In this paper we explore the relationship between the size of a country, the size of its cities, and the economic performance of the country. In order to do this we integrate three different literature, namely the literature on optimal country size, literature on historical processes of...

We document a novel stylized fact: Using data for several countries, we show that export activity is disproportionately concentrated in larger cities - even more so than overall economic activity. We account for this fact by marrying elements of international trade and economic geography. We...

This paper employs a new definition of urban areas as functional economic units developed by the OECD in collaboration with the European Union to investigate the size and sources of productivity disparities across urban areas in Great Britain. We use data from the UK Annual Survey of Hours and...