Location and climate have large effects on income levels and income growth through their effects on transport costs, disease burdens, and agricultural productivity, among other channels. Geography also seems to affect economic policy choices. Many geographic regions that have not been conducive to modern economic growth have high population densities and are experiencing rapid increases in popu...

Recent theoretical and empirical work in economic geography has experienced what might be termed a ‘relational turn’ that focuses primarily on the ways in which sociospatial relations of economic actors are intertwined with processes of economic change at various geographical scales. This phenomenon begs the questions of whether the ‘relational turn’ is simply an explicit reworking of what migh...

I study the long-run economic effects of a policy of deporting undocumented immigrants. To evaluate such a policy, I develop a dynamic spatial growth model featuring migration, endogenous innovation, and economic geography. Using this framework, I simulate various deportation policy scenarios for the United States and quantify gains and losses in welfare and real wages, both in the aggregate an...

This paper addresses the complex relationship between geography and macroeconomic growth. It investigates the ways in which geography may matter directly for growth, controlling for economic policies and institutions, as well as the effects of geography on policy choices and institutions. It finds that location and climate have large effects on income levels and income growth through their effe...