Historically, all of these costs have been falling. Such changes could lead us to predict the death of...

The paper presents a model of an economy whose urban structure consists of cities of different types. All cities of different types. All cities produce a non-tradeable final good using both types of tradeable intermediate varieties. Each city has an internal spatial structure: individuals...