This paper analyses the relationship between firms' multi-factor productivity and the effective employment density of the areas where they operate. Quantifying these agglomeration elasticities is of central importance in the evaluation of the wider economic benefits of transport investments. We...

This paper uses highly disaggregate data to study the impact of a new metro on firm productivity. The planned-route IV methodology ensures the causality of results and a fine spatial scale detects the geographical scale of the impact. We find that within 750 meters to stations aggregate value...

The literature on China indicates that the concentration of economic activities in China is less than in other industrialized countries. Institutional limits are largely held responsible for this finding (e.g. the Hukou system); firms and workers are not able to take full advantage of the...

In estimating agglomeration benefits across five OECD countries, this paper represents the first empirical analysis that contrasts cross-country evidence on agglomeration benefits with the productivity impact of metropolitan governance structures, while taking into account the potential sorting...

This study explores the relationship between agglomeration economies and industrial productivity between 1980 and 2010 in Ecuador. The measure of productivity used is labour productivity. We conclude that urbanization economies have a positive impact on productivity in the period analyzed.

The paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the relative importance of economic and amenity-related location factors for attracting talents or members of the creative class. While Florida highlights the role of amenities, openness, and tolerance, others instead emphasize the role of...

This paper analyses the spatial distribution of economic activity in the European Union at NUTS2 level over the 2001-2010 period. The aim of the study is twofold: (i) to provide descriptive evidence of the agglomeration distribution in Europe and its evolution over time across countries; (ii) to...

This paper estimates agglomeration benefits based on city productivity differentials across five OECD countries (Germany, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States). It highlights the relationship between cities’ governmental fragmentation and productivity, and represents the first...

There is a large literature on the existence of agglomeration economies, as shown in the surveys by Moomaw (1983) or Gerking (1993). The benefits of these economies arise from multiple sources, but some negative externalities might also emerge. Within the hierarchical urban system, cities at...

The division of labor between and within countries is driven by two fundamental forces, comparative advantage and increasing returns. We set up a simple Ricardian model with a Marshallian input sharing mechanism to study their interplay. The key insight that emerges is that the interaction...