While there is an increasing body of literature testing for a correlation between access to regional markets and economic activity, little evidence is available for market access being of causal importance for economic development. This paper investigates the impact of exogenous variation to...

This paper contributes to the understanding of the long-run consequences of Roman rule on economic development. In ancient times, the area of contemporary Germany was divided into a Roman and non-Roman part. The study uses this division to test whether the formerly Roman part of Germany show a...

The ongoing process of European integration is likely to increase trade and factor mobility thereby increasing interregional competition and affecting the interregional division of labor. From a theoretical standpoint, rising specialization and polarization of European regions may result from...

This study addresses three questions that arise in Asia when formulating, financing, implementing, and maintaining transnational linkages versus purely domestic connections. Firstly, how is optimal economic space to be defined as a useful starting point? Secondly, how can relevant criteria be...

The provision of public transportation can improve the accessibility of work opportunities. However, predicting the labor market effects of new transit infrastructure is difficult because of endogenous worker decisions. I examine a large public-transit rail project on the island of Oahu, Hawaii....

Since "Belt and Road initiative" (BRI) has been launched, the major volume of academic studies focus on the consideration of Eurasian land and maritime transport routes. Experts on Chinese foreign policy and geopolitical strategy emphasize possible positive and negative aspects of the initiative...

The spatial organization of cities has important implications for sustainable urban development. Several studies have analyzed how urban form characteristics can have different environmental impacts by influencing more or less sustainable mobility patterns. However, most of these studies present...

This paper presents evidence that high speed rail systems sustainably promote economic activity within regions that enjoy an increase in accessibility. Our results one the one hand confirm expectations that have led to huge public investments into high speed rail all over the world, suggesting...