Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-09-01
Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano of Bocconi University reviews “Economic Geography: The Integration of Regions and Nations” by Pierre-Philippe Combes, Thierry Mayer, Jacques-Francois Thisse,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Provides advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an introduction to the field of spatial economics. Discusses spatial inequalities--a brief historical overview; space in economic thought; monopolistic competition; interregional trade and market size; gravity and trade costs; the core-periphery structure; intermediate goods and the evolution of regional disparities; the bell-shaped curve of spatial development; spatial competition; measuring spatial concentration; determinants of spatial concentration and local productivity; the empirics of economic geography; and theory with numbers. Combes is CNRS Research Professor of Economics at the University of Aix-Marseille. Mayer is Professor of Economics at the University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne. Thisse is Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain and Professor at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees. Index.”