In this paper, a micro-founded model dealing with the effects of regional sizing on economic growth is developed. Departing from bigger sizes, reduction involves more efficient public choices because of proximity to individual preferences and needs, but also creates the risk of underestimation...

This paper tests whether geocaching, a real-world treasure hunt activity using GPS devices and clues provided by other participants, can be modeled as an addictive pursuit. Using over 36 million online activity logs posted by more than 675,000 users in 2010, we find strong evidence that the...

A very important stream of theoretical and empirical research has marked the literature on Territorial Innovation Systems (TIS) over the last twenty years. One key achievement of this research effort is the emphasis put on the structuring role of territorial dynamics in the deployment and...

The "core-periphery model" is vitiated by its assumption of static expectations. That is, migration (inter-regional or intersectoral) is the key to agglomeration, but migrants base their decision on current wage differences alone--even though migration predictably alters wages and workers are...

We examine the incentives for integration between two nations of different sizes in a set up similar to Alesina and Spolaore (2003): individuals are indexed by location, each nation (comprising of individuals) is an interval, and the public good in each nation is provided from its capital -...

This paper discusses the principles that determine firstly how cities evolve over seven phases in what I call the Affinity Factor model. Secondly, we see how Affinity Factor model may help understand how development spreads or distributes within the city. We observe how these principles impact...

A feature of new economic geography model is their mathematical intractability. This intractability results from the fact that the functional relationship between the indirect utility differential and the state variable cannot be found explicitly. We illustrate three methods that can be utilized...

This paper analyzes a spatial competitive monopolistic model of agglomeration in which households make only one shopping trip per period, and there are several firms in each industry. The model is a version of a model by Fujita (1988), but unlike his, in this model no equilibrium mixed district...