A note on heterogeneity, trade integration and spatial inequality

We study the impact of economic integration on spatial development in a model where all consumers are inter-regionally mobile and have heterogeneous preferences regarding their residential location choices. This heterogeneity is the unique dispersion force in the model. We show that, under reasonable values for the elasticity of substitution among varieties of consumption goods, a higher trade integration always promotes more symmetric patterns, irrespective of the functional form of the dispersion force. We also show that an increase in the degree of heterogeneity in preferences for location leads to less spatial inequality.