The first goal of this work is to collect available physical geographic data on islands and to elaborate measures of insularity. We then evaluate whether and when insularity can become ‘bad’ geography in terms of poor economic performance. We find that two important dichotomies are present -...

This survey reviews theoretical and empirical evidence on the impact of insularity on regional economic development. Far from being a mere geographical condition, insularity can be regarded as a permanent phenomenon of economic and social peripheralization that prevents islands to reach the...

In this paper we explore the geographical dimension of insularity, measuring its effect on a comprehensive measure of trade costs (Novy 2012). Controlling for other geographical characteristics, connectedness (spatial proximity) and the role of historical events in shaping modern attitudes...