Results 1 - 10
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599
A theory of urban growth,
- Journal of Political Economy
, 1999
"... In an economy experiencing endogenous economic growth and exogenous population growth, we explore two main themes: how urbanization affects efficiency of the growth process and how growth affects patterns of urbanization. Localized information spillovers promote agglomeration and human capital accu ..."
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Cited by 235 (12 self)
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In an economy experiencing endogenous economic growth and exogenous population growth, we explore two main themes: how urbanization affects efficiency of the growth process and how growth affects patterns of urbanization. Localized information spillovers promote agglomeration and human capital accumulation fosters endogenous growth. Individual city sizes grow with local human capital accumulation and knowledge spillovers; and city numbers generally increase, which we demonstrate is consistent with empirical evidence. We analyze whether local governments can successfully internalize local dynamic externalities. In addition, we explore how growth involves real income differences across city types and how urbanization can foster income inequality. Most nonagricultural production in developed countries occurs in metropolitan areas. The underlying reasons why economic activity agglomerates into cities-localized information and knowledge spillover-also make cities the engines of economic growth in an We gratefully acknowledge support of the National Science Foundation (grants SBR 9422440 and SBR9730142) for this research. The work has benefited from conversations with Harl Ryder on the dynamics of the model and from comments by Gilles Duranton and participants in seminars at Brown, Colorado, and Texas, Austin
A Microfoundation for Social Increasing Returns in Human Capital
- Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 1996
"... you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact inform ..."
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Cited by 229 (15 self)
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you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
What Causes Industry Agglomeration? Evidence from Coagglomeration Patterns
, 2007
"... Many industries are geographically concentrated. Many mechanisms that could account for such agglomeration have been proposed. We note that these theories make different predictions about which pairs of industries should be coagglomerated. We discuss the measurement of coagglomeration and use data ..."
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Cited by 184 (39 self)
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Many industries are geographically concentrated. Many mechanisms that could account for such agglomeration have been proposed. We note that these theories make different predictions about which pairs of industries should be coagglomerated. We discuss the measurement of coagglomeration and use data from the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Research Database from 1972 to 1997 to compute pairwise coagglomeration measurements for U.S. manufacturing industries. Industry attributes are used to construct measures of the relevance of each of Marshall’s three theories of industry agglomeration to each industry pair: (1) agglomeration saves transport costs by proximity to input suppliers or final consumers, (2) agglomeration allows for labor market pooling, and (3) agglomeration facilitates intellectual spillovers. We assess the importance of the theories via regressions
Measuring social interactions
, 1999
"... This paper presents on overview of the economics that lies behind social interaction models and briefly discusses the empirical approaches to social interactions. We present a simple model with local interactions, similar to Glaeser, Sacerdote and Scheinkman (1996) but using a continuous action spac ..."
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Cited by 183 (7 self)
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This paper presents on overview of the economics that lies behind social interaction models and briefly discusses the empirical approaches to social interactions. We present a simple model with local interactions, similar to Glaeser, Sacerdote and Scheinkman (1996) but using a continuous action space and starting with optimizing behavior. We then extend the model to include both global and local interactions. We suggest and use a methodology for using variation of intra-city aggregates to identify the relative sizes of local and global interactions. We also present a model with endogenous location choice and use the predictions of that model to identify the sources of cross-city variance that are due to sorting and interaction. Finally, we present a brief discussion of using time-series to estimate the social interactions in broad aggregates.
Place of Work and Place of Residence: Informal Hiring Networks and Labor Market Outcomes
- JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
, 2004
"... We use a novel dataset and research design to empirically detect the effect of social interactions among neighbors on labor market outcomes. Specifically, using Census data that characterize residential and employment locations down to the city block, we examine whether individuals residing in the s ..."
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Cited by 154 (6 self)
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We use a novel dataset and research design to empirically detect the effect of social interactions among neighbors on labor market outcomes. Specifically, using Census data that characterize residential and employment locations down to the city block, we examine whether individuals residing in the same block are more likely to work together than individuals in nearby but not identical blocks. We find significant evidence of social interactions; the baseline probability of working together is 0.93 % at the block level compared to 0.51 % at the block group level (a collection of ten contiguous blocks). We also provide evidence as to which types of matches between individuals result in greater levels of referrals. These findings are robust to the introduction of detailed controls for socio-demographic characteristics and block group fixed effects, as well as across various specifications intended to address sorting and housing market rather than labor market referrals. Further, our estimated effects have a significant impact on a wide range of labor market outcomes more generally.
Growth Theory through the Lens of Development Economics
- In Handbook of Economic Growth. , ed. Philippe Aghion and Steven Durlauf
, 2005
"... The premise of neo-classical growth theory is that it is possible to do a reasonable job of explaining the broad patterns of economic change across countries, by looking at it through the lens of an aggregate production function. The aggregate production function relates the total output of an econo ..."
