On spatial equilibria in a social interaction model

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mossay, P.; Picard, P. M.
• 署名单位: University of Luxembourg; University of Reading; Universite Catholique Louvain
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0531
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2011.06.009
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 2455-2477
• 关键词: Social interaction; Multiple agglomerations; Spatial economy

摘要

Social interactions are at the essence of societies and explain the gathering of individuals in villages, agglomerations, or cities. We study the emergence of multiple agglomerations as resulting from the interplay between spatial interaction externalities and competition in the land market. We show that the geography of the spatial economy affects significantly the properties of spatial equilibria. In particular, when agents locate on an open land strip (line segment), a single city emerges in equilibrium. In contrast, when the spatial economy extends along a closed land strip (circumference), multiple equilibria with odd numbers of cities arise. Spatial equilibrium configurations involve a high degree of spatial symmetry in terms of city size and location, and can be Pareto-ranked. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.