Geography and Development

The most striking fact about the economic geography of the world is the uneven spatial distribution of economic activity, including the coexistence of economic development and underdevelopment. High-income regions are almost entirely concentrated i...

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Main Authors: Henderson, J. Vernon, Shalizi, Zmarak, Venables, Anthony J.
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/09/693024/geography-development
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19789
id okr-10986-19789
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-197892021-04-23T14:03:44Z Geography and Development Henderson, J. Vernon Shalizi, Zmarak Venables, Anthony J. AFFILIATE AFFILIATES AGGREGATE DEMAND BILATERAL TRADE CAPITAL GOODS CARBON CITY SIZE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE CONSUMERS COST SAVINGS DECENTRALIZATION DECONCENTRATION DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIMINISHING RETURNS DIMINISHING RETURNS TO SCALE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELASTICITIES ELASTICITY EMISSIONS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPLOYMENT ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION EQUILIBRIUM EXPORTS EXTERNALITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES GDP GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODEL HOUSING HOUSING PRICES HUMAN CAPITAL IMPORTS INCOME INCOME LEVELS INCREASING RETURNS INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE INDUSTRIALIZATION INSURANCE INTERMEDIATE GOODS INTERMEDIATE INPUTS LABOR COSTS LAND PRICES LARGE CITIES LDCS LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES LOW INCOME LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MARGINAL BENEFITS MARGINAL COSTS MARKET FACTORS METALS MIGRATION MORTALITY NATURAL ENDOWMENTS NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES PER CAPITA INCOME PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY INSTRUMENTS POLICY RESEARCH POPULATION GROWTH PRICE DIFFERENCES PRODUCERS PRODUCTION COSTS PROFITABILITY REAL INCOME SCALE ECONOMIES SPATIAL ECONOMICS SPILLOVERS THEORETICAL MODELS TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRADE FLOWS TRADE VOLUME TRANSPORT URBAN AREAS URBAN POPULATIONS URBANIZATION VALUE ADDED WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGES The most striking fact about the economic geography of the world is the uneven spatial distribution of economic activity, including the coexistence of economic development and underdevelopment. High-income regions are almost entirely concentrated in a few temperate zones, half of the world's GDP is produced by 15 percent of the world's population, and 54 percent of the world's GDP is produced by countries occupying just 10 percent of the world's land area. The poorest half of the world's population produces only 14 percent of the world's GDP, and 17 of the poorest 20 nations are in tropical Africa. The unevenness is also manifest within countries and within metropolitan concentrations of activity. Why are these spatial differences in land rents and wages not bid away by firms and individuals in search of low-cost or high-income locations? Why does economic activity cluster in centers of activity? And what are the consequences of remoteness from existing centers? The authors argue that understanding these issues is central for understanding many aspects of economic development and underdevelopment at the international, national, and subcontinental levels. They review the theoretical and empirical work that illuminates how the spatial relationship between economic units changes and conclude that geography matters for development, but that economic growth is not governed by a geographic determinism. New economic centers can develop, and the costs of remoteness can be reduced. Many explicit policy instruments have been used to influence location decisions. But none has been systematically successful, and many have been very costly-in part because they were based on inappropriate expectations. Moreover, many ostensibly nonspatial policies that benefit specific sectors and households have spatial consequences since the targeted sectors and households are not distributed uniformly across space. These nonspatial policies can sometimes dominate explicitly spatial policies. Further work is needed to better understand these dynamics in developing countries. 2014-08-27T20:48:26Z 2014-08-27T20:48:26Z 2000-09 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/09/693024/geography-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19789 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2456 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic AFFILIATE
AFFILIATES
AGGREGATE DEMAND
BILATERAL TRADE
CAPITAL GOODS
CARBON
CITY SIZE
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
CONSUMERS
COST SAVINGS
DECENTRALIZATION
DECONCENTRATION
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
DIMINISHING RETURNS
DIMINISHING RETURNS TO SCALE
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
ELASTICITIES
ELASTICITY
EMISSIONS
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
EMPLOYMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
EQUILIBRIUM
EXPORTS
EXTERNALITIES
FINANCIAL SERVICES
GDP
GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODEL
HOUSING
HOUSING PRICES
