Peripheral Growth in Mature Economies

The old industrial cores of several mature countries have been experiencing a retardation of growth or a loss of population and jobs. This paper explores Vining's thesis that the resource endowments of the peripheries affect the occurrence and intensity of these trends. The approach used involves simulation experiments. The model employed assumes (a) that a regional economy during its progression from youth to maturity is characterized at first by economies of scale and then by scale diseconomies, and (b) that labor and capital tend to move to where their productivity is highest.