IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/anresc/v59y2017i2d10.1007_s00168-017-0840-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban wage inequality and economic agglomeration

Author

Listed:
  • Yiming Zhou

    (Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of interplay between transport costs and commuting costs on urban wage inequality and economic distribution within a new economic geography model. As in former studies, workers tend at the same time to agglomerate in order to limit transport costs of manufactured good and to disperse in order to alleviate the burden of urban costs. In this paper, we pay special attention to wages and spot light on how the urban wage inequality is determined by interplay between urban costs and transport costs. We also solve analytically the break points and the sustain points and disclose their relationships with transport costs and commuting costs in a general equilibrium model.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiming Zhou, 2017. "Urban wage inequality and economic agglomeration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(2), pages 475-494, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:59:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s00168-017-0840-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-017-0840-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00168-017-0840-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00168-017-0840-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pierre‐Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon & Diego Puga & Sébastien Roux, 2012. "The Productivity Advantages of Large Cities: Distinguishing Agglomeration From Firm Selection," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(6), pages 2543-2594, November.
    2. Nathaniel Baum-Snow & Ronni Pavan, 2013. "Inequality and City Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1535-1548, December.
    3. Rikard Forslid & Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, 2003. "An analytically solvable core-periphery model," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 229-240, July.
    4. Brent Neiman, 2014. "The Global Decline of the Labor Share," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 61-103.
    5. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon & Sébastien Roux, 2010. "Estimating Agglomeration Economies with History, Geology, and Worker Effects," NBER Chapters, in: Agglomeration Economics, pages 15-66, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-959, December.
    7. Jorge De La Roca & Diego Puga, 2017. "Learning by Working in Big Cities," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(1), pages 106-142.
    8. Murata, Yasusada & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2005. "A simple model of economic geography a la Helpman-Tabuchi," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 137-155, July.
    9. Pines,David & Sadka,Efraim & Zilcha,Itzhak (ed.), 1998. "Topics in Public Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521561365.
    10. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    11. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    12. An-Ming Wang, 2016. "Agglomeration and simplified housing boom," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(5), pages 936-956, April.
    13. John G. Fernald & Charles I. Jones, 2014. "The Future of US Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 44-49, May.
    14. Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2004. "Agglomeration and economic geography," 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 58, pages 2563-2608, Elsevier.
    15. Gordon H. Hanson & Chong Xiang, 2004. "The Home-Market Effect and Bilateral Trade Patterns," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1108-1129, September.
    16. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Duranton, Gilles & Gobillon, Laurent, 2008. "Spatial wage disparities: Sorting matters!," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 723-742, March.
    17. Peng, Shin-Kun & Thisse, Jacques-Francois & Wang, Ping, 2006. "Economic integration and agglomeration in a middle product economy," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 1-25, November.
    18. repec:oup:qjecon:v:129:y:2013:i:1:p:61-103 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Timothy, Darren & Wheaton, William C., 2001. "Intra-Urban Wage Variation, Employment Location, and Commuting Times," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 338-366, September.
    20. Martin, Philippe & Rogers, Carol Ann, 1995. "Industrial location and public infrastructure," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 335-351, November.
    21. Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 1998. "Urban Agglomeration and Dispersion: A Synthesis of Alonso and Krugman," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 333-351, November.
    22. Liqun Pan & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya & Jing Li, 2016. "City Size and Wage Disparity in Segmented Labour Market in China," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 128-148, June.
    23. Irving Hoch, 1972. "Income and City Size," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 9(3), pages 299-328, October.
    24. Segal, David, 1976. "Are There Returns to Scale in City Size?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 58(3), pages 339-350, August.
    25. Pflüger, Michael & Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 2010. "The size of regions with land use for production," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 481-489, November.
