Introduction

• Published date: 01 March 2020
• Author: Masahisa Fujita,Ping Wang,Kazuo Nishimura,Shin‐Kun Peng,Makoto Yano
• Date: 01 March 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ijet.12241

Int J Econ Theory. 2020;16:3–5. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijet © 2019 IAET

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DOI: 10.1111/ijet.12241

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Masahisa Fujita

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Kazuo Nishimura

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Shin‐Kun Peng

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Ping Wang

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Makoto Yano

It is our pleasure to dedicate this collection of papers to Marcus Berliant, in recognition of his

achievements in the economics profession, and for his influence on his students, coauthors, and

researchers in general equilibrium and spatial economics.

Marcus already stood out as a brilliant and original figure when he obtained his PhD from

Berkeley University in 1982, where he worked on “A General Equilibrium Model of an

Economy with Land”under the supervision of Gérard Debreu, as one of the very first

economists exploring various issues of spatial economics in general equilibrium. Since then,

Marcus has contributed to diverse areas of economics, including general equilibrium theory,

regional science and urban economics, public economics, and political economy. On all counts,

his work has been characterized by insight, originality, and technical clarity as well as rigor.

After Marcus graduated, he went on to be an assistant professor at the University of

Rochester, and there he published several now‐influential papers demonstrating how important

and useful general equilibrium theory could be for regional science and urban economics. His

work helped lay the foundation for much of theoretical spatial economics in the 1990s and

2000s. In 1994, Marcus joined Washington University in St. Louis. While he continued to work

on regional science and urban economics, he has also intensively explored public economics

and political economy. To recognize his significant contribution, the Regional Science

Association International (RSAI) made Marcus a fellow in 2005. Beyond academic publications,

Marcus has done an excellent job as a mentor and teacher; as a consequence, he received

outstanding faculty mentor awards in 2000, 2002, and 2003, and gained recognition for

excellence in mentor on graduate student senate of arts and sciences at Washington University

at St. Louis in 2007.

In 1987, Marcus, Yorgo (Papageorgiou), and Ping (Wang) were involved in debating with

Masashisa (Fujita), Tony (Smith), and Yasushi (Asami) at the RSAI meeting in Baltimore on the

important implications of the application of general equilibrium theory to urban economics,

especially by contrasting the discrete with the continuous approach to modeling land and

location. After intensive discussion, Marcus cooperated on an eye‐opening research article with

Masa, “Alonso’s Discrete Population Model of Land Use: Efficient Allocations and Competitive

Equilibria,”published in 1992.

The main part of this special issue starts with the tribute to Marcus authored by Masa and

Ping. The tribute explains the fundamental contributions that Marcus has made by bridging

general equilibrium theory and the general equilibrium analysis of spatial agglomeration.

Following the tribute, the first set of papers includes five contributions dealing with models

of urban and spatial economics with related issues. Christian (Ghiglino), Kazuo (Nishimura),

and Alain (Venditti) examine the endogenous growth of the heterogeneous city and its