“Not Very Attractive”: How the Interstate Highway System Reconfigured Cinematic Space and Made the Rural Horrifying

2019 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
John Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Interstate Highway ◽  
Interstate Highway System ◽  
Cinematic Space ◽  
Highway System

scholarly journals Trade and the Topography of the Spatial Economy *

2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 1085-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Treb Allen ◽  
Costas Arkolakis
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activity ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interstate Highway ◽  
Interstate Highway System ◽  
Simple Set ◽  
Spatial Economy ◽  
Structure Of Trade ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Highway System

Abstract We develop a general equilibrium framework to determine the spatial distribution of economic activity on any surface with (nearly) any geography. Combining the gravity structure of trade with labor mobility, we provide conditions for the existence, uniqueness, and stability of a spatial economic equilibrium and derive a simple set of equations that govern the relationship between economic activity and the geography of the surface. We then use the framework to estimate the topography of trade costs, productivities and amenities in the United States. We find that geographic location accounts for at least twenty percent of the spatial variation in U.S. income. Finally, we calculate that the construction of the interstate highway system increased welfare by 1.1 to 1.4 percent, which is substantially larger than its cost.

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