Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T12:31:32.875Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Railroads, engineers, and the development of spatial economics in France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Robert B. Ekelund Jr.  and
Robert F. Hébert
Robert B. Ekelund Jr.
Affiliation:
Auburn University, USA
Robert F. Hébert
Affiliation:
Auburn University, USA
Get access

Summary

This article traces a little-known French tradition in spatial economics that was advanced by state engineers who were trained at the École des Ponts et Chaussées and worked for the State corps of engineers. Spurred in part by changes in power technology, especially the advent of the railroad, these engineers pioneered the spatial aspects of competition in a microeconomic framework. The contributions of Jules Dupuit (1804-1866) and Emile Cheysson (1836-1910) are especially singled out for analysis, and are shown to have anticipated later important developments in spatial economic theory.

Cet article retrace une tradition française peu connue en économie spatiale qui a été avancée par des ingénieurs d’État formés à l’École des Ponts et Chaussées. En partie encouragés par des changements technologiques, et surtout par l’avènement du chemin de fer, ces ingénieurs introduisirent les aspects spatiaux de la concurrence dans un cadre microéconomique. Les contributions de Jules Dupuit (1804-1866) et de Emile Cheysson (1836-1910) sont mises en évidence, et sont présentées comme anticipant les développements ultérieures en théorie économique spatiale.

Keywords

B10R10N73B10R10N73
Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 64 , Issue 1: Space and economics in retrospect , 1998 , pp. 45 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1998 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

(*)

This article is abridged and adapted from a book by the same authors entitled Jules Dupuit, the Engineers, and the Origins of Microeconomics, forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press.

