Integration, agglomeration and the political economics of factor mobility

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ottaviano, GIP; Thisse, JF
• 署名单位: Universite Catholique Louvain; Bocconi University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Ecole des Ponts ParisTech
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/S0047-2727(00)00166-3
• 发表日期: 2002
• 页码: 429-456
• 关键词: agglomeration; TRADE; monopolistic competition; Political economics; factor mobility

摘要

This paper tackles the issue of the optimality of agglomeration in a two-region economy with skilled/mobile and unskilled/immobile workers. The market leads to the optimal outcome when transport costs are high or low. However, for intermediate values, it yields agglomeration whereas dispersion is socially desirable. The reasons for this inefficiency are then analyzed. Finally, we show that competitive lobbying on factor mobility by the two groups of workers sustains the second best optimum. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.