Globalisation: countries, cities and multinationals

Arbeitspapier

In this paper we explore the relationship between the size of a country, the size of its cities, and the economic performance of the country. In order to do this we integrate three different literature, namely the literature on optimal country size, literature on historical processes of urbanisation and the performance of cities, and literature on the role of multinational firms in the global economy. Using an economic geography perspective, we demonstrate that the relationship between city-size and the prosperity of the nation state, to a much more complex set of relationships. In the modern era of globalisation the role of global companies within the city-region is critical, and city-regions in turn are seen to drive national economies. As such, the relationships between firms, cities and countries have been largely reversed, casting doubt on various institutional economic theories.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Jena Economic Research Papers ; No. 2009,042

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity ; Multinational Firms; International Business ; Regional and Urban History: General ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
• Subject: scale ; cities ; countries ; multinational firms ; globalisation ; Produktivität ; Landesgröße ; Stadtgröße ; Multinationales Unternehmen ; Standortwettbewerb ; Globalisierung ; Welt ; OECD-Staaten

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): McCann, Philip ; Ács, Zoltán J.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics
• (where): Jena
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/31787
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET