DP7231 Putting the "New" into New Trade Theory: Paul Krugman's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

Author(s):	J Peter Neary
Publication Date:	March 2009
Keyword(s):	economic geography, imperfect competition, intra-industry trade, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and trade, product differentiation
JEL(s):	F12
Programme Areas:	International Trade and Regional Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=7231

This paper reviews the scientific contributions of Paul Krugman to the study of international trade, on the occasion of his receipt of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. A simplified exposition is presented of some of his principal findings, including: the effects of trade on firm scale and product diversity in a general model of monopolistic competition; the integration of monopolistic competition with factor endowments theory; the implications of transport costs, including home-market effects and the possibility of agglomeration in models of economic geography; and the positive and normative consequences of oligopolistic trade.