This paper looks at the integration of regions and nations through the prism of the merger of populations (societies). The paper employs a particular index of social stress. Stylized examples of the merging of two populations suggest that with integration, the social stress index will increase....

Sourcing intermediate goods efficiently is essential for a country's production capacity. Countries located in a neighborhood providing a wide range of intermediate goods cheaply available can take advantage of scale economies to reduce their production costs and improve their global...

In recent decades, as integration of global trade and investment has accelerated, many countries both developing and developed have experienced widening disparities of output and income across regions within their borders. The emergence of entrenched 'leading' and 'lagging' regions is becoming...