Economics of Space and Time Scientific Papers of Tönu Puu

This book contains a sample of Professor Tönu Puu's contributions to economic theory. The topics range from seminal results on investment criteria under imperfect capital markets and rules for optimal resource extraction when the grade of the ore is heterogeneous, to applications of modern nonlinear dynamics to well-known economic fields like business cycle analysis and oligopoly theory. Puu's thinking on cultural economics and his views on the methodology of economic science are also luckily exposed by the papers in this volume. Readers interested in the spatial dimension of the economy will find original ideas on the optimal allocation of road capital.

Preface; A.E. Andersson, Tönu Puu - Economic Analyst and Cultural Activist; M. Beckmann, Tönu Puu and I - In Collaboration; K.-G. Löfgren, Tönu Puu at the Department of Economics, Umeå University.- Microeconomics: Some Reflexions on the Theories of Choice Between Alternative Investment Opportunities; Complementarity, Substitutivity and Regressivity in the Theory of Production; Some Comments on 'Inferior' (Regressive) Inputs; Free Entry and Efficient Distribution of Inputs in a One-product Industry; On the Profitability of Exhausting Natural Resources.- Spatial Economics: Towards a Theory of Optimal Roads; Catastrophic Structural Change in a Continuous Regional Model; Multiplier-accelerator Models Revisited; Pattern Formation in Spatial Economics; The Chaotic Monopolist.- Philosophy of Science: A Graphical Solution of Second-Order Homogeneous Difference Equations; Some Reflections on the Relation Between Economic Theory and Empirical Reality; On Progress and Perfection in the Arts and Sciences.- Curriculum Vitae.- The Collected Scientific Works of Tönu Puu.