Complex spatial economic systems: migration, industrial location and regional asymmetries

Abstract

The economy can be conceived as a complex system characterized by interconnected multilayer structures with a spatial dimension. At each layer, different types of decisions or interactions take place involving international or interregional trading partners at the macro-level; institutions, markets and industries at the meso-level; and individual firms and households at the micro-level. Within these structures, the spatial distribution of economic activities evolves over time following complex patterns. These same structures are subject to continuous changes triggered by different types of factors, which test their resilience and their ability to develop and evolve. These concepts were explored by worldwide research as part of a four-year research project. Each of the five articles in this special issue is representative of one of the main fields of analysis of this research network.