Spatial Disparities in Developing Countries: Cities, Regions and International Trade

Anthony Venables

CEP Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Performance, LSE

Abstract: Spatial inequality in developing countries is due to the natural advantages of some regions relative to others and to the presence of agglomeration forces, leading to clustering of activity. This paper reviews and develops some simple models that capture these first and second nature economic geographies. The presence of increasing returns to scale in cities leads to urban structures that are not optimally sized. This depresses the return to job creation, possibly retarding development. Looking at the wider regional structure, development can be associated with large shifts in the location of activity as industry goes from being inward looking to being export oriented.

Keywords: cities; spatial disparities; urbanisation; developing countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O18 R1 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev, nep-geo and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Spatial disparities in developing countries: cities, regions, and international trade (2005)
Working Paper: Spatial disparities in developing countries: cities, regions and international trade (2003)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0593

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