    26. E. D. Gould, 2007. "Cities, Workers, and Wages: A Structural Analysis of the Urban Wage Premium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 477-506.
    27. Amiti, Mary, 1998. "Inter-industry trade in manufactures: Does country size matter?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 231-255, April.
    28. Toshiaki Takahashi & Hajime Takatsuka & Dao-Zhi Zeng, 2013. "Spatial inequality, globalization, and footloose capital," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 53(1), pages 213-238, May.
    29. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    30. Laussel, Didier & Paul, Thierry, 2007. "Trade and the location of industries: Some new results," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 148-166, March.
    31. Wang, An-Ming & Yang, Chung-Hsin, 2014. "Spatial Agglomeration And Dispersion:Revisiting The Helpman Model," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 55(1), pages 1-20, June.
    32. J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), 2004. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Juan Yin & Zhong Yang & Jin Guo, 2022. "Externalities of Urban Agglomerations: An Empirical Study of the Chinese Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    2. José M. Gaspar, 2018. "A prospective review on New Economic Geography," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(2), pages 237-272, September.
    3. Yiming Zhou, 2020. "Heterogeneous firms, urban costs and agglomeration," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 16(3), pages 329-348, September.
    4. Yiming Zhou, 2019. "Home market effect, land rent, and welfare," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 561-580, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    2. Yiming Zhou, 2019. "Home market effect, land rent, and welfare," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 561-580, June.
    3. Pflüger, Michael P. & Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 2008. "Trade and Location with Land as a Productive Factor," IZA Discussion Papers 3716, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. José M. Gaspar, 2018. "A prospective review on New Economic Geography," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(2), pages 237-272, September.
    5. Matthias Wrede, 2013. "Heterogeneous skills and homogeneous land: segmentation and agglomeration," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(5), pages 767-798, September.
    6. An-Ming Wang, 2016. "Agglomeration and simplified housing boom," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(5), pages 936-956, April.
    7. Pierre Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Henry G. Overman, 2005. "Agglomeration and the adjustment of the spatial economy§," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(3), pages 311-349, August.
    8. Jian Wang & Junqian Xu, 2015. "Home market effect, spatial wages disparity: an empirical reinvestigation of China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(2), pages 313-333, December.
    9. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    10. Breinlich, Holger & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2014. "Regional Growth and Regional Decline," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 683-779, Elsevier.
    11. Olga Alonso-Villar, 2006. "A Reflection On The Effects Of Transport Costs Within The New Economic Geography," Working Papers 57, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    12. Kristian Behrens & Frédéric Robert‐Nicoud, 2009. "Krugman's Papers in Regional Science: The 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk is gone and the 2008 Nobel Prize well‐deserved," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 467-489, June.
    13. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1kv8mtgl748r0ahh12air9erdc is not listed on IDEAS
    14. repec:esx:essedp:729 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Zhou, Yiming & Xu, Hangtian, 2019. "Inter-industry trade and heterogeneous firms: Country size matters," MPRA Paper 94746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Carl Gaigné & Jacques-François Thisse, 2013. "New Economic Geography and the City," Working Papers SMART 13-02, INRAE UMR SMART.
    17. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    18. Toshiaki Takahashi & Hajime Takatsuka & Dao-Zhi Zeng, 2013. "Spatial inequality, globalization, and footloose capital," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 53(1), pages 213-238, May.
    19. Fabien Candau & Elisa Dienesch, 2015. "Spatial distribution of skills and regional trade integration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 451-488, March.
    20. Rainald Borck & Michael Pflüger & Matthias Wrede, 2010. "A simple theory of industry location and residence choice," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(6), pages 913-940, November.
    21. Takatoshi Tabuchi & Kristian Behrens & Andrea R. Lamorgese, 2004. "Testing the Home Market Effects in a Multi-country World: The Theory," Econometric Society 2004 Far Eastern Meetings 595, Econometric Society.
    22. Fabien Candau & Elisa Dienesch, 2015. "Spatial distribution of skills and regional trade integration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 451-488, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:59:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s00168-017-0840-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.