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Cited by 152 (7 self)
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The premise of neo-classical growth theory is that it is possible to do a reasonable job of explaining the broad patterns of economic change across countries, by looking at it through the lens of an aggregate production function. The aggregate production function relates the total output of an economy (a country, for example) to the aggregate amounts of labor, human capital and physical capital in the economy, and
The elusive concept of localization economies: towards a knowledge-based theory of spatial clustering. Environment and Planning
- A
, 2002
"... A number of potential advantages of industry agglomeration—or spatial clustering—have since long been identified in the research literature, notably related to shared costs for infrastructure, the build up of a skilled labour force, transaction efficiency, and knowledge spill-overs leading to firm l ..."
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Cited by 151 (7 self)
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A number of potential advantages of industry agglomeration—or spatial clustering—have since long been identified in the research literature, notably related to shared costs for infrastructure, the build up of a skilled labour force, transaction efficiency, and knowledge spill-overs leading to firm learning and innovation. We identify two shortcomings of existing research on the clustering phenomenon. First, the abundance of theoretical concepts stands in sharp contrast with the general lack of work aiming to validate these mechanisms empirically and the contradictory evidence found in recent empirical work in the field. Secondly, there is a lack of a unified theoretical framework for analyzing spatial clustering. In an attempt to remedy the second shortcoming, this paper investigates the nature of the cluster from a knowledge creation or learning perspective. We argue for the need to establish a specific theory of the cluster where learning occupies center stage. The basic requirements for such a theory of the cluster are discussed. Two main components of such a theory are identified: it must explain the existence of the cluster on the one hand and its internal organization on the other.
Nursery cities: Urban diversity, process innovation, and the life-cycle of products
- AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
, 2001
"... This paper develops micro-foundations for the role that diversified cities play in fostering innovation. A simple model of process innovation is proposed, where firms learn about their ideal production process by making prototypes. We build around this a dynamic general equilibrium model, and derive ..."
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Cited by 150 (20 self)
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This paper develops micro-foundations for the role that diversified cities play in fostering innovation. A simple model of process innovation is proposed, where firms learn about their ideal production process by making prototypes. We build around this a dynamic general equilibrium model, and derive conditions under which diversified and specialised cities coexist in steady-state. New products are developed in diversified cities, trying processes borrowed from different activities. On finding their ideal process, firms switch to mass-production and relocate to specialised cities where production costs are lower. We find strong evidence of this pattern in establishment relocations across French employment areas 1993–1996.
Economic Geography and Regional Production Structure: an Empirical Investigation”,
- European Economic Review,
, 1999
"... Abstract There are two principal theories of why countries or regions trade: comparative advantage and increasing returns to scale. Yet there is virtually no empirical work that assesses the relative importance of these two theories in accounting for production structure and trade. We use a framewo ..."
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Cited by 143 (6 self)
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Abstract There are two principal theories of why countries or regions trade: comparative advantage and increasing returns to scale. Yet there is virtually no empirical work that assesses the relative importance of these two theories in accounting for production structure and trade. We use a framework that nests an increasing returns model of economic geography featuring 'home market effects' with that of Heckscher-Ohlin. We employ these trade models to account for the structure of regional production in Japan. We find support for the existence of economic geography effects in eight of nineteen manufacturing sectors, including such important ones as transportation equipment, iron and steel, electrical machinery, and chemicals. Moreover, we find that these effects are economically very significant. The latter contrasts with the results of Davis and Weinstein (1996, Does economic geography matter for interactional specialiazation?, NEBRC 5706), which found scant economic significance of economic geography for the structure of OECD production. We conclude that while economic geography may explain little about the international structure of production, it is very important for understanding the regional structure of production.
The Empirics of Agglomeration and Trade
- HANDBOOK OF REGIONAL AND URBAN ECONOMICS VOLUME 4
, 2003
"... This chapter examines empirical strategies that have been or could be used to evaluate the importance of agglomeration and trade models. This theoretical approach, widely known as “New Economic Geography” (NEG), emphasizes the interaction between transport costs and firm-level scale economies as a s ..."
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Cited by 141 (6 self)
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This chapter examines empirical strategies that have been or could be used to evaluate the importance of agglomeration and trade models. This theoretical approach, widely known as “New Economic Geography” (NEG), emphasizes the interaction between transport costs and firm-level scale economies as a source of agglomeration. NEG focuses on forward and backward trade linkages as causes of observed spatial concentration of economic activity. We survey the existing literature, organizing the papers we discuss under the rubric of five interesting and testable hypotheses that emerge from NEG theory. We conclude the chapter with an overall assessment of the empirical support for NEG and suggest some directions for future research.
