ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3 we explored the role of distance in international trade, and hence the significance of relative location in the process of international economic development. A limited amount of direct evidence on the cost of international transport was cited in that chapter. We now turn to examine the information which is available on the role of transport costs in regional development in Britain, again starting from the logic of classical location theory which posits the advantages of locations which minimize transport costs. This frame of thinking leads to the proposition that areas which are distant from the main centres of population, suffering from low economic potential, are at a permanent disadvantage compared with more accessible areas, being subject to higher transport costs than are more accessible regions. However, assuming for the moment that there are indeed measurably higher transport costs in the remoter regions, we also need to consider whether, and to what extent, these higher transport costs may be exacerbated or offset by variations in expenditure on other things, such as wages and land costs.
