Spatial Structure and Productivity in U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Abstract
Recent concepts as megaregions and polycentric urban regions emphasize that external economies are not confined to a single urban core, but shared among a collection of close-by and linked cities. However, empirical analyses of agglomeration and agglomeration externalities so-far neglects the multicentric spatial organization of agglomeration and the possibility of ‘sharing’ or ‘borrowing’ of size between cities. This paper takes up this empirical challenge by analyzing how different spatial structures, in particular the monocentricity – polycentricity dimension, affect the economic performance of U.S. metropolitan areas. OLS and 2SLS models explaining labor productivity show that spatial structure matters. Polycentricity is associated with higher labor productivity. This appears to justify suggestions that, compared to relatively monocentric metropolitan areas, agglomeration diseconomies remain relatively limited in the more polycentric metropolitan areas, while agglomeration externalities are indeed to some extent shared among the cities in such an area. However, it was also found that a network of geographically proximate smaller cities cannot provide a substitute for the urbanization externalities of a single large city.Download Info
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Paper provided by Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. in its series Research Paper with number ERS-2009-057-ORG.Length:
Date of creation: 08 Dec 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765017431
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Web page: http://www.erim.eur.nl/
Related research
Keywords: labor productivity; dispersion; polycentricity; urbanization externalities;Other versions of this item:
- Evert J Meijers & Martijn J Burger, 2010. "Spatial structure and productivity in US metropolitan areas," Environment and Planning A, Pion Ltd, London, vol. 42(6), pages 1383-1402, June.
- NEP-ALL-2010-01-10 (All new papers)
- NEP-EFF-2010-01-10 (Efficiency & Productivity)
- NEP-GEO-2010-01-10 (Economic Geography)
- NEP-URE-2010-01-10 (Urban & Real Estate Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- F Goffette-Nagot & B Schmitt, 1999.
"Agglomeration economies and spatial configurations in rural areas,"
Environment and Planning A,
Pion Ltd, London, vol. 31(7), pages 1239-1257, July.
- GOFFETTE-NAGOT, Florence & SCHMITT, Bertrand, 1997. "Agglomération economies and spatial configuration in rural areas," LATEC - Document de travail - Economie (1991-2003) 1997-16, LATEC, Laboratoire d'Analyse et des Techniques EConomiques, CNRS UMR 5118, Université de Bourgogne.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Paolo VENERI & David BURGALASSI, 2011. "Spatial Structure and Productivity in Italian NUTS-3 Regions," Working Papers 364, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
- Paolo Veneri & David Burgalassi, 2011.
"Questioning Polycentric Development and its Effects. Issues of Definition and Measurement for the Italian NUTS-2 Regions,"
European Planning Studies,
Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 1017-1037, January.
- Veneri, Paolo & Burgalassi, David, 2010. "Questioning polycentric development and its effects: issues of definition and measurement for the Italian NUTS 2 Regions," MPRA Paper 26410, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- Paolo VENERI, 2010. "The Identification of Sub-centres in Two Italian Metropolitan Areas: a Functional Approach," Working Papers 343, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
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