HUMAN CAPITAL
IMPORTS
INCOME
INCOME LEVELS
INCREASING RETURNS
INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE
INDUSTRIALIZATION
INSURANCE
INTERMEDIATE GOODS
INTERMEDIATE INPUTS
LABOR COSTS
LAND PRICES
LARGE CITIES
LDCS
LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
LOW INCOME
LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
MARGINAL BENEFITS
MARGINAL COSTS
MARKET FACTORS
METALS
MIGRATION
MORTALITY
NATURAL ENDOWMENTS
NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES
PER CAPITA INCOME
PER CAPITA INCOMES
POLICY INSTRUMENTS
POLICY RESEARCH
POPULATION GROWTH
PRICE DIFFERENCES
PRODUCERS
PRODUCTION COSTS
PROFITABILITY
REAL INCOME
SCALE ECONOMIES
SPATIAL ECONOMICS
SPILLOVERS
THEORETICAL MODELS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRADE FLOWS
TRADE VOLUME
TRANSPORT
URBAN AREAS
URBAN POPULATIONS
URBANIZATION
VALUE ADDED
WAGE DIFFERENTIALS
WAGES
spellingShingle AFFILIATE
AFFILIATES
AGGREGATE DEMAND
BILATERAL TRADE
CAPITAL GOODS
CARBON
CITY SIZE
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
CONSUMERS
COST SAVINGS
DECENTRALIZATION
DECONCENTRATION
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
DIMINISHING RETURNS
DIMINISHING RETURNS TO SCALE
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
ELASTICITIES
ELASTICITY
EMISSIONS
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
EMPLOYMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
EQUILIBRIUM
EXPORTS
EXTERNALITIES
FINANCIAL SERVICES
GDP
GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODEL
HOUSING
HOUSING PRICES
HUMAN CAPITAL
IMPORTS
INCOME
INCOME LEVELS
INCREASING RETURNS
INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE
INDUSTRIALIZATION
INSURANCE
INTERMEDIATE GOODS
INTERMEDIATE INPUTS
LABOR COSTS
LAND PRICES
LARGE CITIES
LDCS
LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
LOW INCOME
LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
MARGINAL BENEFITS
MARGINAL COSTS
MARKET FACTORS
METALS
MIGRATION
MORTALITY
NATURAL ENDOWMENTS
NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES
PER CAPITA INCOME
PER CAPITA INCOMES
POLICY INSTRUMENTS
POLICY RESEARCH
POPULATION GROWTH
PRICE DIFFERENCES
PRODUCERS
PRODUCTION COSTS
PROFITABILITY
REAL INCOME
SCALE ECONOMIES
SPATIAL ECONOMICS
SPILLOVERS
THEORETICAL MODELS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRADE FLOWS
TRADE VOLUME
TRANSPORT
URBAN AREAS
URBAN POPULATIONS
URBANIZATION
VALUE ADDED
WAGE DIFFERENTIALS
WAGES
Henderson, J. Vernon
Shalizi, Zmarak
Venables, Anthony J.
Geography and Development
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2456
description The most striking fact about the economic geography of the world is the uneven spatial distribution of economic activity, including the coexistence of economic development and underdevelopment. High-income regions are almost entirely concentrated in a few temperate zones, half of the world's GDP is produced by 15 percent of the world's population, and 54 percent of the world's GDP is produced by countries occupying just 10 percent of the world's land area. The poorest half of the world's population produces only 14 percent of the world's GDP, and 17 of the poorest 20 nations are in tropical Africa. The unevenness is also manifest within countries and within metropolitan concentrations of activity. Why are these spatial differences in land rents and wages not bid away by firms and individuals in search of low-cost or high-income locations? Why does economic activity cluster in centers of activity? And what are the consequences of remoteness from existing centers? The authors argue that understanding these issues is central for understanding many aspects of economic development and underdevelopment at the international, national, and subcontinental levels. They review the theoretical and empirical work that illuminates how the spatial relationship between economic units changes and conclude that geography matters for development, but that economic growth is not governed by a geographic determinism. New economic centers can develop, and the costs of remoteness can be reduced. Many explicit policy instruments have been used to influence location decisions. But none has been systematically successful, and many have been very costly-in part because they were based on inappropriate expectations. Moreover, many ostensibly nonspatial policies that benefit specific sectors and households have spatial consequences since the targeted sectors and households are not distributed uniformly across space. These nonspatial policies can sometimes dominate explicitly spatial policies. Further work is needed to better understand these dynamics in developing countries.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Henderson, J. Vernon
Shalizi, Zmarak
Venables, Anthony J.
author_facet Henderson, J. Vernon
Shalizi, Zmarak
Venables, Anthony J.
author_sort Henderson, J. Vernon
title Geography and Development
title_short Geography and Development
title_full Geography and Development
title_fullStr Geography and Development
title_full_unstemmed Geography and Development
title_sort geography and development
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2014
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/09/693024/geography-development
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19789
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