Introduction

Abstract

Abstract. This collected volume gives a concise account of the most relevant scientific results of the COST Action IS1104 "The EU in the new complex geography of economic systems: models, tools and policy evaluation", a four-year project supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). It is divided into three parts reflecting the different perspectives under which complex spatial economic systems have been studied: (i) the Macro perspective looks at the interactions among international or regional trading partners; (ii) the Meso perspective considers the functioning of (financial, labour) markets as social network structures; and, finally, (iii) the Micro perspective focuses on the strategic choices of single firms and households. This Volume points also at open issues to be addressed in future research. models, tools and policy evaluation (GeComplexity)" has been to approach the study of EU, more generally, economic systems from a multi-layered perspective featuring interconnected spatial structures. At each layer, different types of decisions and interactions take place: interactions among international or regional trading partners at the macro-level; the functioning of (financial, labour) markets as social network structures at the meso-level; and finally, the strategic choices of single firms and households at the micro-level. Within these structures, the spatial distribution of economic activities is evolving through time following complex patterns determined by economic, geographical, institutional and social factors.To study these structures, during its four years life time (March 2012-September 2016), the Action has built successfully an interdisciplinary approach. It has further developed advanced mathematical, computational and empirical methods and tools for analysing complex nonlinear systems, including macro and micro models, nonlinear dynamical systems, social networks, game theoretical models and agent based models. This leads to the second objective of the Action: building multiregional models that integrate real world features; mapping the geography of the financial and banking networks; understanding firms' strategic choices on location and R&D cooperation and competition. More generally highlighting the pervasiveness of networks structures at the various levels of aggregation.To achieve these objectives, several activities have been performed. Twentythree meetings of which four major events -including a Final Conference -and several workshops have taken place. Researches from twenty-six European countries and across the world and from an EU Commission research institution (the Joint Research Centre, JRC, Seville) have contributed with an interdisciplinary expertise: economists, regional economists, applied economists, mathematicians, physicists. These activities lead to several scientific outcomes including more than 140 articles in leading journals, Special Issues (four published and two as an expected outcome of the Final Conference), three collected volumes, multiple boo...

Agglomeration or Market Access? The Defining Factors of Firms' Location Choice

“…A direct consequence of this hypothesis is that firms decide actively on their location considering their market needs, the position of other market participants, external factors (e.g., politics), and other aspects. With constant discussions and developments of the underlying theories and approaches (Fingleton, 2007;Martin, 1999), a wide range of methods for empirical analyses has been developed (Commendatore et al, 2018). Two main subjects of research are observed in this context: the evaluation of those factors determining the location of economic activity and the assessment of the impact of locationspecific characteristics on costs and prices.…”