Book Synopsis

Economic Geography is the most complete, up-to-date textbook available on the important new field of spatial economics. This book fills a gap by providing advanced undergraduate and graduate students with the latest research and methodologies in an accessible and comprehensive way. It is an indispensable reference for researchers in economic geography, regional and urban economics, international trade, and applied econometrics, and can serve as a resource for economists in government.

Economic Geography presents advances in economic theory that explain why, despite the increasing mobility of commodities, ideas, and people, the diffusion of economic activity is very unequal and remains agglomerated in a limited number of spatial entities. The book complements theoretical analysis with detailed discussions of the empirics of the economics of agglomeration, offering a mix of theoretical and empirical research that gives a unique perspective on spatial disparities. It reveals how location continues to matter for trade and economic development, yet how economic integration is transforming the global economy into an economic space in which activities are performed within large metropolitan areas exchanging goods, skills, and information. Economic Geography examines the future implications of this evolution in the spatial economy and relates them to other major social and economic trends.

• Provides a complete introduction to economic geography


• Explains the latest theory and methodologies


• Covers the empirics of agglomeration, from spatial concentration measurement to structural estimations of economic geography models


• Includes history and background of the field


• Serves as a textbook for students and a resource for professionals

From the Back Cover

"Combes, Mayer, and Thisse have just given me an indispensable teaching tool and a great text for my students. Their book offers the most up-to-date, balanced, comprehensive treatment of both theoretical and empirical research."--Kiminori Matsuyama, Northwestern University

"In the field of geographical economics, this is exactly the kind of book that I have been waiting for. After presenting lucid and comprehensive coverage of the current state of theory, it provides the modern methodology for measuring spatial concentration and inequalities. Then it confronts the challenging task of comparing theory with facts. This book will serve as an ideal textbook for graduate students and scholars in economic geography, regional development, international trade, and public policy."--Masahisa Fujita, RIETI, Japan

"Economic geography has undergone something of a revolution in the last fifteen years with the application of formal theoretical modeling and econometric estimation to old questions. The many advances have, however, left us with a literature that is discursive, disparate, and disjointed. This book does an exceptional job of adding the needed structure, and helps all of us move toward a more complete and integrated understanding of this still-evolving area."--James R. Markusen, University of Colorado at Boulder

"Combes, Mayer, and Thisse have put together a marvelous book on economic geography. With clear, lucid writing, they present the theory and empirics of economic geography in a way that will provide insights to both those new to the field and those in search of an excellent reference work."--David Weinstein, Columbia University

"Combes, Mayer, and Thisse have produced the rare text that is of value to both theorists and empirical researchers. They present the current state of knowledge about economic geography in an accessible way, paying equal attention to formal models and applied work. Their framework provides an elegant synthesis of concepts in regional economics, international trade, and economic development, which will be of broad interest to scholars and policymakers alike."--Gordon Hanson, University of California, San Diego

"A welcome addition to the literature. The authors are well-known researchers in the subject both on the theoretical and empirical sides. They put heavy emphasis on recent empirical research, not only reviewing the literature but also teaching the methodologies commonly used. No existing textbook in economic geography does this. This book fills a real gap."--Philippe Martin, coauthor of Economic Geography and Public Policy

"This book is well-written, extremely clear, and very well-focused. Other books are either too advanced for anyone starting in the field or too basic to be of any use beyond basic undergraduate courses. Beyond teaching, this book should also be very useful as a reference."--Gilles Duranton, University of Toronto

Review Quotes

"Economic Geography: The Integration of Regions and Nations is an outstanding contribution to the field. . . . Even those most familiar with the economic geography literature will emerge from reading the book challenged, engaged, and enlightened."---Donald R. Davis, Journal of International Economics

"[T]he book by Combes et al. gives an excellent overview of identification, estimation, omitted variables, reverse causality, sorting and evaluation issues related to geographical economics modeling outcomes as well as urban economics and interaction modeling outcomes. Empirical researchers will appreciate the overviews given here."---Frank Van Oort, Regional Studies

"The book delivers important insights into the theories and practices of economic geography and opens opportunities for new avenues of research, by providing extensions of the existing theoretical models which can form the basis of new applications and tests to these theories. . . . [T]his book is highly recommended for both academic and graduates."---Vítor Braga, Economic Geography Research Group

About the Author

Pierre-Philippe Combes is CNRS research professor of economics at the Université d¹Aix-Marseille. Thierry Mayer is professor of economics at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Jacques-François Thisse is professor of economics at the Université Catholique de Louvain and professor at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. His books include Economics of Agglomeration.