The core-periphery model with three regions

Abstract. We determine the properties of the core-periphery model with 3 regions and compare our results with those of the standard 2-region model. The conditions for the stability of dispersion and concentration are established. Like in the 2-region model, dis-persion and concentration can be simultaneously stable. We show that the 2-region (resp. 3-region) model favours the dispersion (resp. concentration) of economic activity. We also exclude the partial agglomeration equilibrium as a possible stable outcome. Furthermore, we provide some results for the n-region model. We show that the stability of concen-tration of the 2-region model implies that of any model with an even number of regions. Numerical results also suggest that the larger the number of regions, the less stable the dispersion configuration