This chapter on urbanization and growth focuses on modeling and empirical evidence that pertain to a number of inter-related questions. Why do cities form in an economy, with so much of economic activity in countries geographically concentrated in cities? Second, how do different types of cities...

One of the most outstanding accomplishments of the economic science over the last decades is the development of a sound and coherent theory of economic growth. Research in growth theory has demonstrated that significant and systematic increases in well-being are attainable whenever the right...

Following Jones and Williams (2000), we assume that R&D is simultaneously subject to positive and to negative external effects (e.g., the non rival nature of technology conflicts with congestion externalities). This observation allows to conceive an economy where two R&D sectors evolve without...

We study cycles and chaos in economic models. Autonomous dynamical systems are considered through infinite time horizon optimization models. We first show how endogenous fluctuations arise in a multisector growth model. Secondly, we consider an extension of this model by allowing direct...

We consider infinite horizon variational problems on different spaces of curves in presence of constraints on the state. We establish several necessary conditions of optimality, and give relations between these different problems.

Optimal growth models aim at explaining long run trends of growth under the strong assumption of full efficiency in the allocation of resources. As a result, the steady state time paths of the main economic aggregates reflect constant, exogenous or endogenous, growth. To introduce business...

This paper presents a fairly general treatment of recursive infinite horizon forward looking optimizing systems on infinite dimensional spatial domains. It includes optimal control, an analysis of local stability of spatially flat optimal steady states and development of techniques to compute...

In this paper, we apply first and higher-order Euler discretizations to compare dynamic systems in discrete and continuous time. In addition, we stress the difference between backward and forward-looking approximations. Focussing on local bifurcations, we find that time representation is neutral...

Innovation is the building block of competitive advantages and thus economic policies are increasingly focused on creating stimulus to increase a country’s innovative performance and growth potential, namely through knowledge accumulation in general and R&D in particular. In this context,...

Researchers have incorporated labor or credit market frictions in isolation within simple neoclassical models to open up a role for institutions, inject realism into their models and examine the impact of these distortions on output and employment. We present an overlapping generations model...