Based on the New Economic Geography (NEG), this paper aims to quantify and analyze the determinants of the unequal growth population of municipalities in the Northern Region of Brazil from 1980 to 2000. Together with first and second-order explanatory variables, a market potential index was also used to explain urban and rural population growth. The equations were run by using spatial econometric techniques and it was found that the poorest municipalities have the geographical isolation as one of the main determinant of their population growth. The access bottlenecks prevent these municipalities of transporting their production - mainly from agriculture - to the potential market. It was found that the transportation cost has decreased due to the improvement of accessibility, and consequently creating the agglomerations. The paper ends with some suggestions of policies that would reduce the unequal growth of population in the Northern Region.
Amazon region; accessibility; regional development; economic geography; spatial models
