The Economics of the Frontier

Frontiers and sustainable economic development

“…..The GNP level is limited at any time not by a natural resource shortage in any physical sense but because some of the labor-capital input must be used to gather or otherwise prepare the resources for use in producing final goods and services." (di Tella 1982;Findlay 1995;Findlay and Lundahl 1994;Hansen 1979). Such "surplus land" models essentially postulate a Ricardian land frontier, whereby additional land can be brought into cultivation through investment of labor and/or capital, provided that the resulting rents earned are competitive with the returns from alternative assets.…”

“…This latter fact in itself is not startling. Finding "new frontiers," or "reserves," of natural resources to exploit has been the basis of much of global economic development for the past 500 years (Cipolla 1976;di Tella 1982;Findaly 1995;Findlay and Lundahl 1994;Webb 1964). Such frontier-based economic development is characterized by a pattern of capital investment, technological innovation and social and economic institutions dependent on "opening up" new frontiers of natural resources once existing ones have been "closed" and exhausted (di Tella 1982;Findlay and Lundahl 1994).…”

“…Finding "new frontiers," or "reserves," of natural resources to exploit has been the basis of much of global economic development for the past 500 years (Cipolla 1976;di Tella 1982;Findaly 1995;Findlay and Lundahl 1994;Webb 1964). Such frontier-based economic development is characterized by a pattern of capital investment, technological innovation and social and economic institutions dependent on "opening up" new frontiers of natural resources once existing ones have been "closed" and exhausted (di Tella 1982;Findlay and Lundahl 1994). Over the years there has also emerged a general consensus over both the definition of a "frontier" and its significance in terms of economic development: a frontier area is assumed to be "a geographic region adjacent to the unsettled portions of the continent in which a low man-land ratio and unusually abundant, unexploited, natural resources provide an exceptional opportunity for social and economic betterment to the small-propertied individual" (Billington 1966, p. 25).…”

Σύνορα Και Ολοκλήρωση: Χώρος - Οικονομία - Πολιτικές

“…(Clark, 1994). Η µελέτη των συνοριακών οικονοµικών εµ̟οδίων ειδικότερα έχει συνδεθεί µε την ε̟ιβολή δασµών, ̟οσοστώσεων ή άλλων ̟εριορισµών στο ̟λαίσιο της συζήτησης ̟ερί ελεύθερου ή ̟ροστατευτικού εµ̟ορίου (Balassa, 1961, Di Tella, 1982. Μέσα α̟ό την ο̟τική της ̟αραδοσιακής θεωρίας χωροθέτησης, οι φραγµοί στα σύνορα α̟οτελούν αιτία αύξησης του κόστους του διεθνούς εµ̟ορίου, διαστρέβλωσης της αγοράς και αύξησης του ̟αραγωγικού κόστους των ε̟ιχειρήσεων ̟ου είναι εγκαταστηµένες κοντά στα σύνορα.…”

“…Η έρευνα των εµ̟ορικών εµ̟οδίων στα σύνορα, έχει συνδεθεί κυρίως µε την ε̟ιβολή δασµών ή ̟οσοστώσεων, αλλά και άλλων ̟εριορισµών, ό̟ως είναι η γραφειοκρατία και οι τεχνικές α̟αιτήσεις για τα εισαγόµενα ̟ροϊόντα εµ̟ορίου (Balassa, 1961;Di Tella, 1982 …”