期刊名称:Discussion Paper / Département des Sciences Économiques de l'Université Catholique de Louvain
印刷版ISSN:1379-244X
出版年度:2005
卷号:1
出版社:Université catholique de Louvain
摘要:We investigate how differences in set-up costs of various types affect the trade-off between global efficiency and spatial equity and show that the standard assumption of symmetry in fixed costs masks the existence of an interesting effect : the range of available varieties varies depends on the spatial distribution of firms. In such a setting, even when the market outcome leads to excessive agglomeration under symmetric fixed costs, a planner opts for asymmetric fixed costs and more agglomeration. The reason is that the losses induced by more agglomeration are offset by the gains due to additional product variety.
关键词:fixed costs; set-up costs; market size; international trade; homemarket effect