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City Size Distributions as a Consequence of the Growth Process

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  • Duranton, Gilles
Abstract
The size distribution of cities in many countries follows some broadly regular patterns. Any good theory of city size distributions should (i) be able to account for this regularity, but also (ii) rely on a plausible economic mechanism and (iii) be consistent with other fundamental features of cities like the existence of agglomeration economies and crowding costs. Unlike the previous literature, the model proposed here satisfies these three requirements. It views small innovation-driven technological shocks as the main engine behind the growth and decline of cities. Cities grow or decline as they win or lose industries following new innovations. Formally, this is achieved by embedding the quality-ladder model of growth developed by Grossman and Helpman (1991) in an urban framework.

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  • Duranton, Gilles, 2002. "City Size Distributions as a Consequence of the Growth Process," CEPR Discussion Papers 3577, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3577
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    Cited by:

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    3. Stephen Machin, 2004. "Factors of Convergence and Divergence in Union Membership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(3), pages 423-438, September.
    4. Jan Eeckhout, 2004. "Gibrat's Law for (All) Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1429-1451, December.
    5. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Mark L. J. Wright, 2007. "Urban Structure and Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 597-624.
    6. Ana Paula Delgado & Isabel Maria Godinho, 2004. "The evolution of city size distribution in Portugal: 1864-2001," FEP Working Papers 151, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    7. Valente J. Matlaba & Mark J. Holmes & Philip McCann & Jacques Poot, 2013. "A Century Of The Evolution Of The Urban System In Brazil," Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 129-151, November.
    8. Cuberes, David, 2007. "A Model of Sequential City Growth," MPRA Paper 2172, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Dan Devroye & Richard B. Freeman, 2001. "Does Inequality in Skills Explain Inequality in Earnings Across Advanced Countries?," NBER Working Papers 8140, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Michel Dimou & Alexandra Schaffar, 2009. "Urban Hierarchies and City Growth in the Balkans," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(13), pages 2891-2906, December.
    11. Gabaix, Xavier & Ioannides, Yannis M., 2004. "The evolution of city size distributions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 53, pages 2341-2378, Elsevier.
    12. Reggiani, Aura & Rietveld, Piet, 2010. "Networks, commuting and spatial structures: An introduction," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 2(3), pages 1-4.
    13. Goerlich Gisbert Francisco J. & Mas Ivars Matilde, 2008. "Sobre el tamaño de las ciudades en España: Dos reflexiones y una regularidad empírica," Working Papers 201079, Fundacion BBVA / BBVA Foundation.
    14. Xin Lao & Tiyan Shen & Hengyu Gu, 2018. "Prospect on China’s Urban System by 2020: Evidence from the Prediction Based on Internal Migration Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, February.
    15. Tomaz Ponce DENTINHO & Cristina SERBANICA, 2020. "Space justice, demographic resilience and sustainability. Revelations of the evolution of the population hierarchy of the regions of Romania from 1948 to 2011," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 11, pages 27-44, June.
    16. Aura Reggiani & Pietro Bucci & Giovanni Russo, 2011. "Accessibility and Impedance Forms: Empirical Applications to the German Commuting Network," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 34(2), pages 230-252, April.
    17. Tomoya Mori & Koji Nishikimi & Tony E. Smith, 2002. "Some Empirical Regularities of Spatial Economies: A Relationship between Industrial Location and City Size," KIER Working Papers 551, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    18. Cuberes David, 2009. "A Model of Sequential City Growth," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-41, May.
    19. Soo, Kwok Tong, 2005. "Zipf's Law for cities: a cross-country investigation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 239-263, May.
    20. Garmestani, Ahjond S. & Allen, Craig R. & Gallagher, Colin M., 2008. "Power laws, discontinuities and regional city size distributions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 209-216, October.
    21. Jim Foreman & Howard Gospel, 2002. "The Provision of Training in Britain: Case Studies of Inter-Firm Coordination," CEP Discussion Papers dp0555, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    22. Maurice CATIN & Abdelhak KAMAL, 2011. "Urbanisation, Inegalites Urbaines Et Developpement En Turquie (1950-2000)," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 34, pages 141-162.
    23. Anderson, Gordon & Ge, Ying, 2005. "The size distribution of Chinese cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 756-776, November.
    24. J. Vernon Henderson, 2003. "Urbanization and Economic Development," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 4(2), pages 275-341, November.

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    19. repec:wyi:journl:002175 is not listed on IDEAS
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    City-size distribution; Quality-ladder models of growth; Agglomeration economies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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