Nordhaus and Chen introduce a new database of economic output mapped to a grid of 1 degree latitude by 1 degree longitude across the planet. Though the paper itself includes very little new theory, the nature of the database – available for years 1990, 1995, and 2000 – shows promise in answering questions concerning, for instance, the spread of economic production over space, or the much heavier concentration of economic activity along coasts in the third world than in the first world.
http://www.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2072&context=bejeap
A Fine Theorem 