Economic geography and trade

Kerem Coşar

Chapter 8 in Elgar Encyclopedia of International Trade, 2026, pp 34-38 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This entry provides a comprehensive overview of economic geography and its intersection with international trade theory. First, I examine the fundamental concepts that govern the spatial distribution of economic activity, including the distinction between first-nature and second-nature geography, and analyze the mechanisms underlying agglomeration and dispersion forces. Second, I trace the intellectual development of the field from early contributions through the New Economic Geography framework to more recent applications. Third, I review recent empirical evidence on how trade liberalization reshapes countries’ internal economic geography, drawing on experiences from Mexico and China. I conclude by discussing how transportation infrastructure investments and migration policies interact with trade openness to determine spatial equilibrium outcomes and regional specialization patterns.

Keywords: International trade; Economic geography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035327492
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035327508.00013 (application/pdf)

Related works:
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: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23076_9

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().