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Estimating Urban Agglomeration Economies for India: A New Economic Geography Perspective

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  • Sabyasachi TRIPATHI

    (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations Lodhi Road, New Delhi -110003, India)

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to provide answer to an important question: Are Indian firms or industries in urban areas operating under decreasing returns to scale or increasing returns to scale? Scale economies are one of the main assumptions of new economic geography models that posit the formation of agglomeration economies. For this purpose, we use Kanemoto et al. (1996) model for estimation of aggregate production function and to derive the nature and magnitude of agglomeration economies on firm level production in organized manufacturing sector. Using firm level data in 2004-05 from the Annual Survey of Industry, we find that urban firms in Indian industry operate under decreasing returns to scale. Therefore, in case of India, we find the evidence that urbanization is associated with negative external economies of scale that do not enhance productivity and do not drive urban growth and development. In addition, we provide explanation behind this phenomenon and policy options to promote agglomeration economies which will make Indian cities as engine of rapid economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabyasachi TRIPATHI, 2014. "Estimating Urban Agglomeration Economies for India: A New Economic Geography Perspective," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(2), pages 5-34, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:rom:terumm:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:5-34
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    Cited by:

    1. Sabyasachi TRIPATHI, 2018. "What Determines Employability In India?," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(3), pages 40-59, September.
    2. Sabyasachi TRIPATHI, 2017. "How To Develop An Equitable Distribution Of Urban Gdp By Smart City Development In India," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(2), pages 131-146, December.
    3. Sabyasachi TRIPATHI & Shamika KUMAR, 2017. "Determinants Of Firm Location Choice In Large Cities In India: A Binary Logit Model Analysis," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(3), pages 45-62, April.
    4. Tripathi, Sabyasachi, 2015. "Do upcoming “Smart cities” need to provide smart distribution of higher urban economic growth? Evidence from Urban India," MPRA Paper 61527, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Jing Han & Ming Gao & Yawen Sun, 2019. "Research on the Measurement and Path of Urban Agglomeration Growth Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Tripathi, Sabyasachi & Kumar, Shamika, 2016. "Determinants of firm location choice in metropolitan cities in India: A binary Logit model analysis," MPRA Paper 73995, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    New economic geography; Urban agglomeration; Firm level analysis; Manufacturing industry; India.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

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