This important and timely book is at the forefront of the increasing interest in regional competitiveness in the face of ever stronger global forces. Distinguished contributors discuss issues including the impact and implications of European expansion as well as developments in the Asia-Pacific region. They also examine the driving forces, backgrounds, obstacles and opportunities for regions to become powerful global players. This highly topical book contains a wealth of empirical material and is underpinned by a thorough investigation of the theory and methodology of policy strategies for the positioning of regions in the new global economy. It will be a major source of reference for scholars, policymakers, economic planners and institutions alike in the field of regional science.

This book shows the necessity of measuring the incidence-basis indirect economic effects of public investments. The essential argument can be traced back to H. Mohring versus J. Tinbergen, the conclusions of one contradicting those of the other. Their arguments are called, respectively, "transfer" and "existing theory" of the indirect economic effect of public investments such as highways. The author has first defined the categories of "generation-basis" and "incidence-basis" economic effects in addition to the categories of direct and indirect economic effects, and has shown that it is essential to measure the incidence-basis indirect economic effects for decision making about public investments. The second major point is that, in this sense, the measurement must rely on the general and dynamic spatial modeling simulation approach. The third essential point is that Tinbergen is correct as far as we have to cope with a real setting in which the Marshallian type of external economies exists. Another characteristic is that the monetary (pecuniary) external economies are dealt with systematically, for the superiority of public investment criteria depends greatly on whether they are taken hold of or not. This book lays emphasis on the process toward the equilibrium, not the equilibrium itself.

This volume presents the most robust and useful methodology for the derivation of investment criteria for the evaluation and planning of public investment projects - public investment criteria. The methodological approach solves inherent defects of traditional methodology, namely an ad hoc application of the benefit-cost analysis in the static content. Although this approach originated in the water resources development project of the Harvard group, the authors' methodology has achieved a discrete and dynamic inter regional input-output programming model by which: (i) establishment of priorities among potential investment targets by taking account of economic benefits that are brought by implementation of a set of selected projects, and diffusing into the whole national economy, and (ii) rational allocation of limited public funds to the selected investment projects are consistently made, based on the opportunity cost criteria in the dynamic content. As these benefits make up a source for the stream of further created capital funds for public as well as private sectors over the planning time horizon, optimal re-investment of thus created capital funds are solved recursively in the endogenous model by approaching the turnpike path of the whole national economy. As an optimal solution, the allocated levels for trunk expressway network as well as for other transport facilities, which are balanced with the allocation for industrial capital formation, are obtained by period and by region. In the background of these processes, the imputed price and opportunity costs as a sort of contemporary "god" are always latent. Readers with basic mathematical knowledge will learn functional and practical meaning of the opportunity costs (and the imputed price) in the evaluation and planning of investment. Conquering this small obstacle will be a source of strong self-confidence for society, a worthwhile objective. Other applications of the methodology are also included in this book, which is helpful for practitioners frequently using the feasibility study method as well as experts who wish to understand the theoretical arguments related to public investment criteria. As one of the applications, there is a numerical solution of a composite transport system in which the amounts of roads, railways, and ports are derived quantitatively, not qualitatively. These are results of authentic public investment criteria that are built in the inter-regional input-output programing model.

This collection includes both classical and recent papers that explore the complex interrelationships between transport, land use and the spatial organization of metropolitan areas. Since land use planning and transportation planning play a major role in shaping these relationships, special attention is given to studies on planning issues and policies. Whilst one section of the collection features papers written in the tradition of urban economics, the main emphasis is on studies which examine the impact of various changes in transportation systems on land use.

This book shows the necessity of measuring the incidence-basis indirect economic effects of public investments. The essential argument can be traced back to H. Mohring versus J. Tinbergen, the conclusions of one contradicting those of the other. Their arguments are called, respectively, "transfer" and "existing theory" of the indirect economic effect of public investments such as highways. The author has first defined the categories of "generation-basis" and "incidence-basis" economic effects in addition to the categories of direct and indirect economic effects, and has shown that it is essential to measure the incidence-basis indirect economic effects for decision making about public investments. The second major point is that, in this sense, the measurement must rely on the general and dynamic spatial modeling simulation approach. The third essential point is that Tinbergen is correct as far as we have to cope with a real setting in which the Marshallian type of external economies exists. Another characteristic is that the monetary (pecuniary) external economies are dealt with systematically, for the superiority of public investment criteria depends greatly on whether they are taken hold of or not. This book lays emphasis on the process toward the equilibrium, not the equilibrium itself.

This volume presents the most robust and useful methodology for the derivation of investment criteria for the evaluation and planning of public investment projects - public investment criteria. The methodological approach solves inherent defects of traditional methodology, namely an ad hoc application of the benefit-cost analysis in the static content. Although this approach originated in the water resources development project of the Harvard group, the authors' methodology has achieved a discrete and dynamic inter regional input-output programming model by which: (i) establishment of priorities among potential investment targets by taking account of economic benefits that are brought by implementation of a set of selected projects, and diffusing into the whole national economy, and (ii) rational allocation of limited public funds to the selected investment projects are consistently made, based on the opportunity cost criteria in the dynamic content. As these benefits make up a source for the stream of further created capital funds for public as well as private sectors over the planning time horizon, optimal re-investment of thus created capital funds are solved recursively in the endogenous model by approaching the turnpike path of the whole national economy. As an optimal solution, the allocated levels for trunk expressway network as well as for other transport facilities, which are balanced with the allocation for industrial capital formation, are obtained by period and by region. In the background of these processes, the imputed price and opportunity costs as a sort of contemporary "god" are always latent. Readers with basic mathematical knowledge will learn functional and practical meaning of the opportunity costs (and the imputed price) in the evaluation and planning of investment. Conquering this small obstacle will be a source of strong self-confidence for society, a worthwhile objective. Other applications of the methodology are also included in this book, which is helpful for practitioners frequently using the feasibility study method as well as experts who wish to understand the theoretical arguments related to public investment criteria. As one of the applications, there is a numerical solution of a composite transport system in which the amounts of roads, railways, and ports are derived quantitatively, not qualitatively. These are results of authentic public investment criteria that are built in the inter-regional input-output programing model.