Spatial economy: high-tech glossary or new regional economics?

"The Spatial Economy Cities, Regions and International Trade", by Masahisa Fujita, Paul Krugman and Anthony J. Venables, has been seen as the best synthesis of the so-called new economic geography. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to review the book; and second, to place it in the current debate on regional economics. The first part of the paper is a brief introduction that situates the book in the history of regional economics. In the second part, a description and analysis of the basic models, their variations and applications are presented. The debate on regional economics concerning the theory proposed in the book is in the third part. Two aspects are stressed: the criticisms on the core-periphery model and how it incorporates regional diversity The fourth topic is a critical assessment of the achievements and originality of the new economic geography analysis.regional economics; economic geography; industrial agglomerations; monopolistic competition

Polarizações e desigualdades: desenvolvimento regional na China (1949-2000)

The regional development in China in the period 1949-2000 has two stages. In the first one (1949-1978), the aim was to control the territory. During three decades the government encouraged the convergences of per capita income among regions, rural, and urban areas, the industry was decentralized, the growth of central regions was induced, and the growth of coastal regions was constrained. In the second period (1979-2000), the so called "coastal and uneven strategy of development" determined the regional development of China. During this period the regional disparity decreased only at the beginning, then the differences between rural and urban areas, regions, and provinces were amplified and political conflicts increased.China; regional economics; economic development; regional policy

A nova geografia econômica: um barco com a lanterna na popa? [The new economic geography: a critical assessment]

Since the beginning of the 90's the New Economic Geography (NEG) has been a theoretical reference for several researches on regional and urban economics. The main task of this paper is to present a critical assessment of the NEG approach, which has in the book The Spatial Economy, by M.Fujita, P.Krugman and A.Venables (1999), its best synthesis. The paper has three parts. The first part describes the theoretical bedrock of the NEG: the core-periphery model. In the second part some empirical and theoretical limitations of the NEG models are discussed. The last part of the paper is more exploratory and suggestive. It presents theoretical comments on the relevance of regional asymmetries and criticizes the representation of cities and regions as economic agents. Based on theses remarks, it is proposed a theoretical approach that stresses social diversities and the use of self-organizing systems as a tool able to deal with the "local histories" (path dependences) that shape and characterize the modern spatial economic structures.regional economics; new economic geography; self-organizing systems

AS ESTRUTURAS URBANAS DO BRASIL: UMA ANÁLISE A PARTIR DO TAMANHO DAS CIDADES

The literature on urban economics usually point up the developing countries as those ones with urban structure extremely concentrated and unequal, and the developed countries as those countries with a better distribution of cities. This paper compares the national and state urban structures of two countries: the USA, a developed country, and Brazil, a developing country. In the Brazilian case, the regional urban structures are also analyzed.

Da integração territorial às aglomerações econômicas: a organização espacial e as políticas regionais nos Estados Unidos (1800-2000)

The paper summarizes and analyses the spatial organizations of US and their regional development policies. The first part describe the evolution of the US economy during the period 1800-2000, and the second part presents the regional policies and agencies that shape the regional development. The US regional policy was split into three periods. In the first period the regional policy was fully connected to the national development strategy. In the second period the regional policy turned to the regions that did not developed by their own: the so-called “regional problems”. In the third period, the regional policies showed a clear decline, they became more local and social-aid geared, and less structuralist or systemic.US; industrial belt; TVA; regional policy; Appalachia

INDUSTRIAL CORES AND PERIPHERIES IN BRAZIL

The aim of this paper is to identify the Brazilian industrial cores and peripheries. The study is based on two sets of data: the first describes 35600 industrial firms, and the second has information on the economic, social and urban structure of 5507 cities (2000). The conclusions are: (1) 84% of the industrial value-added (IVA) is concentrated in some type of industrial cluster; (2) 75% is in 15 spatial industrial agglomerations, which are industrial clusters with industrialized peripheries; (3) the are other 23 industrial cluster (local industrial agglomerations and industrial enclaves) with 9% of IVA; (4) the remaining 16% is geographically dispersed. Our main conclusion is: the Brazilian economic space is a mixed case. It is not a set of disconnected or isolated industrial islands, but it is still behind a full regional economic integration.

Estrategia empresarial e reestruturação industrial (1980-1992) : um estudo de grupos economicos selecionados

Orientador: Luciano Galvão CoutinhoDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de EconomiaResumo: Não informadoAbstract: Not informed.MestradoMestre em Economi

Redes e polarização urbana e financeira: uma exploração inical para o Brasil

This paper aims, in an exploratory way, to discuss the regional network of financial services in Brazil and its role in the configuration of the Brazilian urban network and its hierarchy. To achieve this objective, the paper, based on the seminal works of both CHRISTALLER (1966) and LÖSCH (1944/54), tries to understand how the process of spatial urban configuration works. Based on this framework it is possible to focus on the financial system, especially on the factors that determine the locational decision of financial institutions, aiming the building of a polarization system of the financial activities. The paper will adopt a adapted gravitation model to analyze the power of attraction of different financial centers based on diverse variables (credit, total assets, functional and structural diversification).polarization, financial system, centrality, urban network

Diversificação das grandes empresas e grupos empresariais brasileiros: alguns apontamentos

A diversificação dos grandes grupos e empresas é condicionada pela sua coerência ou coesão corporativa e requer ambientes políticos e econômicos que reduzam a incerteza e favoreçam investimentos que ousem ir além do core business da firma. Na ausência desse ambiente, a estratégia dos capitais nacionais tem se mostrado conservadora e especializante, em particular em setores intensivos em tecnologia. Recentemente se observam algumas diversificações induzidas pelo crescimento interno e apoiadas por políticas públicas. Entretanto, a ausência de um núcleo endógeno de inovação e uma modesta escala financeira colocam em dúvida seu êxito em um ambiente de abertura econômica.Diversification of large companies and groups is contingent on their corporate coherence or cohesion. Diversification entails political and economic environments which lessen uncertainty and favor investments daring to go beyond the core business of the company. When such environment is missing, the strategy of the national capital has proven to be specializing and conservative, mainly when concerning intensive technology sectors. We have recently observed some diversification driven by internal growth and supported by public policies. However, doubts can be raised as to its success in an environment of economic overture, as it lacks an endogenous innovation nucleus and because of its modest financial scale