What drives growth at the microeconomic level? The authors divide the factors that determine a location's growth performance into two groups,"1st advantage"and"2nd advantage."The term 1st advantage refers to the conditions that provide the environment in which new activities can be profitably...

This paper surveys the empirical literature on the economic geography of trade flows, factor prices, and the location of production. The discussion is structured around the empirical predictions of a canonical theoretical model. We review empirical evidence on the determinants of trade costs and...

This paper presents a simple framework in which the location and the growth rate of economic activities are endogenous and interact. We show that the nature of the equilibrium and of the relation between growth and location depends fundamentally on whether capital is assumed to be mobile (in...

This paper surveys the empirical literature on the economic geography of trade flows, factor prices, and the location of production. The discussion is structured around the empirical predictions of a canonical theoretical model. We review empirical evidence on the determinants of trade costs and...

[Extract] Many studies have appeared, in both English and Chinese, focusing on income distribution in rural China1. They point to a worsening trend since the late 1970s when China initiated economic reforms. Such a trend has serious implications for China's ability to maintain sustainable growth...