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Firms' locations under demand heterogeneity

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  • PICARD, Pierre M.
  • OKUBO, Toshihiro

Abstract

In this paper, we develop an economic geography model in which firms sell product varieties with heterogeneous demands. We show that firms that sell products with higher demand choose to establish their plants in larger countries, which provide better access to the most frequently demanded and valuable varieties. The impact of spatial sorting depends on the skewness of the distribution of demand intensity across varieties. In a model in which only capital moves across regions, demand heterogeneity diminishes the amount of capital invested in larger countries. In a model in which the work force moves across regions, demand heterogeneity is found to eliminate dramatic changes in the location patterns and to result in the asymmetric dispersion of workers rather than their symmetric dispersion or complete agglomeration in a specific region.
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Suggested Citation

  • PICARD, Pierre M. & OKUBO, Toshihiro, 2012. "Firms' locations under demand heterogeneity," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2459, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvrp:2459
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2012.05.001
    Note: In : Regional Science and Urban Economics, 42(6), 961-974, 2012
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    Cited by:

    1. Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P., 2012. "Agglomeration, trade and selection," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 987-997.
    2. Ushchev, Philip & Zenou, Yves, 2018. "Price competition in product variety networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 226-247.
    3. Toshihiro Okubo & Pierre M. Picard & Jacques-François Thisse, 2014. "On The Impact Of Competition On Trade And Firm Location," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 731-754, November.
    4. Picard, P.M., 2015. "Trade, economic geography and the choice of product quality," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 18-27.
    5. Sergey Kichko & Pierre M. Picard, 2018. "Heterogeneity in Conformism, Firm Selection, and Home Bias," DEM Discussion Paper Series 18-09, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    6. repec:esx:essedp:729 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Breinlich, Holger & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2014. "Regional Growth and Regional Decline," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 683-779, Elsevier.
    8. Wei, Zelong & Song, Xi & Wang, Donghan, 2017. "Manufacturing flexibility, business model design, and firm performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 87-97.
    9. Rikard Forslid & Toshihiro Okubo, 2015. "Which Firms Are Left In The Periphery? Spatial Sorting Of Heterogeneous Firms With Scale Economies In Transportation," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 51-65, January.
    10. P. M. Picard & A. Tampieri, 2021. "Vertical differentiation and trade among symmetric countries," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(4), pages 1319-1355, June.
    11. Dalvai, Wilfried, 2016. "Agglomeration and the product mix," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 145, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    12. Ushchev, Philip & Zenou, Yves, 2018. "Price competition in product variety networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 226-247.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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