References

Allen, R.G.D. [1938], Mathematical Analysis for Economists, New York, St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Blaug, M. [1979], The German hegemony of location theory: A puzzle in the history of economic thought, History of Political Economy, 5(1), pp. 21–29.Google Scholar
Bordas, L. [1847], De la mesure de l'utilité des travaux publics, Annales des ponts et chaussées. Mémoires et documents, 2e sér., 13(2), pp. 249–84.Google Scholar
Brisson, B. [1830], Essai de comparaison, sous les rapporte économiques, des ponts en pierre et des ponts en charpente, Journal du Génie Civil, 9, pp. 307–319.Google Scholar
Cantillon, R. [1755], Essai sur la nature du commerce en général. Translated and edited by Higgs, H., [1931R], London, Macmillan.Google Scholar
Cheysson, É. [1887], La Statistique géométrique: Ses Applications industrielles et commerciales, Le Génie civil, 10(13-14), pp. 206-210, 224–228.Google Scholar
Condillac, E.B. [1776], Le Commerce et le Gouvernement considéré relativement l'un a l'autre, Paris, Jombert & Cellot.Google Scholar
Courtois, C. [1833], Mémoire sur différentes questions d'économie publique relatives à l'établissement des voies de communication, Paris, Carilian-Gœury.Google Scholar
Divisia, F. [1950], Exposés d'économique: Introduction generale / L'apport des ingénieurs francais aux sciences économiques, Paris, Dunod.Google Scholar
DockÉS, P. [1969], L'Espace dans la pensée économique du XVIe au XVIIe siécle, Paris, Flammarion.Google Scholar
Dupuit, J. [1844], De la mesure de l'utilité des travaux publics, Annales des ponts et chaussées. Mémoires et documents, 2e sér., 8(2), pp. 332–375. Translated by R.H. Barback, [1952a], On the measurement of the utility of public-works, International Economic Papers, n° 2, pp. 83–110.Google Scholar
Dupuit, J. [1849], De la influence des péages sur l'utilité des voies de communication, Annales des ponts et chaussées. Mémoires et documents, 2e sér., 17(1), pp. 170–248. Translated in part by E. Henderson, [1962R], On tolls and transport charges, International Economie Papers, n° 11, pp. 7-31.Google Scholar
Edgeworth, F.Y. [1910], Applications of probabilities to economics, Part II, Economic Journal, 20(79), pp. 441–465.Google Scholar
Ekelund, R.B. Jr. [1970], Price discrimination and product differentiation in economic theory, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(2), pp. 268–278.Google Scholar
Ekelund, R.B. Jr., & HÉBert, R.F. [1991], Dupuit's characteristics-based theory of consumer behavior and entrepreneurship, Kyklos, 44(1), pp. 19–34.Google Scholar
Ekelund, R.B. Jr., & Shieh, Y.N. [1986], Dupuit, spatial economics and optimal resource allocation: A French tradition, Economica, 53(212), pp. 483–496.Google Scholar
Ekelund, R.B. Jr., & Shieh, Y.N. [1989], Full Price Competition and Dupuit's Defense of the Long- and Short-Haul ‘Discrimination’, Journal of Regulatory Economics, 1, pp. 359–371.Google Scholar
Favier, L.-J. [1824], Examen des conditions du mode d'adjudication des travaux publics, suivi de considérations sur l'emploi de ce mode et de celui de régie, Paris, Bachelier.Google Scholar
Fetter, F.A. [1924], The economic law of market areas, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 38(2), pp. 520–529.Google Scholar
Foville, A. [1880], La Transformation des moyens de transport et ses conséquences économiques et sociales, Paris, Guillaumin.Google Scholar
Girard, P.-S. [1827], Recherches sur les grandes routes, les canaux de navigation et les chemins de fer, Paris, Huzard.Google Scholar
Greenhut, M.L. [1956], Plant Location in Theory and Practice, Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
HÉBert, R.F. [1972], A note on the historical development of the economic law of market areas, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 86(4), pp. 563–571.Google Scholar
HÉBert, R.F. [1981], Richard Cantillon's early contributions to spatial economics, Economica, 48(189), pp. 71–77.Google Scholar
HÉBert, R.F. [1986], Emile Cheysson and the birth of econometrics, Économies et Sociétés, Cahiers de l'ISMEA, serié P.E., 20(6), pp. 203–222.Google Scholar
HÉBert, R.F. [1996], The recognition of time and its role in the calculation of public utility by French engineers, 1820-1860, unpublished paper presented at a conference entitled, Time in Economic Thought, York University, Glendon College, Toronto.Google Scholar
Hoover, E.M. [1948], The Location of Economic Activity, New York, McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Huriot, J.M. & Perreur, J. [1992], Richard Cantillon and the intuitive understanding of space, Sistemi urbani, 14(1-2-3), pp. 61–75.Google Scholar
Hyson, C.S., and Hyson, W.P. [1950], The economic law of market areas, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 64(2), pp. 319–327.Google Scholar
Isard, W. [1956], Location and Space-Economy, Cambridge, MIT Press.Google Scholar
Lardner, D. [1850], Railway Economy. Reprint, [1966R], New York, Augustus Kelley.Google Scholar
Launhardt, W. [1882], Mathmatische Begrundung der Volkwirtschaftslehre, Aalen, Scientia Press. Translated by Schmidt, H. and edited by Creedy, J. [1993R], Mathematical Principles of Economics, Aldershot, Hants, UK, Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
LÖSch, A. [1940], Die räumliche Ordnung der Wirtschaft, Jena, Gustav Fisher. Translated by W.H. Woglom and W.F Stolper, [1954R], The Economics of Location, New Haven, Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. [1919], Industry and Trade, London, Macmillan.Google Scholar
Minard, J. [1850], Notions élémentaires d'économie politique appliquées aux travaux publiques, Annales des Ponts et Chaussées. Mémoires et Documents, 2e sér, 19(1), pp. 1–125.Google Scholar
Nadault, B.H. De Buffon [1829], Considérations sur les trois systèmes de communications intérieures, Paris, Roret.Google Scholar
Palander, T. [1935], Beiträge sur Standortstheorie, Uppsala, Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar
Ponsard, C. [1958], Histoire des théories économique spatiales, Paris, Armand Colin. Translated by B.H. Stevens, [1983R], History of Spatial Economic Theory, Berlin, Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Popescu, O. [1953], Espacio y Economía, Bahia Blanca, Eva Perón.Google Scholar
Schneider, E. [1935], Bemerkungen zu einer Theorie der Raumwirtschaft, Econometrica, 3(1), pp. 79–105.Google Scholar
Smith, A. [1776], An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Ed. Cannan, E. [1937R], New York, Modern Library.Google Scholar
Smith, D.M. [1966], A theoretical framework for geographical studies of industrial location, Economic Geography, 42(2), pp. 95–113.Google Scholar
Smithies, A. [1941], Optimal location in spatial competition, Journal of Political Economy, 49(3), pp. 423-39.Google Scholar
Steuart, J. [1767], An Inquiry Into the Principles of Political Economy, 2 vols., ed. Skinner, A.S. [1966], Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Smykay, E.W., et al. [1961], Physical Distribution Management, New York, Macmillan.Google Scholar
ThÜNen, J.H. [1826], Der Isolierte Staat. Volume 1 translated by Wartenberg, C.M. and edited by Hall, P. [1966], von Thünen's Isolated State, Oxford, Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Weber, A. [1909], Ueber den Standort der Industrien, Tubingen, J.C.B. Mohr. Translated by C.J. Friedrich [1929R], Theory of the Location of Industries, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar