Introduction

One of the most important questions in economics is where economic activity will locate in the future. The purpose of this book is to contribute to the discussion on the way in which economic integration and preferential trade agreements (reduction or elimination of trade barriers within a group of countries) reinforce or alter the existing geography of production (location of industries). The approach taken in this book is conceptual, as the objective is to clarify and explain key tendencies rather than to provide definite answers to the issue of the relation and influence between spatial distribution of production and economic integration.