Spatial patterns of territorial competitiveness: The role of peripherality, urbanization and physical geography

Abstract

Intra-regional measures of territorial competitiveness capture heterogeneity across different territories and industries. • Accessibility, peripherality and geographical disadvantage, play different roles in different sectors of economic activity. • The paper highlights a large centripetal attraction effect coming from the presence of metropolitan areas. • This second-nature geography effect dominates over first-nature physical geography (peripherality, mountains).