The Seamless World: A Spatial Model of International Specialization

Paul R. Krugman () and Anthony J. Venables ()

No 1230, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper is an effort to do international trade theory without mentioning countries. Nearly all models of the international economy assume that trade takes place between nations or regions which are themselves dimensionless points. We develop a model in which economic space is instead assumed to be continuous, and in which this `seamless world' spontaneously organizes itself into industrial and agricultural zones because of the tension between forces of agglomeration and disagglomeration. One might expect such a model to be analytically intractable, but we are able to gain considerable insight through a combination of simulations and an analytical approach originally suggested in a biological context by Alan Turing.

Keywords: Agglomeration; Linkages; Location; Regions; Self-Organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F1 F12 F15 R3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1995-08
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations View citations in EconPapers (23) Track citations by RSS feed

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP1230.asp (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Working Paper: The Seamless World: A Spatial Model of International Specialization (1995)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1230

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP1230.asp

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers
Address: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 77 Bastwick Street, London EC1V 3PZ
Series data maintained by ().