In this paper, the stylized assumption that one single “optimal” city size exists for all cities—achieved when marginal location costs equal marginal location benefits—is abandoned, as well as the opposite view that each city operates on its own cost and production curves, defining a...

The potential welfare benefits from free movement of people are large. Especially in Europe, actual flows are lower than one would expect on the basis of economic differences between regions and countries. This paper empirically investigates the importance of cultural barriers in explaining the...

The paper presents an empirical analysis on the role played by urbanisation and localisation economies on factor productivity of firms. A vast literature exists on this issue, conceptually presenting reasons supporting either industry size or city size as sources of external advantages. In...

Many empirical analyses have proved the existence of an optimal city size through the measurement of economies or diseconomies of scale, generally applied either to the costs of urban services or to elegant econometric estimates of urban and sectoral production functions. But, unfortunately...

The recent policy approach to innovation calls for thematically/regionally focused innovation policies in line with the place-based approach (EC – Commission of the European Communities, <CitationRef CitationID="CR32">2010</CitationRef>). To achieve this goal, without incurring the unrealistic situation of having one policy action for...</citationref>

The paper provides an analysis of network externalities in the telecommunications sector and their effects on corporate and regional performance. It can essentially be regarded as part of the general theoretical reflection on the role of telecommunications in economic development, by emphasising...