Pattern formation by advection-diffusion in new economic geography

This paper studies spatial patterns formed by proximate population migration driven by real wage gradients and other idiosyncratic factors. The model consists of a tractable core-periphery model incorporating a quasi-linear log utility function and an advection-diffusion equation that expresses population migration. It is found that diffusion stabilizes a homogeneous stationary solution when transport costs are sufficiently low, and it also inhibits the monotonic facilitation of agglomeration ca...