Complexity and Geographical Economics Gebunden

The uneven geographical distribution of economic activities is a huge challenge worldwide and also for the European Union. In Krugman¿s New Economic Geography economic systems have a simple spatial structure. This book shows that more sophisticated models should visualise the EU as an evolving trade network with a specific topology and different aggregation levels. At the highest level economic geography models give a bird eye¿s view of spatial dynamics. At a medium level institutions shape the economy and the structure of (financial and labour) markets. At the lowest level individual decis ions interact with the economic social and institutional environment the focus is on firms¿ decision on location and innovation. Such multilevel models exhibit complex dynamic patterns ¿ path dependence cumulative causation hysteresis ¿ on a network structure and specific analytic tools are necessary for studying strategic interaction heterogeneity and nonlinearities.