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It's a big world after all: on the economic impact of location and distance

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  • Steven Brakman
  • Charles van Marrewijk

Abstract

Thomas Friedman, a very influential and widely read journalist (author of The World is Flat), argues that distance is no longer a dominant characteristic of the world economy. Competition is thought to be a race to the bottom, with the lowest wage countries as the big winners. In contrast, using various methods and data sets, we show that many threats of global competition for the position of the traditionally developed (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries are unwarranted, that distance still dominates all aspects of international trade and that there is little evidence of income convergence. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Brakman & Charles van Marrewijk, 2008. "It's a big world after all: on the economic impact of location and distance," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 1(3), pages 411-437.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cjrecs:v:1:y:2008:i:3:p:411-437
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cjres/rsm006
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Steven Brakman & Robert Inklaar & Charles Van Marrewijk, 2013. "Structural change in OECD comparative advantage," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(6), pages 817-838, September.
    2. Christ, Julian P., 2010. "Geographic concentration and spatial inequality: Two decades of EPO patenting at the level of European micro regions," Violette Reihe: Schriftenreihe des Promotionsschwerpunkts "Globalisierung und Beschäftigung" 32/2010, University of Hohenheim, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Evangelisches Studienwerk.
    3. Cristina Vaquero-Piñeiro, 2020. "A voyage in the role of territory: are territories capable of instilling their peculiarities in local production systems," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0251, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.
    4. Emmanouil Tranos & Peter Nijkamp, 2013. "The Death Of Distance Revisited: Cyber-Place, Physical And Relational Proximities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 855-873, December.
    5. Emmanouil Tranos & Yannis Ioannides, 2015. "Ubiquitous digital technologies and spatial structure: a preliminary analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa15p1329, European Regional Science Association.
    6. Stefano Breschi & Camilla Lenzi, 2010. "Spatial patterns of inventors' mobility: Evidence on US urban areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(2), pages 235-250, June.
    7. Thisse, Jacques-François & Proost, Stef, 2015. "Skilled Cities, Regional Disparities, and Efficient Transport: The state of the art and a research agenda," CEPR Discussion Papers 10790, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Deeken, Tim & Ott, Ingrid, 2014. "Integration as a spatial institution: Implications for agglomeration and growth," Working Paper Series in Economics 59, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    9. Anupam Nanda & Olayiwola Oladiran, 2022. "Examining regional asymmetries in drivers of international migration flows," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 90(6), pages 648-667, December.
    10. Stefan Apostol & Eduardo Hernández-Rodríguez, 2023. "Digitalisation in European regions: Unravelling the impact of relatedness and complexity on digital technology adoption and productivity growth," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2317, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2023.
    11. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2020. "The role of geographical proximity in knowledge diffusion, measured by citations to scientific literature," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    12. Julia Heller & Jan Kluge & Christian Ochsner, 2014. "Stimmt die Chemie? Die Export- und Forschungsstärke der Chemischen und Pharmazeutischen Industrie im Ost-West-Vergleich," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(06), pages 11-19, December.

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