This book provides the first unifying treatment of the range of economic reasons for the clustering of firms and households. Its goal is to explain further the trade-off between various forms of increasing returns and different types of mobility costs. Although referring to agglomeration as a generic term is convenient, it should be noted that the concept of economic agglomeration refers to distinct real world situations. The main focus of the treatment is on cities, but it also explores the formation of agglomerations, such as commercial districts within cities, industrial clusters at the regional level, and the existence of imbalance between regions. The book is rooted within the realm of modern economics and borrows concepts from geography and regional science, which makes it accessible to a broad audience formed by economists, geographers, regional planners, and other scientists. It may be used in coursework for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates.

Competition for industrial investment at the regional and local levels is weakening not only national borders, but also traditional assumptions and methods for analyzing the spatial distribution of industry and trade. Researchers and practitioners in urban and regional planning, geography, and economics--mostly from Europe but also the US and Japan--describe new approaches, based on such factors as the behavior of individual firms, the behavior of multinational and multiplant firms, and the influence of the local economic environment. They do not try to synthesize the various approaches, but point out the strengths and weaknesses of each in particular situations and for particular purposes. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The motivation for this book comes from the apparent inability of existing orthodox location theory to throw light on a series of location-production problems which are typically faced by modem manufacturing and distribution ftrms. These problems are related to the treatment of time by ftrms, who normally view time costs in terms of inventory costs. From this perspective, traditional industrial location and linkage analysis can be re-cast in a form in which space time problems can be dealt with in a unifted manner. The role played by input factor prices and market prices in location behaviour becomes dependent on the relationship between the frequency of shipment and the distance of shipment. This approach provides new insights into the relationship between the optimal location of the ftrm and the value-added by the ftrm, under conditions of either ftxed or varying local factor prices. The approach can then also be extended to discuss the of the spatial changes involved in the new Just-In-Time (JIT) production question philosophy. I would like to acknowledge the many helpful discussions I have had with Bernard Fingleton, Masahisa Fujita, Geoff Hewings, John McCombie, Ron Miller, John Parr, Tony E. Smith, and my colleagues at the University of Reading. Table of Contents Preface vn Introduction 1 1 Comparing Western and Japanese Industrial Purchasing Linkages 5 1. 1 Western Purchasing Linkages 5 Japanese Purchasing Linkages 7 1. 2 1.

This unique Handbook examines the impacts on, and responses to, economic geography explicitly from the perspective of the behaviour, mechanics, systems and experiences of different firms in various types of industries. The industry studies approach all

The authors show how a common approach that emphasizes the three-way interaction among increasing returns, transportation costs, and the movement of productive factors can be applied to a wide range of issues in urban, regional, and international economics. Since 1990 there has been a renaissance of theoretical and empirical work on the spatial aspects of the economy—that is, where economic activity occurs and why. Using new tools—in particular, modeling techniques developed to analyze industrial organization, international trade, and economic growth—this "new economic geography" has emerged as one of the most exciting areas of contemporary economics. The authors show how seemingly disparate models reflect a few basic themes, and in so doing they develop a common "grammar" for discussing a variety of issues. They show how a common approach that emphasizes the three-way interaction among increasing returns, transportation costs, and the movement of productive factors can be applied to a wide range of issues in urban, regional, and international economics. This book is the first to provide a sound and unified explanation of the existence of large economic agglomerations at various spatial scales.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Studies that integrate scientific, technological, and economic dimensions of industrial ecology and material flows. The use of economic modeling techniques in industrial ecology research provides distinct advantages over the customary approach, which focuses on the physical description of material flows. The thirteen chapters of Economics of Industrial Ecology integrate the natural science and technological dimensions of industrial ecology with a rigorous economic approach and by doing so contribute to the advancement of this emerging field. Using a variety of modeling techniques (including econometric, partial and general equilibrium, and input-output models) and applying them to a wide range of materials, economic sectors, and countries, these studies analyze the driving forces behind material flows and structural changes in order to offer guidance for economically and socially feasible policy solutions. After a survey of concepts and relevant research that provides a useful background for the chapters that follow, the book presents historical analyses of structural change from statistical and decomposition approaches; a range of models that predict structural change on the national and regional scale under different policy scenarios; two models that can be used to analyze waste management and recycling operations; and, adopting the perspective of local scale, an analysis of the dynamics of eco-industrial parks in Denmark and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of an economic approach to industrial ecology.