6533b86dfe1ef96bd12ca5fa

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Trade is not necessary for agglomeration to arise

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We develop a spatial general equilibrium model in which the absence of trade is an endogenous outcome and we show that trade is not a necessarycondition for agglomeration to arise. More precisely, extending the modeldeveloped by Ottaviano et al. [13], we show that equilibria without tradediffer significantly from those obtained in the presence of trade. Somewhatsurprisingly, equilibrium structures without trade are richer than those withtrade, since partial agglomeration becomes a feasible outcome. Equilibrianow depend on the ratio of mobile to immobile factors and an increase in thatratio triggers a process of spatial agglomeration.